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Chapter Text

   There was never a day that the 104th precinct of Trost was tranquil. Every single nook and cranny of the bricked building always had murmurs (or rambunctious quarrelling) from either policemen, perps, and civilians alike. There would be also be clicking keyboards, telephones ringing, shuffling piles of stacked papers, keys, creaking of doors, and of course, on the second floor, Blause fucks up the kitchen's microwave again. Then Springer, for the second time this week, slaps the nape of her neck with a rolled document and scolds her. The brunette sheepishly cleans up her mess with the last ply of tissue on its roll. Mikasa hated the stench of the lasagna because her hunger made her nauseous. After apathetically glancing at the mess that unfolded, the detective takes a sip of her now cold Americano, then resumes on typing her report.

  Adjacent to her desk, Eren periodically peeks and then hides behind his monitor, watching her like a predator calculating the moves of its prey. He was reluctant whether or not he should talk to her at the moment. Knowing that if she had her resting-bitch-face on as she's working, 'funny business' was never invited. Ackerman was no vulnerable deer, and once he tried to hunt her, he found himself kissing her desk while she dug her boots on his cheek; he pretty much became her prized taxidermy and his dart came back to him tenth fold. Ironically, the scary ravenette happened to be one of his best friends in the precinct. Since their captain entrusts them with the most arduous missions, it forced them to be closer to each other. Eren thought of setting aside his thought until the end of their shift. However, he was itching around and even if he tried to concentrate on his screen, he can't stop glancing at her - thanks to the conversation he had with his mother last night that irked him to his core. 

---

"...Have you eaten well?""

"Yeah, Mama! Gotta keep eating veggies to keep me energized at work." He groggily cheers while lying through his gritted teeth, then chows on another scoop of salt and vinegar chips. 

"That's great! I was worried about your appetite. Anyway, I hope you're coming to Zekey's wedding."

"Of course, Ma. I'm his best man! I'm gonna come home in two weeks. I also have to keep Zee-Zee in check in case he runs away with the ring." He reaches for his beer and chugs it, while eyes fixed on the baseball game of the Trost Titans against the Warriors. His mother giggles on the other end and he softly smiled. As much as he gets a little annoyed when she throws never-ending questions of his wellbeing, he appreciates it. He softly smiles at her contagious laugh.

"You coming alone? Well, it would be nice seeing you bring someone. C'mon baby, use the face your mama and papa gave ya."

And oh how he tries not to sigh.

"If not, I know a sweet girl from work! She's a year older than you but I think you'll like her. Her name's Hitch-"

He rushes to grab the chip bag and crumples it on the phone's mic. "H-hello Ma?"

"E..r What... pening.." She sounded like a ghost behind a spirit box.

"Mama, you're choppy, I'll call you back. Love you."  He quickly presses the red end button of his cellphone and tosses it on the coffee table. He hunches over and rests his elbows on his knees, and lets out the biggest sigh ever, releasing everything he held back during the call. He stares blankly at the table and there was a pitcher tossing the ball on his peripheral vision.

    Ever since he broke up with his ex-girlfriend, Historia, his family - especially Mama and Aunt Faye, kept throwing bachelorettes at him. It ends up turning into innumerous failed attempts of ring toss and none of them could even shoot a single loop in. He understands that they wanted to help him out after locking himself shut. But he was pretty young when everything unfolded. He's literally 27, dedicated to his duty as a detective, and nonchalant about dates - but even after ten years, it seems like the message isn't clear enough to them at all. His lock screen lights up - a selfie of him and his brother's cheeky capuchin monkey, Zee-Zee, wrapping his arms around his neck, and then there was a message notification from Mama. 

'Let me know if you're interested in me bringing her in. She's wonderful, beautiful and smart. Text me back baby, take care! I love you!' And she follows it up with a pink heart emoji and another one blowing a kiss. 

Eren throws himself backwards on his leather Barcalounger while running his fingers from his cheek to his hair, tugging its brown strands. Even if he declines, she'd bring her in anyway. His mother always had a way with her things and he realized that at age 3, where a house slipper made him comply to wear an ugly turtleneck sweater, even if he was choked up with tears. Eren found himself stunned at a dead end without a solution. Until his phone lights up again, another notification. But this time, it was Ackerman.  

'hey were interrogating tmrw. bring the files in and captain america needs us by 6. no fuckin way im picking u up."

He blinks for awhile and comes up with the dumbest solution to ever exist in mankind. 

--

   He heavily sighs then reaches for his pen, then begins clicking. It was his and Mikasa's way of getting each other's attention, a secret language they accidentally created in one of their stakeouts. He glances at her and his screen, while his thumb continuously smashes on the mechanics of the pen. It took awhile to the point that he even had time to take a sip of his Capri Sun. 

  "I'm ignoring you. I'm too tired. Hungry. Leave me alone, Yeager." She utters monotonously while her blank face never peeled off from the screen as she continues to hack the keyboard.

"Not even a five minute break? I'll promise I'll treat you after work to whatever you'd like to go. You know, dumplings, maybe some perogies, anything from Pixiiis'." He says cheekily as he leans a bit towards her even if their desks and monitors barricaded them from each other.

"The last time we went there, your card declined and I had to pay nearly $60 out of my pocket so that we didn't have to the wash dishes on their filthy sink." She says flatly without a beat.

  Eren hesitantly drags himself to the free chair beside her - the seat reserved for civilian reports. But for him, he was entering the den of a lioness. He boldly places an arm on the corner of her desk, wiggling both of his eyebrows together. The ravenette only turns to him with a blank expression, but at least her eyes were blinking this time. But she didn't have the energy to gnaw at him - her dark circles, disheveled low bun and dried coffee on the corner of her lip says it all.

Eren sings, "Look Miks. You're my best friend and I'm your best friend-"

"What the fuck do you want."

"Dude. I kinda......fucked up."

Her face lightens up in horror and her mouth gapes open like a fish. "YEAGER DON'T FUCKING TELL ME YOU MESSED UP ON THE FUCKING RE-" She yells atop of her lungs, and a few heads from different desks whip around. "Calm down! SHHHH!" Eren waves his hands around their audience, signaling 'heyy guyss things are fine, please resume'. Mikasa shoots him with the same glare his father made when he came home with an F. 

He whispers, "It's not the work we did, I got it all covered. Reports are annoying but I'm not stupid enough to mess it up. All I need is a bit polishing, then print, then me, you, Cap 'Murica Smith sign it. Then, voila, Daddy Yeager tucks his little Report to sleep in a file blanket. Then I give it a good ol' kissy kiss." She sighs in such relief, eyes closed while grasping at the arm rests of her office chair and draws her head upwards. "I still don't know how I lost our bet with one perp away when you do shit like this, Yeager." He chuckles, then pauses when she darts a death glare. He raises both of his hands in resignation. "Okay, tiger! Pipe down a bit! I don't want someone to write an obituary of a detective being the one murdered by his own partner. That's really embarrassing."

"Cut to the chase, you likely have two minutes out of your promised five to say your crap."

Floch on the other side of the bullpen raises his thumb to ask if everything's alright, and both detectives nod in feigned glee. Eren turns back to Mikasa, "I'm fucked  because..." He sighs and clears his throat. "MomtriedtosetmeupwithagirlatherworkandifIsaynoshe'llbringinherinanywayandmyfamilyhassomesortofhistorywithtryingtofindmeagirlandIhateitandmybrother'sweddingisintwoweeks-"

 She places a finger on his lip. "I don't need an aneurysm right now. Again. This time slower."

He prepares himself for the predicament. "Sooooooo, remember my brother Ezekiel? 

"Uhuh."

"He's getting married..." Eren rocks back and forth, while Mikasa's head circles around with her mouth open in anticipation. "Uhuh.. Congrats?"

Eren winces, "I",

his mouth feels hella dry, "kinda need someone to umm come with me .... to like... pretend to be..."

Gosh his cheeks and ears were burning, "my.... girl... friend?" Aaand  his voice raised 3 decibels higher. 

Mikasa furrows her brows, wondering what it has to do with her. Then it slightly dawns on her, "Okay... And?" She looks around, a bit uncomfortable and prays her intuition is wrong.

"I want you to.. uhm... do that-this things... like you...me...'ya know? So you down being my decoy girlfriend?" He utters as if out of breath.

A hanging and terribly awkward silence ensues them like two cowboys on a verge of a shoot out. 

A rolling tumbleweed would really dramatize everything, but they only god Sergeant Moblit's paperclip flinging from his desk. They could hear it hit the tile even though three perps were wailing and whining in their cell. Mikasa clears her throat to break their silence and brings her shoulders on a loop to ease its tension. " Please tell me this is one of your dumb jokes."

He awkwardly shakes his head. She rubs her palms against her eyes. "Goddess Maria, Sina Rose....Why can't you just... show up alone? You're not gonna die if you do."

"Look, I got myself in to this mess and I can't get out."

"Holy shit, how deep is your head stuck in your ass if you fucked up this bad?"

"I think you didn't catch on what I said but my family's really crazy - especially Mom, about me getting a girlfriend and they keep throwing weird chicks at me. I hate it. I appreciate their concern but the chicks are not my type and I'm terrible at-

"Dude, first of all, you're not the sharpest tool in the shed."

"I know, but listen...Like... I know I'm no prize but..." He looks around and shuffles in the seat before he leans closer. Instinctively, she also leans in. "There was this one chick who asked me what sign I was, I said I'm an Aries, because apparently March 30th is Aries and I rolled along with it - I don't know shit about astrology. Well...she just... started crying her eyes out? She then had an entire Shakespearean soliloquy about tragedy and I couldn't stand it. So, I got up, bowed at her like I finished a piano recital or something - then left her wailing in front of oysters and cheap wine without saying goodbye. Everyone in the restaurant thought it was a proposal gone wrong. Dude I didn't even know her name."

Mikasa sucks her teeth in second hand embarrassment and holds her breath. "oh god... you suck."

"Another case was this one hot girl and she's hella smart - well, she's in her last years of med residency. I would've enjoyed our company if she didn't start licking my hands in front of the waiter-" Her eyebrows raised, grinning, "No, Mikasa, I wasn't turned on. Especially when she said something about skin and bones - then I called it a night."

She lets out a belly laugh in disbelief, but knowing Yeager for three years, he was definitely the type to get himself caught in such predicaments. 

"See! I really don't want to put up with it in front of my family... and who knows, Mitch Hitch Bitch - whatever - is maybe nice. But for the love of Goddess Sina, I'm playing Russian Roulette and I can't bear the thought that she might be crazier. Or maybe not like I said, but I feel like my odds are stacked against me either way and I'm too scared to risk anything."

"And ... so your ingenious resort, an amulet to this so-called curse, was to ask your coworker to link arms with you!?"

"Look, Miks, I..." He fishes for a convincing answer and he can't find one - instead, he pulls a lie from the Mariana Trenches onto his flimsy boat. "Well... I kinda... told her I was coming... with... you...? So that... she wouldn't call the girl in, you know. I told her we've been together." He sheepishly winces, and Mikasa draws her palm to her eyes once again and sighs.

"Four words, Detective Eren Kruger Yeager - You. Are. An. Idiot."

"I know, I know, I know! I'm sorry I dragged you in!" God he was going to have his face smacked again. "Think of it as a vacation - you know! Aren't you tired? Looking for a time of leisure - away from the hectic schedules and weighing expectations from your boss? Don't you think you deserve a break? A time, a time, a time where you can unwind -"

"You're making it sound we're going on a getaway to Bahamas - and I assume that's not what I'm gonna be getting." She sighs, "Look Yeager, I'd rather - in fact, gladly have my ass tasered, shot, stabbed, amputated, fed to the dogs on the same hour than do this. You're getting too comfortable relying on me sometimes. Yeager, this is literally way beyond our professional relationship and understand that YOU buried your own self into your fucking grave - and in no way shape or form I'm picking up a shovel. I'm not linking arms with you."

"Understandable, sorry." Eren sighs and slowly gets up to resume to his seat.

But a miracle appears and he could hear the trumpets from heaven -  he remembers a loophole. 

She swore something to him last week.

BINGO.

He plops himself back to the seat. 

"That's funny because last week you told me you'll gladly return any favor after I saved your ass from having your head literally nearly blown off by Willy Tybur, Detective Mikasa Azumabito Ackerman. So tell me, are you actually willing to have your ass tasered, shot, stabbed, amputated, fed to the dogs on the same hour than do this?" He raises both of his eyebrows and tilts his head. "There was no such thing as limits on the favours I, Eren Kruger Yeager, will request my fellow friend, Mikasa Azumabito Ackerman - according to our agreement. The word 'anything' without its 'but' calls for a door of infinite options. Also, if it weren't for me, your tiny little cabeza would've been served on a nice silver plate the Tyburs will feast on." He leans in while crosses his arms on her desk.  "So, I rest my case, your honour!" He smirks. 

    Mikasa reaches for her cold cup, grunting while drinking in such vexation. She scowls at Eren who wiggled in his seat while chanting 'I gotchur ass, I gotchur ass..." to spite her. He was painfully right. She'd never make it out of the operation alive if Eren didn't have the guts to tackle the drug lord. Hell, her parents would be scarred for life with their only daughter being gone. She hates this dumb plan, but he was painfully right that she did owe him a favor - a big one, and she can't think of ways to rebuttal. Yeager was as cunningly clever as he was idiotic - and she should've seen it coming that he was excellent at finding cracks. He was also too great at fishing - an asset he had that left perps spilling their guts out. She places the cup between her and her fellow detective, as if it were her white flag. 

"You got me there." She closes her eyes. "I should've asked you to sign an Agree on Conditions and Terms sheet, but then again, I didn't know this is the shit that you'd throw at me. But, I owe you one anyways - don't even think of hugging me, I'm mad at you."

Eren felt like a kid in Disneyland, giddily squirming in his seat. "You're an angel, Miks! Thank you, thank you, thank you!"

"I'm gonna be Satan himself if you're gonna pull shit like this ever again." She rubs her temples and Eren still has his stupid victorious grin. "We'll drop by Captain Smith's office at the end of the day to ask if we can have people fill us in."

"Cool beans! Thank you babe" He beams.

"Ten fucking seconds before I will be the one to blow your head off."

"Awhhh is my baby mad at me?"

"Ten,"

"I know you loooooove me-"

"NINE,"

Eren sprints to his seat without a beat.

----

     The Trost skies had already faded into dark but he finds it endearing. It was beautiful especially when the lights enveloped the streets, sparking vivacious night life in the city. Eren bops his head to the radio that plays 'Under Pressure by Queen and Bowie', while his hands gripped the wheel. There was some sort of serenity he feels after a tiring day and his job was no monkey business - and all he could ever think of at the moment was collapsing on to his bed while his pug climbs beside him. He mutters along the song while wiggling in his seat,

It's the terror of knowing what the world is about
Watching some good friends screaming
'Let me out'

     Earlier, he and Mikasa were fortunately granted their 'vacation' by their austere Captain. It came to them as a surprise since he was usually tight on such things but Smith remembers their successful drug bust, and his best detectives do deserve a treat. Eren finds it funny that he and Mikasa were playing footsies and pingponging at each other his office, like children asking their parents if they could sleepover, just for them to simply get an 'Okay, cool'. Eren admits that throughout the operation, he was scared and nearly crapping his pants, especially when his best friend was at the mercy of a bullet - but it was all worth it, and they sure have a story to carry on for the rest of their life. 

 'Pray tomorrow gets me higher, higher,'  Eren prepares himself for the high note, hoping his voice wouldn't crack this time, 'HHAAAAAAAAAIIIiiiiiiiiiii-" Then the monitor from his dashboard pops an incoming call from Mama, stopping his music all together, "C'mon!!! Can't you at least let me finish the best part?" He presses the green button, sighing. "Heyyy Ma."

"Hi honey!" She beamed with her usual cheery tone. "How's it going?"

"Just ended my shift today, going home." He hums.

"Ah, I'm glad you're safe! Anyway, I didn't ask Hitch today because you didn't really give a go-"

"Ma, don't tell her to come." He flatly says. 

"Honey that's a bit rude."

"Well I think it's rude if I bring her instead of...my girlfriend." Eren feels his cheeks and ears heat up. 

"Eren your...WHAT"

"Okay so you see, when a man loves a woman-"

Then there it was, Carla Yeager throwing who, what, where, when, how questions at him but he was in a trance and every question was blurred. 

"Why didn't you tell me? I looked like an idiot going around giving your damn business card-"

"You made me a business card!?" Why was he even surprised.

"Bring her to the wedding, we'll love to meet her. Does Zeke know? And you still didn't tell me her name."

"I will, and Zeke doesn't know yet, no one in the family knows, none of my friends know. We're trying to stay low because it'll be awkward at work-"

"YOU WORK TOGETHER!?" Carla gasps, "OH MY GOD, IS IT THAT ACKERMAN GIRL? EREN, THAT'S AMAZING! I CAN'T BELIEVE YOU FINALLY GOT YOUR HEAD TOGETHER AND ACTUALLY COURTED HER! I'VE ALWAYS LOVED HER!"

His eyes widened, taken aback and confused. "You've WHAT-"

"Oh my godd!! I'm calling Zeke!"

"Ma, I-"

"Honey gotta go, the oven's ready, bye!"

"Ma what-"

'Call ended'   The voice from the display announces and Eren's music resumes again. This time, he didn't feel like singing along and his shoulders began tensing up. This was gonna be one hell of a long, long ride. 

Chapter Text

Two weeks later

      The previous night, Mikasa crashed his apartment to help orchestrate their pseudo love story; they would switch between dragging strings on the corkboard, as the other would jot notes down. At the leisure of sweats and chowing down on Chinese take-outs, they'd look through photos, exchanged family drama, and even watched a couple of cheesy rom-coms to really set the mood. Literally anything they can think of just in case they were at the mercy of interrogations (but sometimes they'd get distracted by his barking dog or laughing too hard at awful dad jokes - 'do you know the Spanish guy who lost his car? His name was Carlos'). Eren thinks that this new so-called undercover mission was going to be much more difficult than anything he has ever done in his career; coming as yourself in front of your own family with an embarrassing lie itself is ridiculous, not to mention, you have to play pretend with your coworker as a loving couple, and you guys aren't even paid to do this shit. He and Mikasa were gonna walk on thin ice, but hell, if they played their cards right they should be able to skate easily. 

        Now, they were only 24 hours shy away from the flight but instead of packing their suitcases, they were bundled up in bullet proof vests and stealthily observing people flocking in out of the local delicatessen. Stakeouts made ten minutes feel like ten hours, they were observing like hungry hawks waiting for the next prey, and as their colleague, Connie, claims it to be - 'its weird because it's technically legal stalking'. To pass time, the two detectives decided to quiz each other with the script while keeping an eye out for the man fitting the frame of the cartographic sketch. They were waiting for the door in such anticipation - but to no avail every time. 

"Okay Miks, I'll throw another one again." Frustrated, Eren sighs while crossing his arms, then glances at his partner, "The fiancéeeeee?"

"Pieck Finger? He met in some college party or anything of that matter - well, you said its a detail that wont hurt us if we overlooked it." She remains focused and he hums while nodding. 

"Hey, I still can't get over the fact that you said they look like John Lennon and Yoko Ono."

"No seriously, they do though!" She beams and he rolls his eyes chuckling. Suddenly, the door opens again and both of them rapidly lean forward like two cats attracted to a moving dot of laser. False alarm. A blonde woman and a young child walk out and they simultaneously kiss their teeth and groaned. Totally, not the bald, round, male, and 6"1 perp they were looking for. 

"This is killing me, Ackerman. Should we just go in instead? You know like just-"

 As if on cue, Mikasa's walkie-talkie speaks up. "Sir?... I don't think Yeager and I need back up if it's only one man... We'll stay at our post until he gets out?... Copy." She then shuts off the box and glances at her partner. "You heard the boss."

"Well we're gonna have to wait for that bastard, I guess." He groans, then a silence hangs between them for awhile before he clears up his throat and speaks up again.  "Anyway, you also remembered the 'date' we agreed on? You know, the date we uhm... allegedly started 'hitting it off'-"

"TCPD! FREEZE!" 

   As soon as Mikasa yells atop of her lungs, the man spots them and pauses for awhile before sprinting along the commercial strips. Like two fired bullets, the duo instinctively splits up quickly. Eren ensues him while trying to dodge the havoc he trailed behind: a grocery cart tumbling, three schoolgirls pushed towards him, a garbage can flinging, flyers ejected like confetti, and three vegetables that launched his way that he was able to duck away from.

"SERIOUSLY, MAN!? SERIOUSLY!"

    Alongside the frustrated detective, the scowls and yelping of some civilians followed the criminal. Meanwhile Mikasa was already grinning behind a hotdog cart, anticipating the approaching the Tom-and-Jerry chase gearing towards her direction. When the perp finally reaches the a specific tile on the sidewalk that indicated her timing, she whips her baton and without giving him a second to be startled, he smacks his face flat against the concrete. Eren pants as he places his hands on his knees, relieved to watch Mikasa cuff the now apprehended perp.

"You're under arrest." Then she turns to Eren and sings in a mocking seductive tone, "Oh, before I forget - February 14th. Because it's very romantic. You know, candle lit dinner with some violinssss, and definitely a bit of 'booty smooching ' afterwards." She winks at her partner who chuckles and rolls his eyes between his heavy breaths. The perp still tries to wiggle away from her web while barking insults and flailing his body. Leaning in with a doting glare, she scoffs in her usual dominant tone,

"For touching kids, you have the nerve, sir."

---------------------

   The next day rolled around faster than he thought. Usually when he travelled, he'd leave his apartment no longer than an hour before the flight. But no, Mikasa insisted that they show up at least five hours prior, and as much as he tries to protest, she was numbering countless what if's - like traffic, unexpected emergencies, or potential troubles in the airport. He had nothing to use to rebuttal against her list since the only thing he could ever think of was 'sleeping in' and 'getting bored'. He waits outside her apartment, watching her frantically run down the stairs and tugging on the suitcase like a mad dog dreading a walk - it seemed like a wheel was stuck in between the railing and she didn't really catch on. He chuckles until she darts a death glare, which prompted him to run to her aid.

"Heeey Ackerman, buenossss diasssssss~"

"Shove your buenos dias up your ass!" 

She barks and Eren throws his hands in feigned submission, "Woah, woah, woah, it seems like someone didn't have their coffee yet."

"Just, help, me, out, UGH!" She grunts as she tugs the suitcase harder. "This shit wasn't heavy at all why the hell-"

"I got it, I got it, I got it, you know it's-" As he was about to lean in to help, a sudden pop erupted and the suitcase launches itself violently, throwing Mikasa onto the steps. The duo's mouths both gaped open at the sight of the wheel flinging away and vigorously spinning like a Beyblade before ultimately laying completely still at the foot of the stairs. "-stuck... between the... railing..."

Mikasa blinks, glancing at the aftermath that unfolded. There was now clearly a gap at the bottom, and the popped wheel laid against the hardwood floor like it was K.O.'d mercilessly. She softly utters a soft 'fuck', rubbing her temples until they turned red.

What a way to start the journey.

"Hey, hey, hey, it's all gonna be okay." He sheepishly fans her as she squints her eyes in frustration. "Well... shit happens sometimes. Let's start off with getting up, shall we?" Eren gently pulls her wrists to prop her up, suppressing a laughter - he wasn't trying to get his ass kicked at 9 am. 

"I'm so fucking stupid, god." She slightly chuckles to her chagrin, pulling herself up awkwardly. 

He takes a look at the remaining wheels, "Fortunately you still got three and they'll likely be okay. If anything, I can handle it and you can carry mines - and are you okay?"

"Yeah" She says flatly. 

Eren hums as he was glaring, "I don't think so, you nervous about this thing?"

"Tch, not even the slightest... But I think I'm just a little tired from last night."

"You didn't let that case to rest, did 'ya?" 

"You... know me too well..." She looks away and he shakes his head again. 

"Oh god. You know I got Floch to kiss my ass, he got it all covered for us in the meantime - why didn't you just rest?"

"I don't know, it's just my mind was just wrapped up with the Tyburs again... I hate to admit that I'm still a little shaken with the incident. We got the most of 'em but Lara's free... and I kind of feel guilty for taking a break."

Eren sighs, "You need to take it easy sometimes - we'll get her ass one day. And if anything I reeled you into my own crap so you didn't really take the vacation on your own accord - and I'm not in the office, too. You work too hard, Miks."

 "Hm, yeah..." She pauses, "But it's not really a vacation; we pretty much gotta constantly worry about being disgusting towards each other for five days, then watch your brother and his girl make out in front of people."

 "Fair point." He chuckles picking up the suitcase. "Anywho, you can take a breather when we get the airport. You definitely need coffee and sleep."

"They contradict each other but sounds good.." A soft smile was plastered on her lips, "...should we go now?"

"Sure- and hey! Whoever hops in the taxi last pays the fare-"

    Without a beat, Mikasa was already jumping onto the base of the stairs and dashes to the main door. Eren tries to catch up, barking at how unfair it is that she had a head start and he had her suitcase - and worse, he slips on the wheel causing him to smack his face against the ground. She momentarily turns around to bask in the glory of his defeat, laughing before fully heading out as her duffle bag bobbed against her back. Even if he looked stupid in the CCTV cameras and his elbows were definitely swollen, he couldn't help but laugh too. At least he cheered her up from her worries in some way, both with his predicament and letting her win the prize of maintaining a heavier wallet.

----- 

    Who would've thought that two hours in the skies would be worse than eternal damnation? Out of all the seats in the plane, he and Mikasa were unfortunately sandwiched between two interesting people. Beside Eren was a woman worse than a feral chihuahua, who'd bark at him over the littlest things such as a slight nudge or how he 'should stop staring at her'. He couldn't do anything but utter shy apologies - putting out fire against fire wasn't a good thing. She would then constantly page the flight attendants over the littlest inconveniences and requested to move seats about three times, still having the audacity to bark louder when she was told that the seats were all full. Even if he wanted to take a break dealing with Karen's shit, turning the other cheek just meant witnessing another disaster. The man beside Mikasa was a bit docile in comparison to Karen, but he would hog the spaces of everything around his circumference: reclining the seat too low, swatting hallway passersby with his arm, and sometimes, he'd lean towards Mikasa, purposely. To make matters much more wonderful, he removed his shoes and socks, oh god, to say the least, the smell made the duo lose their appetite. They tried to stay closer to each other to avoid the unpleasantries, sheepishly smiling at flight attendants and other passengers who'd give them looks of empathy.

   Mikasa utters under the blanket that covered her cheeks, "Are we there yet?"

   "The plane hasn't landed but unless you got a parachute on you. We're gonna hit the ocean though." His eyes remained glued on his phone as he was searching for a better song. She groans, resuming on her book but not even a minute later, she nudges him again.

"Hm?"

"I got a question."

"Oh, what is it?" He peels his earphone away from his ears.

"Why me?"

"Youuuu?"

"Well, don't you have close friends who could pull this off better than I can? And there's other girls in the precinct too - I mean I know I owe you a favour and all but..."

"No, I understand. Well..." Your name popped up on my screen when I panicked. "...I mean my girl friends are either taken or gay - I don't have a lot too. We got our Sasha but weddings equals food, and she-"

"Hell's Kitchen?" She scrunches her nose.

"Exactly! And then we also got Mina but... I think she's still wrapped up with her break up and we're awkward with each other too."

"Oh yeah... poor thing was wailing in the breakroom the other day and I had to tell her to shut up. I couldn't concentrate on the files without wanting to stab her."

"Oh wow," Eren chuckles. "Anyway, back to the thing. You're just an excellent candidate because you know, we're on sync nearly all the time, Miks and it's a bit scary sometimes- oh! Remember the Ragako bust?"

"Which one? We've had about three to four over the years."

"The recent one! Where we pulled an impromptu couple on the verge of a divorce on the spot and-"

"I slapped you too hard - sorry I got carried away." She winces

"Nah, don't be I thought it was great! I mean the guy did buy our crap and well... projected his daddy issues..."

"Yeahhh..." She bites her lip, recalling the second hand embarrassment. 

"But we caught his ass and saved the team's heads, so it was a win-win. But, I gotta admit you were too harsh - did you really have to go too far with cursing me that I was never going to ever have cold pillows when I sleep!?"

"Jheez, I didn't know pillows were that important to you-"

"Miss Ackerman, never underestimate the power of a cold pillow! Seriously! For someone who barely sleeps with one, you shouldn't talk!"

God, Yeager was proficient in being dramatic. "Hey dummy, it helps with my posture."

"Sleep on the floor then!" 

"We live in Trost, dipshit."

"Oh, fair point." He winces. Although she was meticulous when it came to cleanliness, the city did have problems of residual visits of pests. He retracts, "Anyway, that was pretty much one of my go signals to choose you. And as expected, you picked up on a lot of the juices quickly."

"Hmm... I guess I'm just that good." She smugly grins at him and he rolls his eyes. When it seemed like she got the answer she was satisfied with, Mikasa resumes on her book but this time, she nestles her head comfortably on his shoulder. Eren slightly jolts in surprise, and she quickly peels herself away from him. "Oh... sorry, does that make you uncomfortable? I'll-"

"N-No, it's okay. I was..." Why was there a lump in his throat?  He shrugs it off anyways, "I thought you'd kill me."

"I wish I could." She swats his arm and he feigns a groan. Mikasa giggles as she rests her head against his arm once again, resuming on her book. 

   Eren suddenly doesn't know why he finds himself in a trance. From his view, he could only see the top of her head and her pointy nose peaking out. He tried to reason that he was interested in the page she was peering, but the scent of her signature coconut shampoo was so pungent that not only masked the waft of feet, but made his head spin like he was... Don't start. His eyes flutters as he whips his head to his phone again. 

   Fuck you, blonde bastards.

    It was all thanks to Armin and Annie last night.

   The initial plan was to drop his dog Poe off, then give his childhood best friends vague life updates, and return home. But for some reason, the news of his 'girlfriend' reached them out - which shouldn't be a surprise since he knew Mom would interrogate them about such matter since they lived in the same city. The couple was beaming, but Eren ended up admitting the truth of his agenda; besides, they weren't going to show up the wedding anyway with Annie's swollen belly and she could be due at any minute. Obviously, they were disappointed at his dumb plot, but they ended up laughing at the absurdity of his desperation. 

  In some way, they kinda understood his reasoning and the history behind his indifference to 'serious dating'. But what intrigued them more was how this entire shenanigans was going to unfold disastrously. Armin suggested the idea of the aftermath of his family possibly wanting to know more about her after the wedding, likely questioning when they are planning to settle - and from the words of his father a year ago, 'Eren, we're all getting older and are you really going to wait for me to die before seeing my grandchildren?" (he's not even close to dying and would still do dumb shit like heli-skiing with his drunk uncles). Meanwhile Annie was basking in the glory of his... past 'admiration'' towards Mikasa, and hell, she thinks that this entire shit will bite him well in the ass.

  "How much you wanna bet one of you dingdongs will end up getting too, too carried away with this crap? "

    Ridiculous.

   Even though he should be used to it by now that once in awhile they'd bring her up to taunt him, it never fails to irk him. God they need to move on, it had been three years - hell, around the earliest weeks of Mikasa being a new member of the 104th. He thought that it wasn't even a crush nor saw her as a potential date, simply because the quote-unquote admiration was merely professional, meaning he respected her wit and skill only. But then Annie and Armin would keep poking sticks on his sides about it to the point that he ended up questioning himself sporadically and eventually spiraled into some unrequited crap he dreaded for awhile. It was a stupid time, but its clearly set in stone that they were completely out of each other's leagues, and as long as Mikasa remains clueless, he should be fine. 

  'I swear to all holy Maria, Sina, and Rose, I'm NOT dating a fucking cop again. Ugh! GOD! Eren, take my advice !" 

   That was clearly a major sign, the morning after calling it quits with the Officer Kirstein dude. He remembers how her expression was a mix of sadness and relief, and Eren spirals into imaginations of his own - if that was him and Mikasa, he wouldn't only lose a girlfriend but a best friend too; that would be two knives up up their own asses. Also, there's really no such thing as a mutual understanding between them, considering they were both constantly in the opposite sides of the lifestyle spectrum: she likes neatness, he likes mess, she likes order, he likes impulse. Things were definitely better this way and he just needed to prove to his friends they are wrong. Completely fucking wrong.  

   He clears his throat, hoping to slosh away the lump that began to appear once again. He wiggles his shoulder just enough for her to get her attention. "Psst."

  Mikasa sandwiches a finger in between pages as a bookmark, groaning. "What!?"

   "Sooooooooo..." He prepares himself for a bit - god, this feels embarrassing, but anything to prove Annie and Armin that the 'crush' chapter was definitely over. Waaaayyy over. "So uhm this entire shenanigans we're about to pull... We didn't really set a condition did we?"

    "Conditions?" She furrows her brows. "Like what? According to my sticky notes, there were no such thing."

    "Basically..." He grins awkwardly, looking away for awhile as if to fish the right words. "So, Miks... 

     Whatever happens...

    You're....

    not supposed to fall in love with me.

    We're not supposed to fall in love with each other..."

    A bit of silence, but then Mikasa slightly chuckles, then it further ripples into a giggle that was still low and respectful to the sleeping passengers. She lost against the battle of trying to gather herself, tears forming as she drew the book to her face to muffle hiccupping chortles - oh god, another of his inanities once again. Eren couldn't help but slightly chuckle too much to his chagrin. "Seriously, Ackerman! I'm trying to be serious."

    "How!? You really do say the most weirdest shit." She calms down, dabbing her tear ducts and shuffling in her seat. "Well, that's quite an interesting proposal, but if that's the case - same goes to you." She leans in, and Eren feels funny when a few strands of her hair tickle his cheek as she whispers on to his ear, "I know I could be... irresistible sometimes, so... let's see if I'm really the one to break the rule-"

  He swats her away, growling in a whisper and scrunches his nose.  "ACK! EW YOU'RE GROSS! EWWW AND STAY AWAY - YOUR BREATH IS HOT, IT STINKS!" 

    Mikasa scowls, cupping her palm onto her mouth and blowing her breath to check if it emitted an odor. "No It's not!" She punches his arm and he gapes his mouth open. "My breath smells like Juicy Fruit, thank you very much!" 

   "That doesn't help!"

   "You literally slosh mouthwash and leave the door without brushing your teeth!"

   "Hey! That was only thrice when you wouldn't let me use your toothpaste!"

   "Because! I know you don't put the cap back on and you squeeze the tube starting on the middle!"

   "That matters to you!?"

   "At least put the cap back on, dipshit! It's common sense." She rolls her eyes. "You see, that falling-in-love bullshit you said is definitely not happening."

   Eren smirks in such braggadocio, "God it would be such hell having to deal with you. I wonder if you'd yell at me for buying an off brand instead of Lysol!"

   "I think I should be the one to say such words because you're right." She grins, resuming on resting her head on his shoulders once again and pinching his forearm. He hisses as he forcefully props her head to face her book, enticing a giggle.

   "Ack! Go back to your dumb reading."

    Later when their mini shenanigans was settled (well, it took for Karen to bark and hiss at them), Eren checks his watch and read that they were merely thirty minutes away from landing. He feels relief; it was settled, that throughout five days,  everything was just going to stay as a façade - nothing less, nothing more. It was just going to stay as a memory they'd laugh at in future stakeouts or feel embarrassed with depending on what predicament unfolds. Another story in the books that they'll leave to collect to dust, just like how he had already shoved away his quote-unquote past admiration (or whatever the hell that fucking means) six feet deep in the pit of history he is sure will never resurface.

Chapter Text

"... And we already have rooms, Pieck said we have keys - I'll get them."

"O-Okay, I'll wait here."

      The same feeling of marvel still lingered from the moment they spotted the hotel's exterior from the taxi. Mikasa was too busy perusing at the interior that she nearly ignored Eren who faded onto the kiosk anyway. Everything looked grand in comparison to the rundown motels she and her colleagues would crash at, and even if she did stay in lavish suites during leisure travels, she was usually indifferent about its architecture. She couldn't exactly pinpoint what the hell was so hypnotizing about the place. Paradis Suites is almost a typical vacation hotel she'd seen before in TV ads with annoying yet catchy theme songs Eren would belt out to piss her off. Except, it levelled up with intricate gold and baroque ornaments that, for an odd yet interesting reason, complimented well with the stereotypical tropical themed decorations. There was definitely the relaxing waft of saltwater that she figured sat behind the building, with the breeze tickling her ear gently every time the automatic doors would open. She had expectations that as much as the lobby was beautiful, the outside scenery of the beach would exceed its wonder. Mikasa steps out from her trance the minute she hears familiar footsteps and out of reflex, she catches the swipe card that Eren tosses at her. 

"We got two, one for me and youuuu... and you doing okay?" He sings until he catches her in a stupor. 

"Yeah... I just... I'm amazed...This place is really cool..." She looks around once more, gleaming in awe.

"I know it's crazy...." Eren shared the same look as he peruses the ceilings, the big fountain, running kids with squeaky flipflops - basically everything. Zeke and Pieck likely thought of this place as the last thing they'd consider for a venue, remarking how frugal they are. He figures that his half brother's mother, Dina, probably insisted so she could throw money and wave it around people (well, specifically his parents). Maybe he and Mikasa will take advantages of her and his mother's battles of backhanded compliments as distractions if ever needed - well that's if Dina does come. 

 He then peers at Mikasa who sighs in such elation. "Glad I came, to be honest." 

 "I guess that's to compensate the fuckery we're about to pull." They both chuckle. "Should we go? Our room's apparently in 502. Dinner starts somewhere at six and I think we should get dressed."

"Oh okay, let's go." Mikasa begins to wheel their bellman cart to the elevator, but Eren for some reason stops it with his foot and sheepishly smiles at her. "What now?"

"Can I pretty, pretty pleeeeasse ride the cart on the way-"

"No."

-

     Well the room...

    They expected that they'd share a suite because of certain arrangements, but the welcome decorations were quite an interesting surprise. Well, it was part of their burden they should've seen coming anyway but it was still... awkward. The queen sized bed had rose petals stretched across as a large heart and in the middle sat two swan towels placed behind two bathrobes. A little notecard read 'Welcome lovebirds, Eren and Mikasa!', right in the middle of the kissing swans that had a hibiscus sandwiched in between their mouths. A tensed silence hung between the two for awhile, which was the broken off by Eren clearing his throat. 

    "So uhm... for the entire... uhm time, you wanna take the bed yourself?"

    "Where... where would you sleep then?" 

     The duo awkwardly shuffles to look around until they both land their eyes on a navy couch that faced the patio's door. 

     "I'll take this one." He murmurs, pointing at it. Mikasa winces, dubious on whether or not he'd be able to sleep comfortably for a few nights. 

     "Can you even fit there?"

     "If I calculate the angles of where my foot and head should be placed, I can fold myself well. A Transformer could do it - I can too."

     "You're not made out screws and bolts. What about taking turns?

     "I'll be fine. I'm concerned about your posture."  She rolls her eyes at his remark.  "There's- oh hold on."

      Eren fishes for his phone that was buzzing in his pocket. "Hello?...Oh... Hi Mama! Miks, it's my mom." His eyes widened, in which Mikasa nods and tunes in. "... Aaah, we just arrived here... Uhm yeah the room's really.. uhm... really nice... Really coolcoolcool..."

Without the weird ass welcome gift it would be.

"Restaurant outside? We can see it from here?"

    He walks to the large windows, squinting his eyes onto the view in which Mikasa also follows suit. She ends up spotting the assumed section on the beach, beaming at the little area with tents, a large arc, torches, and a couple of tables. She taps his shoulder and onto to the glass, "Must be right there."

"I don't see it- oh! Oh, we found it, Ma... Dine by the Shore's the name? okay and we know at six...okay... see ya later... love you." She watches him sigh and shove his phone back in his pocket. "Well, we just have enough time to look decent - and you, less smelly."  Mikasa raises her hand to punch his arm and he raised his arms in submission, "I'm kidding, I'm kidding!" 

   "I'm not filthy - Mr. Feet's smell clung on to your crooked ass nose." She kisses her teeth, enticing a chuckle from Eren, before she walks towards her suitcase to pry it open. "I'm pretty sure there's only one shower so-"

  "K, I'm going first."

   Mikasa's lips pop open into a O, quickly snatching her travel purse sandwiched between a sweater and a shirt. "I was gonna say I was going first."

   "But I said it first."

   "You just told me I stink.

   "I thought you said you don't"

  She glares as she watched Eren whistle and began to drag his feet on to the bathroom- "HEY! Let's settle it coin toss like we always do."

  He whips his head towards her. "Whyyyyy?"

  "Because it's fair and square?"

  "Ouukaayy, fine - what do you wanna call on?"

  "Heads."

   Eren nods, fiddling his grey sweats once again but this time, he fishes out the silver quarter and waves it around as if he was prepping a stage act. "Drum roll pleaaasee?"

  "Just flip the damn thing!"

   It cried out a little "ping" when Eren flicks it on his thumb. "The verdict saaayss..." Heads. He clears his throat, glances at Mikasa whose arms crossed and legs twitched. Her feet tapped rapidly in anticipation, seeming indicating that she's dying to go first, but then again, what's fair-and-square about Lady Luck always siding her? ".... Tails!"

  Mikasa squints dubiously at the way he slyly grins - there was definitely something off the hooks. Taking large strides, she demands. "I don't think so! Let me see-" 

 "Trust me!" He shoves the coin back into his pocket.

 "I didn't even see-"

 Eren lunges on to the bathroom door in a heartbeat, shutting it before Mikasa had the chance to resist from closing it. As there were echoing cackles behind the door, she on the other side was barking and gnawing at it like feral animal. 

"HEY!"  It was pretty much pointless - unless she came up with a lie. "I NEED TO PEE!"

"NO YOU DON'T!"

"IF I PISS ON THE FLOOR I'M WIPING IT WITH YOUR HEAD."

"FINE." There was a large groan, ensued by stomps that gradually become louder. Mikasa smirks for while until the door bursts open with him glaring down at her. She dramatically groans, clutching on her stomach and coo'd a 'thank you'. She was on the verge of dipping her feet in the bathroom but Eren shoves her away, slamming the door shut and polishing it off with a 'click' by the knob - a 'fuck you' if you will. He celebrates with a witch-like cackling with the faucet creaking like thunder.

   "Motherfucker."  She growls then mutters curses like she was reading off a grimoire. For the hell he's dragging her into, he sure does have the fucking audacity.  

--

     Eren was debating on either choosing a dark green or pale blue cargo shorts with his white shirt, and when asking Mikasa about her opinion when it was her turn in the bathroom, she responded with petty silence. He ended up shrugging his shoulders and settled with the second option anyway. Ironically when Mikasa stepped out, she sported a midi dress of the same shade as his shorts; which horrified the hell out of her and it was perfect. He decided on topping everything off with a crimson shawl; personally not his style and quite an odd contrast to his light coloured vêtements, but to be fair he was prone to freezing his balls off even with a small breeze. Besides, Mama would appreciate it if he wore her gift which according to Dad, made quite a dent in her pocket when she visited Turkey.

    "You ready?"

    "Hold on." Literally the first thing she said after everything; Mikasa sure does have her petty moments due to her competitive nature. He checks his pockets if he has the swipe key and his phone, while she frantically shuffles through the room to fetch her sandals and sling bag. "I think I'm good."

   He nods, proceeding to open the door until she pauses in front of the mirror beside it.

    "Actually, give me a moment." Mikasa plucks her lips after applying Chapstick. As she was about to make a turn, she then groans, unravelling the messy low bun she originally had styled. Her damp semi-wavy hair touches right at her shoulders and she toys with it around to flatten the bumps, then tucks in a few strands behind her ear. When she was satisfied with the look, she grins at Eren who unbeknownst to her had been watching in slight wonder.

"Ready."

    Like earlier, they were amazed at everything as they navigated along the labyrinth of the hotel. But oh god, the minute they stepped out into the scenery of the beach, their mouths hang opened in awe. For it being almost six in the evening, the sun was still up and on the verge of falling on to the horizon of the cerulean sea. Eren could already feel a couple of goosebumps ticking his knees at the breeze but he can't deny it was relaxing. They ended up landing on the familiar arc attached to low fences that they both saw from their suite; it was definitely bigger up close and the palm leaves and tropical flowers decorated with it was more prominent. A wooden lettering read 'Dine by the Shore' right on the middle. A couple of tables were filled up and both of their stomachs fold at the waft of seafood and other meals. Even from the arc, they spot a stage adjacent to a bar with a live band playing an acoustic rendition of 'The Girl from Ipanema', and to Eren's amusement, Mikasa was humming along in familiarity. 

   "This one, right?" She pauses and he nods in gaeity to confirm.

 They further step in into the arc which to them felt like baby steps into their thin ice. Although Mikasa has not met Eren's family before, she tried to recognize them through the photographs he'd show her from not only their 'study day', but also when he'd overshare stories to escape boredom. She feels a nudge and turns to Eren who tilts his head, pointing his arm that he's extending towards her.

   "We're linking arms now, Ackerman." He raises his brow then opens his arm even more to create a bigger pocket. She rolls her eyes, giggling at the remark while snaking her arm through his bicep. Eren shakes his chests and shoulders as if to ruffle his feathers, "Okay m'lady I shall-"

  "AIRRR HEEEEEENNNN ?"

  They both turn to the direction of the howl, obviously confusing Mikasa but Eren's face lights up, gasping in such joy. "ZEH KEYYYYYY!"

  For the first time she spots his older brother; they had distinct features from each other unlike her mother and aunt that people tend to confuse as twin sisters, but then again, Eren did mention they were half-siblings. The blonde and brunette brothers dart towards each other and hollered like children freed for recess - and Mikasa wishes their reunion was a bit subtle. A couple heads whip around, witnessing Eren being held by hips and spun in spirals with his arms spread wide, until they lose balance and collapse onto the sand. It invited a couple of giggles and for Mikasa, a tickle of second hand embarrassment. They don't seem to mind however, laughing along as they were covered in sand; their uncanny rhythm of giggling undoubtly marks them as brothers. When they finally cooled down, Eren dusts himself leaving Zeke to pant for a bit, and mini jogs his way towards her sheepishly. "Sorry, it's a Yeager brother thing - we haven't see each other for such a long time."

  She chuckles, "It's okay." A deep but friendly 'hi!' creeps behind Eren, which prompts her to face the blonde Yeager brother. 

   " Hey, I'm Zeke! you must be Mee.." Zeke seems to hold his tongue, fearing to butcher the pronunciation of her name.

  "Meekahsuh..." She smiles and they both sheepishly extend their arms at the same time. "I'm fine with Mika too, or Eren calls me M-"

  "My baby." 

Her shoulders froze.

   Zeke fawns through a small 'awh', giving Eren a giddy nudge. "When did you learn how to be corny as fuck? Even the matching colours too - I see" The duo gave each other looks as if agreeing that they weren't gonna tell him it was accidental.  "I'm sorry you have to deal with his crap all the time, Mikasa."

"C'mon I'm not that bad! - right Mik-babe?"

"Whatever you say, dumba-babe." And she swears her tongue tasted bitter. She pinches Eren's arm and grins when he gasps. "Ahhh, don't sweat it, I've dealt I guess you can say, worse." He winces at her and she shrugs, chuckling satirically along Zeke. 

   "You can leave it for story time - or who knows, I'll be able to use some of your anecdotes when it's my turn to give my best man speech" He winks. "Whaddaya say, lil' bro?" 

    Eren surpresses a groan the minute he smacks his back (but more importantly, bringing up the idea of their wedding.) "NNnNyeahhHhH..." Mikasa seems to feel uneasy too - fluttering her eyes while remaining her jovial smile.

  He seems to not think much of it, sighing in joy. "It's finally nice to meet you and I'm glad you could come! I've heard about you for years - god it was so annoying hearing about you all the time. But I'm glad Eren stopped being a pathetic chicken and got his head together!"

   Wait what.

    In such bewilderment, Mikasa whips her head slowly to Eren but before she had the chance to read his face, she was taken aback by squeak of a monkey and a woman's voice calling out for Zeke. When brother's shoulders part from each other, there revealed a petite woman with a capuchin monkey slumped over her shoulders - she must be Pieck, and oh? they allow monkeys in the resort?

"ZEE! HEY LIL GUY!" Eren was beaming at the sight of the monkey, and in return, it lunged towards him, squawking in excitement. Mikasa slightly flinches before landing her eyes on Pieck again who looked as beautiul as in the photographs - but her smile was curled into a scowl.

"Ezekiel, you know you're not supposed to throw Zee-Zee onto me like that! You know how panicky he gets!" Even when she sounded angry, her voice was somehow seductive.

Zeke sheepishly bends to plant a kiss on her forehead. "Sorry love, I was excited seeing my best man." To his chagrin, he grits his teeth to Mikasa who chuckled.

Eren waves his hand at Pieck with his free arm, which prompts her to curve her lips onto the familiar smile. "How's my little brother goiiiinggg?"

He responds with a sassy tone. "The usualzzzz, ya know how it is sissss. Still got the moves like Yeagerz starting with a y, ending with a z."

They both giggle and reach for a hug, with Eren carefully placing Zee-Zee on his shoulders first. Pieck was on her tiptoes with him dancing her for a bit before pulling away. "Must be nice I assume - especially when our retired bachelor now has company." She winks at Mikasa. The bethroed couple's giggle was genuine, but the faux couple was definitely of discomfort. As the brothers fawn over the capucchin monkey, the two woman exchanged amiable smiles.

"Hi - Mikasa right? I'm sooo glad you could come! I'm Pieck. Mind if I hug my sister?"

Mikasa could feel her cheeks heat up, nodding in compliancy and reaching in for a quick hug. "Hi, yeah that would be me!" When they pulled away, they giggled. "Pieck! Like... mountain's peak!" She forms a triangle with her hand - which she instantly regrets when both Eren and the monkey winced and sucked their teeth at her pun.

"Hey! That's a unique take, I like it!" Fortunately it doesn't seem like she and Zeke minded or paid attention that she wanted to bury herself six feet deep under the sand.

"Ah I think we should lead them to the table now, love." Zeke places a hand over his fiancé's waist.

"Yeah, but there's really no rush - they're still playing one last round."

"Volleyball?" Eren mimics Zeke, and Mikasa tries her best not the flinch feeling his hands on her waist. Considering that it was sudden, he mouths an apology and she nods in understanding.

"Yup - I think we should really go before either Dad or Uncle Keith bust their mummified ass ankles out. Uncle Hannes is hammered as fuck now too."

The four of them disappear further into the crevices of the restaurant with the soon-to-be-wed couple ahead, giggling in such amore when Zeke plants a kiss on her cheek. Behind them would be the awkward Eren and Mikasa, stiffly dragging their legs across the sand and giving each other glances of 'yeo, we got this'.

"You're doing well, detective." Eren whispers, even hoping Zee-Zee on his shoulder wouldn't hear. 

"You too, partner." Mikasa giggles and snakes her arm towards his waist too when she found herself nearly losing balance with the sand collecting in her sandals.

--

"Hey! Hey! Guess who's here!" Zeke beams to a long table.

"Heyyyyy!" 

Eren sings as well and Mikasa could note that he definitely got his energy from his older brother. All heads dart to them like a herd of deer caught in headlights; some of the faces she'd only seen in photographs were now infront of her and Eren. There was now a lump in her throat, and when she turns to her boyfriend, she could tell that behind his energetic grin, he was crapping his pants - indicated by how his fingers were shaking and gripping on the shawl. A couple of happy gasps ensued, then an older woman with short brown hair sashays towards them. 

"Darlings!" She coos while spreading her arms open. For her age she looks really good; Eren did mention she's quite meticulous about keeping her appearance - Miks, you're gonna hear some people, well especially grandma, cracking jokes about her boob job once in awhile. Also, never EVER mention anything about her nose.

"Auntie Faayeee!" Eren peels away from Mikasa to kiss his aunt's cheek while still holding on the monkey with one arm. "You're still as beautiful as ever - my god, was it your twenty first birthday yesterday?"

She swats his shoulders playfully. "You're full of crap." She laughs then ruffles his bangs, sighing. "You look like you've been abandoned in the Amazonian jungles, my, you and your brother with your hair - gosh. A few more inches and I'd mistaken you both for Zee-Zee over here."

Eren sheepishly chuckles and glances at his brother who rolls his eyes while grinning. "Yeah I guess..."

"And look who our little munchkin brought~"

Mikasa fiddles with the straps of her own purse. "H-Hi!"

"Awhhhh! Eren! She's gorgeous!" Faye places her hands on her chest as she approaches towards her.

"Yup she isss."

"Come here, bella!" Mikasa mutters a shy "oh" before both women exchange hospitable cheek pecks. "My! I wonder how gentlemen's necks you'd break just by your pretty face, dear!"

"I-I don't think so..." She grins awkwardly while glancing at Eren who chuckles at her shyness.

"Ugh! You're so pretty - it's like I'm looking at a mirror!"

"GET SOME WINDEX!" A voice of a grouchy woman roars, prompting the brothers, Mikasa, and Pieck to resist their chortles through biting their lips.

"Mama, please!" Faye flutters her lids and twitches her brow in disdain.

"Nana!" Eren coos at the sight of his grandmother, whose temper automatically cooled into a sentimental one.

"Heavens, my little Eren!" They both melt into a hug with her patting his back. "Ai, you're becoming more handsome - glad Carla's genes overpowered."

Not really knowing what to say, he just lets out a filler laugh. 

She smiles at Mikasa, "Hello, darling!"

"Hi Mrs.-"

"It's Nana Esther, okay baby?" 

Touched, she beams. "Okay... Nana."

  Mikasa is still shocked that for being an octogenarian, Eren's grandmother looked robust despite her grey head - in fact, she'd think she was around her 60's instead. He was right that she's feisty yet has a balance of being sweet; she wont budge hurling sarcastic barks as she knits you a sweater. Maybe that's the secret to aging well.

"Mikasa right? I'm glad you could come - you're as gorgeous as Eren has told me."   He clears his throat and looks away.

"Thank you, nana! And so are you! it's a pleasure I could come."

"... and I'm terribly sorry if wannabe Barbie disgraced you."

Faye pops her mouth open in an 'ah' which the older woman shrugs. "What? For Sina's sake, Faye Marie, your breasts aren't knit from the three goddesses - you put more money on those than the amount you're saving up for Gabriella's college."

Eren wasn't kidding.

Zeke hunches over as he struggles to resist an outburst of laugh, and Pieck swats him arm. Faye clears her throat while plastering an obviously feigned smile. "I'll go get the rest of 'em." Then she marches in vexation to the large net a few feet away.

   As Eren hands the monkey back to Zeke, two prepubescent girls launched at Eren - Gabi, his cousin and daughter of Aunt Faye, and Isabel, his younger sister (as Mikasa remembers, is actually his biological cousin through his mother's late sister). The girls seem to take a liking in Mikasa, showering her with compliments and giddily teasing Eren - which she also notes that he's definitely close with them. They also greet Pieck's father and two cousins: a tall one around their age named Bertolt, and a younger boy around the girls' age named Udo. Unbeknownst to Mikasa, Eren would periodically crane his neck around the table. Sure, there were a few seats empty that they were still anticipating for, but there was a certain company he, somewhat dreadfully, hoped would at least see a trace of. He squints his eyes, trying to find any imprints of Dina and Zeke's half sister, Ymir - to no avail. It slightly washes a sting on his chest, which made him to glance at his older brother who's laughing along with his fiancé and Nana. He could care less about her, but Zeke did mention at some point that he was looking forward for their attendance despite their tensed relationship. Maybe tomorrow they'll come.

"Hello, hello! Everyone's here!"

   All their heads whip to Faye and the panting company behind her, obviously drained from the arduous sport. He chuckles at the sight of Uncle Hannes, hammered as always and dragged by Uncle Keith and Uncle Tom who both seem to be full of his shit. His dad could barely keep his legs up, panting as he places a hand on his mom's shoulder as a guide. 

"You guys good?" He cheekily barks.

   They tried to utter responses but the only thing that came out was loud 'Acks!' or indiscernible 'hello's''. His mom seemed to be filled with vim however, assuming she likely sat on the benches throughout the entire games.

"Ah! Hi honey! You're here!" She beams, swatting her husband's hand away to wrap Eren in embrace. 

"Hi Mama!" He plants a kiss on her forehead. 

    Nana Esther was right - Eren is a full on carbon copy of his mother, facial hair and his green eyes aside. Mikasa notices how uncannily their eyes squint when they smiled from ear to ear; which their lips too, curved in the same shape. It was eerie yet fascinating. Eren seems to say something to her which Mikasa can't exactly discern, but it seems to be something about her, as evident from the way she eagerly whipped her head towards her direction. She lets out a big gasp, prompting Mikasa to blush and wave awkwardly in timidity.

   "Oh my god! Oh my god! Oh my god! Sweetie, hi!" 

   "Hello!"

   The two women engulf in a hug and exchanged cheek pecks, Mikasa feeling intimidated of course - she was somewhat the catalyst of this entire thing (or the excuse Eren points his fingers at), that they have to be attentive to the most. Fortunately she wasn't even close to snobby which in the past Mikasa had encountered with an ex's mother. In fact, she guesses that Eren got his jolly and light personality from her.

   "Ah, it's so nice to meet you, sweetheart! Oh my you're beautiful!"

   "It's also wonderful to finally meet you, Mrs. Yeager - you too, are gorgeous!"

   She squeals, "God, all this time Eren has been hiding you from us!"

   "Yeahhhh... Well, I guess we were just navigating through things at those timesss." She sheepishly lets out a laugh.

   "Yeah, I'd imagine - he did mention you guys work together."

    Mikasa hums to confirm. "Yup. I mean we're just merely six months in and it's... it's still scary and new for us to be this way.." Mikasa shoots a glance at Eren, who mouths her a 'nice!'.

  Eventually, Eren and his dad joins their mini circle, which he then formally introduces Mikasa as his 'girlfriend'. Of course they are happy; Carla's eyes on the verge of waterworks, sentimental about the both of them, then about her sons, and Grisha rubbing circles on her back while chuckling about her being dramatic. But he did also mention that he shared the same sentiment as his wife. Now Mikasa could see how he resembles his older brother; their father had their green eyes, their hair texture, and somewhat of their build too. She would assume he is a stern man from his stoic expression, but according to Eren, he is quite the contrary - the Thesaurus of the brothers' terrible puns and dad jokes, if you will. 

   They also waved at his uncles who seemed to be too exhausted to even utter a 'hi' back, enticing laughter from the table. Then everyone seems to start arranging themselves, clearly initiating dinner. 

   She somewhat feels guilty for being an imposter, but then again, it was Eren's idea. And so far, it had been a success and their performance was well enough for everyone to buy their crap. After all, they did go to lengths by changing their accents and mannerisms when they were sneaking around in Quebec; which would cost their heads if they did get caught. So, they were pretty much naturals.

   But then again, so far. 

----

  Eren feels like his stomach was twisted into different directions at the sight of plates being placed on the table. Mikasa also seems to be as hungry as him, her lips wriggling and she sheepishly wipes her drool. She and him grit their teeth goofily at each other - they haven't really had a proper meal throughout the day and to make matters worse, they lost their appetite during the flight. As he quickly lunges his arm at the lobsters, he instantly halts when his father shoots him a glare and croaks his throat.

"Everyone, let's say grace first." 

   Grisha raises his brow towards Eren, enticing a chuckle from Pieck and Zeke across the table. Holding in a sigh, Eren smiles and bobs his head in feigned concession. Everyone around the table began hanging their heads low, closing their eyes, and linking their hands together, with him obviously shuffling in his seat in such discomfort. A few seats down, Gabi and Isabel both kiss their teeth and shake their heads at him. Mikasa giggles as they held hands, making him roll his eyes until he shuts it.

"We thank you for blessing us this meal... For everyone safely arriving here... For blessing us with this beautiful place..."

There was no guarantee that the prayer would end soon - hell, the world would end before they'll recite Amen. The waft of seafood was literally making his head spin and mouth foam in such desperation. He tries ducking head lower and shutting his eyes even more to resist the temptation, but he ends up finding himself opening one eye to peak at the lobster tail he was trying to reach earlier. He opens both of his eyes slowly, then rippling into confident blinks realizing that everyone was submerge in the prayer. Then he turns to his right: Mikasa raising her brows at him and curling her lips downwards, resisting a laugh which he also mimics.

"... Thank you for the gift of love you give my son Ezekiel and our daughter Pieck and may you bless them happy years ahead..."

He bites his lip in anxiety. His eyes were completely locked on the lobster as if it called to him, but he knew if he snatched one, it would be to obvious. So he peers on to the basket beside it - biscuits.

 He shots a look at Mikasa, who also reciprocates the same twitch. He rolls his eyes onto the basket and she automatically understood his game plan. Eren mouths, 'wanna split?', in which she nods and responds with 'you wanna do it since your arm's longer?'

'sure. you ready?'

'yeah."

 And so the 'Biscuit Heist' began. Eren slowly peeled his hand away from hers, attentive to Nana on the other side of his shoulder. Mikasa pretty much was on the look out to see if anyone would bob their head upwards, occasionally glancing at his arm. Seeing Aunt Faye and Pieck slightly twitch, she kicks his shin - which fortunately Eren didn't bark drastically to. He gave her a scowl and she widens her eyes. Eren bites his lip as he aims for a second attempt, putting Mikasa at the edge of her seat in apprehension. 

It was a success.

He managed to snatch a biscuit in a beat, chowing half of it in victory. Mikasa opens her mouth in which he feeds her the rest, both of them closing their eyes in such satisfaction and while resisting moans.

"... I'm also thankful that I'll likely get to live long enough to see my grandchildren, of Zeke's and Eren's young ones..."

And out their biscuits fly onto their plates.

---

    The dinner was pleasant as hoped. Mikasa and Eren could barely walk after being stuffed with pounds of seafood - and hell yeah it was worth it. The duo decided to stop by a bonfire, panting like Eren's uncles in such exhaustion. God knows how long they've had food this good - they usually settled for cold take outs and instant ramen noodles (well sometimes Mikasa would have much more luxurious foods than him, cooking basic meal kits when he'd call sour gummy worms breakfast). 

     Fortunately, throughout the entire time no one seemed to point their finger of the façade yet, but then again, everybody was too busy with enjoying the meals and catching up with each other's life updates. The champagne toast was somewhat of a disaster however, with Uncle Hannes literally pouring it on himself instead of drinking it, before passing out against the sand - which to Uncle Keith's displeasure, he hides him underneath the table to doze off until everyone finished their meal. 

    It was already evening but the beach was still abuzz with music and people, but it wasn't cacophonic unlike the night life of Trost City. It was peaceful - likely because of the waves singing hushes every time it swept the shore with the breeze tickling their skin. They sat in silence as if collecting energy from the pale moon above them. Mikasa was stuck in a trance with the stars, Eren chuckling at her amusement. 

"You're looking at the sky funny."

"C'mon, it's beautiful - all we get in Trost is one dot and dumb neon signs."

"Fair." Eren also cranes his neck upwards to look at the sky. He too was surprised at how prominent they were, catching himself being amazed too - he thinks it sounds silly but he forgets how they looked like at some point. Not long, he hears Mikasa coo a silent 'hwoo', hugging her arms and folding herself inwards. The breeze was definitely becoming stronger and even with the fire in front of them, she was shivering. Although her dress was long enough to touch just below her knees, her shoulders and back were exposed. 

   Eren, although he himself was freezing his balls off, decided to peel off the crimson shawl and wraps it around her shoulders. It looks like she needed it more anyway. Mikasa jolts and furrows her brows.

"What are you doing?"

   He doesn't say anything but continues to wrap it carefully around her twice, just enough for it to be secure and to avoid sliding off. He smiles. "There, you were shivering."

  "I wasn't."

  "Stop being stupid, you shoulders began looking like raw chicken's skin - I'm gonna throw up."

  She chuckles and kicks his thighs, which he cracks his mouth into a gasp. "That's the thanks I get!?"

  Mikasa slightly throws herself backwards, laughing harder in which he finds himself joining her too. When she cools down, she smiles at him. "Thanks a lot."

  Eren doesn't understand why his ears are on fire. "It's warm, isn't it?" She hums a satisfied 'mhm'. 

    They pretty much sat in silence for awhile until both of them cracked into yawns. They had one hell of a long ass day; as much as they wanted to peruse the shores and the interior even more, they were too tired to do so. Besides, they still have a couple of days to wander around at their leisure. They decided on settling back to the suite, Eren propping himself up first so he could pull her up.

   Navigating back to their rooms was easier than when they arrived, having familiarized the layout of the hotel. The door cried a satisfying ping when Eren presses his card against it, and they found themselves lunging and collapsing on to the bed, groaning. 

    They haven't really settled on the sleeping arrangements properly, but Eren insists she takes the bed alone. His excuse was simply that he wanted to sleep in a pillow fort - which they were oddly blessed with a lot of pillows from the bed, couch, and the seat from the window sill. After getting cleaned up, both of them assemble Eren's pillow fort using the couch and coffee table, extending it in order to fit his frame. It only took one attempt for them to hit success, and they found themselves giddily celebrating through jumping up and down. 

  Mikasa ends up dozing off before him, yelling goodnight in between yawns in which he utters back in glee too. Eren decided he was gonna sleep later, having seen that Die Hard was on TV.  A ping from his phone cries out, and he checks the lockscreen, revealing a message from Armin.

Coconut 🥥💦

did y'all bone yet

   Eren groans and tosses his phone onto the coffee table. God, they weren't gonna leave him alone with this shit.

Chapter Text

         The minute Mikasa's eyes fluttered open, she snaps them back into a wince. The room was bright with rays and even with curtains the light somehow managed to peak through cracks and shoot right at her eyes. She groggily hurls the blanket away to sit up, croaking a "Goomahnangg..." while arching her back forwards. Realizing that there was no response, she whips her head towards the couch - the fort was now neatly arranged into stacks of pillows on the seat and the carpet. Eren was obviously awake, so she assumes that he was likely in the bathroom. She drags herself to its door to knock

    "Eren! You there?" No response. She places an ear but silence - no sign that he was inside. She furrows her brows, perusing the room once more and realizing that she was alone in the suite. "Where the hell..." She mumbles before reaching for her phone by the nightstand, the lock screen fortunately giving her answers.

Yeager 

good morning bebe girl 🤪🤮

She rolls her eyes.

Chapter Text

While Eren was off fulfilling his best man duties, Mikasa found herself wincing and curling her toes with a masseuse denting palms on her back. Pieck decided on a calm spa treat before she herself would be surprised by some 'wild crap' in the evening (and much to Mikasa's protest, they kept insisting that she joins them). The women chit-chatted and fawned mostly about the wedding and reminisced the first time they met Pieck - a shy girl Zeke brought over for Thanksgiving with a box of Sachertorte in her hands. Mikasa tried to tune in and comment as much as she could, but her pained groaning overpowered no matter how much she tried to resist; she hasn't realized how fucked up her back was until now. Her back was likely weaker than the 80 year old's who rambled on without a single groan, and even hurled a lotion bottle at Faye to halt her from flirting with a male masseuse - You're not here to find husband number four.

     And the massage wasn't even the worst part - the pedicure was. She doesn't understand why spas are dubbed as relaxing when she's resisting the willpower to kick the pedicurist with her foot. She squirms in her seat and grips on the rests like her life depended on it - a ticklish person's worse nightmare coming to life. 

    "Miss, you okay?" The pedicurist shoots her head up and Mikasa waves her arms around.

    "Yeah! Yeah! All good!" Her voice was cracking.

Chapter Text

 "His.. Historia?" 

     Mikasa's eyes pop right out too. The name wouldn't ring a bell if it weren't for the small gossip earlier - and what great irony is it that Historia appeared out of the blue like some sort of unintentional manifestation. Eren looked uncomfortable, caught in a stupor and seemingly trying to find ways to avoid an interaction.  

   "Eren... Yeager!?" 

   Didn't work at all - Footsteps had already sauntered towards them.

    "That... That would be me - hi!" 

   "Oh my gosh - heeeyy! A small world!"

    "A... small world it sure is...."

     There were two women linking hands together and assuming that the petite blondie was filled with vim, Mikasa connected the dots that she's the one. The girl waned such light from her smile that she could stick out against the dim bar. Mikasa began to wonder why Eren's Nana awarded her with the epithet 'hell'.  

     Eren did the thing where he'd gently bob his head and fluttered his eyes too much; at the mention of his long hair, he awkwardly twirls his bangs. Mikasa and the freckled woman blinked at each other while reflecting the same looks of perplexity. 

   "Ah, baby!" Historia's attention was now at hers. "This is... This is Eren! I-uh we were-"

  "We went to high school together." He reaches out an arm out of courtesy yet one leg dragged hesitantly from the stool.  "I'm Eren. Me and Historia were really, really... great... friends back in the day..."

   The three women uttered different scales of 'ohs': Historia flutters her eyes seemingly taken aback, as the other's flat lips curve into a smile. Mikasa? Fiddling with her ring as her intrigued heightened; there was definitely a drop of juice spilled and she was quick to soak it up - Charmin's ultra soft got nothing on her nose.  

    "Ah, I see." She reciprocates the handshake. "I'm Ymir, nice to meet you, Eren."

    "She's my wife! We got married last week and we're on our honeymoon!" 

   The couple lets out hearty giggles as Eren utters a disinterested 'ahh.' He glances at Mikasa that he assumes had questions in her mind; he already knew what artifacts to dig from his noggin if she ever asks later. Unbeknownst to him, she was already toying around the few puzzle pieces she was given by the Yeager ladies, her fingers twitching... 

  "Hi! I'm so sorry if I suddenly interrupted your time I just-"

  "Oh no, no, no worries!" "No, no worries at all! Hi!" The duo sung in synchronicity - Eren gritting his teeth and Mikasa out of politeness. 

  "Hi! You must be...?"

   "Oh uhm this is my best fr-"

   "I'm Mikasa, Eren's fiancée." 

   "Yeah she's- huh?"

    Wait

    What.

    Was he hearing that right?

     The three seem to disregard the fact that he looked like a captured trout with his mouth and eyes popping open. The couple was showering them in flattery as Mikasa shimmied her shoulders in glory. Eren looked like an awkward blur. 

   "Oh my gosh! That's so great! Eren you're engaged!?" "Congratulations you guys!"

  "Uhhhh" was the only thing that came out of his mouth but he was drawing an entire lecture of math equations in his head - Why? What? How? When? First of all, they were 'off-duty' - was she maybe assuming they were friends or guests? If he looks around his circumference, there is no other Yeager around - so what was the purpose of the improv? And Last time he checked they were only 'dating' not 'affianced' - why such a stretch?

  He shoots a stupefied wince at her when she throws a conceited wink and a smug grin. Or wait a second... Was she just seizing the opportunity to toss the ball back at him? 

   Sure, he could easily deny everything, but the three were already neck deep in the quicksand of matrimonial topics - the couple in front of them being newlyweds didn't help too. They showered them with praises and Mikasa seemed to be basking of it - a contrast to her somewhat timorous stance throughout the week and it was now clear as day what her intention was. 

   "Ah! When's the wedding?" 

   "Hmmm.... Me and Eren thought somewhere in-"

   "February 14th." All eyes on him but his was focused on Mikasa so he could shoot daggers at her. "Right... babe."

   "Right you are, my hunny bunch." She boops his nose, impressed that he went along. There was already so much bullshit unfolding in one night that he might as well throw another gallon of gasoline to the growing fire. 

    "Valentines? Awhh! That's so sweet!

    "I knoww!! and gosh we were lucky to reserve such a day~! You know, venues and all ."

     "Wow can't imagine how hard looking for one must've been!" "Pretty lucky you two!"

     "I guess destiny really wanted me and Eren to tie the knot on that very day!"  

     "Ah yes, yes! We found the venue of our dreams! The glorious landfills of our very city - that's where we'll exchange our 'I do'!" I don't.

     "Landfill?" The couple's faces slightly curled. "Oh... that's-that's an interesting-"

      "Nawww - you silly rat, my love."  She swats an arm and Eren's mouth opens like a bin when stepping on its pedal. Theoretical, yet her spine shuddered at the thought of rodents clapping instead of humans. Eren would likely be the type to dress them in tuxedos and dresses though -  she's thankful they aren't actually affianced, it would be hell.  "Well Historia, Ymir, we often joke about marrying each other in a dumpster! Cuz you knoww when you're in love it doesn't matter where you marry - it's the moment!" 

      The couple sing relieved and dreamy ah's; Eren rolling his eyes at her cheesy remark. "Yeah, yeah."

      Mikasa tucks in a strand in faux giddy. "It's gonna be a garden wedding - that's the actual theme!"

      "Ahhhhh!" "Ohhh, that's wonderful!"

     "Potato-potahtoe, the theme's concept is in close proximity - Mikasa loooves Avant-garde stuff!"

     "Oh I do?"

      "Yes you do, my candied cardiovascular pump! You see guys, my lovely wifey-to-be doesn't like basic flower and balloon arc stuff. So, we'll DIY a Wall-E inspired one using rotting car parts - very artistically expressive kinda like our love."

     "Ahh..." "Oh...."

     "Avant-garde..." Mikasa's brows raise, "Oh yeah! I just remembered sweetheart! Our theme's 'one man's junk is another man's treasure' - deeply inspired by your very  apartment that is!"

    Their brows rose. 

    "C'mon I love being eco-friendly - I luv the earth as much as we love each other!"

    "D'awwww, a horrid excuse for you not picking up your shit - be thankful the goddesses sent me for you."

   "D'aaaawww! Still angry we did horizontal tango on my grey mattress, babe?"

     "Your what mattress!?." She winces - His mattress is fucking grey!?   

    Historia and Ymir felt like they were witnessing a live ping pong match. Their brows would touch closer to their hairlines as if to keep scores. 

      Eren wraps his arm on Mikasa's shoulder. "Anyways, so yeah, Valentine's day - in like next year? Then we'll have Stuart Little as our ringbearer and Remy's our chef."

   At this point, they both knew everything was clearly satire.  "Gosh you guys are silly and goofy!" 

   "But that doesn't mean our marriage is gonna be a joke! Haha..." Cue the awkward customer service laughter from the duo - and Eren is now digging for ways to get themselves out of the terribly constructed small talk they set themselves in. 

    There were more patrons approaching the bar and it seemed like it was his signal to throw a deck of excuses on the table. He felt like was going to burst the further he pushes on with the latter.

    "So uhm guys I think its time for me and Mi-"

    "There's quite a lot of people flocking in - you guys wanna get out of here and sit somewhere?" 

    "Oh." All heads whip towards Ymir. 

    "I-uh I think that sounds great, honey - Mikasa and uhm Eren, whaddaya think?"

     He sucks his teeth, "Ah you see-"

    "SURE~! Where to?"

     Mikasa grips his hand and he was uttering an almanac of curses under his breath - all in English, his mom's Spanish, and his dad's German. Great. 

        A few walks away, they hit a small kiosk with a couple of seats. Still an outdoor setting with music booming but quiet enough to host a decent conversation without burning their throats. Perusing through the menu, Eren remembers the two piña coladas he and Mikasa abandoned and he's having thoughts of running back to 'fetch them'. A few hums later, he ended up settling with the same thing Mikasa got. 

    Surprisingly, the table wasn't too terribly awkward. They filled the gaps through giving each other small dossiers of each other's lives. Mikasa spoke like his advocate and he'd join in adding into the anecdotes, throwing part truth and part lie that alluded to their sticky notes. Eren expected Historia's shocked reaction when he revealed he was now a detective. From what they gathered, Ymir and Historia met through a charity event and they hit it off pretty easily. Ymir works in a white collar job as Historia is aiming to be a permanent schoolteacher - to Eren's surprise as well but he guesses that she might've had an epiphany about her vocation like he did. 

   "I guess I just like to be around kids - I don't know. I feel like... like I just love to teach and take care of them! I guess volunteering really honed my interest in being a teacher." He was right.

   "Or you just love the idea of bossing them around." 

  Historia shoots a glare that erupted chuckles. She shakes her head, "Anywaysss, Mikasa, girlie! Mind if you give as a lil show n' tell?"

   "Oh? Uh... Show and tell... girlie?"

   "The deal sealer ya know - the ring!" 

    Just as Eren was fishing for an excuse of why she doesn't have one, she places her hand on the table to show her hand - talk about convenience. The couple in front of them enthusiastically gasped, Mikasa awkwardly leaning forward so Historia can see better.  

    "My gosh! Sooo beautiful!"

     "Ah... Thank you!" A convenient prop, thanks Baa-chan. 

    The red ruby proudly shone between two smaller diamonds which all sat on a gold ring. The gem was a piece of her late grandmother's favorite necklace; the other bits of the mosaic now residing on her mother's bracelet and her aunt's earrings. Eren knows that the ring meant the universe to her; she'd often wear it as a pendant on her neck and when seeking solace, she would kiss or rub it.

     "Red ruby! This is so cute and unique - often people go for diamonds."

     "Yeah well red's pretty significant to us - so I guess that's why Eren opted for a ruby. I mean its our favorite color!" He doesn't really have one and hers is actually pink. 

 Eren crosses his arms on the table, "It's a colour... of, of of Passion... uh Love? - Oh! I wrapped a red scarf when we started hitting it off. And uhm blood - I'm willing to die for her." Jeez, he sucked at symbolism.

  "Oh yeah... of course!" Mikasa thought it was pretty clever for him to reel his scarf in the picture. "But he said its some sort of allusion to this Japanese folklore my grandma told me."

    "Oh my gosh! That's so thoughtful and so sweet - and what's it about? The folklore?" 

    "Folklore? Oh yeah the thing you told me." He doesn't even know. 

    "Ah! It's the red string of fate. Apparently, we all have invisible strings on our finger that ties us with our destined lover or soulmate. So, I guess you can say me and Eren are tied together, right babe?"

   "Yeah, yeah! We're... chained to each other."

    Historia was cooing once again; Ymir smiling even more.

    "Awh man, I somewhat feel like shit that there was no fancy symbolism behind my proposal-"

    "No love!" Historia wraps a hand around hers. "It was still very special - and you know how much I appreciated every little thing about it."

     She melts onto a loving smile.  "I love you."

    "I love you to the moon and back."

    It was Mikasa's turn to let out a dreamy 'awhh.'

     Ymir's phone suddenly rings in her pocket, prompting to her excuse herself out of the table. Historia was now left with Eren and Mikasa who were mumbling amongst themselves (more striking each other with violent footsies under the table). 

    "Ah... So uhm... Armin's the best man - I assume?'  She ran out of general topics to further break the ice. 

    "Nah, no. It's my brother."  She utters an 'ah' and bobs her head gently. "And uhm... Annie and Armin are having their first child." 

    "Oh!? They're still together after these years!? That's amazing - and a kid now too, huh?"

    "Mhm, yup!"

     "Ah! You know Annie and Armin too?" Mikasa adds in.

    "Yeah! I was great friends with them for awhile - well, like said all went to high school together."

    "Ahhh, I see, I see."

     Eventually the waiter arrived with their trays, somewhat saving them from the grace of running out of dialogues. At the sight of her coconut pudding, Mikasa beamed - it was no surprise really as she was willing to sell her soul for any cup of pudding the devil offers. Eren wasn't as enthusiastic, but he did enjoy it as much she did. Historia would periodically whip her head in anticipation for Ymir - her banana split could form into a mush anytime. 

   In the midst of it all, Mikasa's phone also began ringing and all heads whip to her flashing screen.

      "Oh? It's... It's Levi - my cousin." She glances at the two. "Guys mind if I answer it?"

    Heads shook heavily as they murmured 'go ahead'. Mikasa gave a sheepish smile before disappearing onto a quiet crevice. 

    Even with the noisy mumbling of the beach, a tensed silence sat in the middle of the table as if it were a big tea pot - It was now Eren and Historia alone. 

----------------

   "Hello?"

    Levi sporadically phoned her and if he did, there was a 75% chance it was an emergency, 10% butt dials, and 15% unpredictable ones.

   "Levi? Hello?"

    He sounded terribly intoxicated and in pain - not a good sign especially because he garnered an injury a few weeks ago.  "HEY! Are you okay!? Levi?"

    He grunted heavily and seemed to be out of breath which didn't sound good. A loud porcelain-like crash hit which sent a shock. "LEVI!?"

    The mic sounded like it was covered by something but his grunting was still prominent. Was this perhaps a butt dial? No, he sounds distressed.

    "Levi? Levi? Is Erwin with you-"

    Hold on.... Is he...

    Moaning!?

   "OH MY FUCKING GOD."

    Great, the vivid imagery of him fucking her boss accompanied with their groaning was now etched in her head. If she made a tally chart of the times she regretted sliding his number on the captain's desk, there would already be fifteen sticks all in their two years of being together. There's a lot of palm trees laying around and it's maybe best to stand underneath one until a coconut hits her right on the head. 

------------

          At a loss of filling the gaps of awkwardness, Historia and Eren gave each other jovial grins before they ducked their heads to their food. She dithered whether or not it was best to break the silence, beginning with a hesitant 'uhm' to test the waters of a new convo. When Eren hummed, it gave her the invitation to start swimming. 

  "I didn't expect that we'd see each other again. I saw you and I hope I wasn't a bother but I wanted to say hey.."

  "Oh it's all good. I mean... I'd like to say hey to an old friend too." He sounded kind. "Well if I was being honest, I usually pray no one I know sees me in public but here we are - hiiiiiii ." They snicker and in a way, it somewhat eased out the mutual uneasiness.

   She softly smiles, "Wow... Lots of... Lots of changes, huh?"

   "Yeah time could do so much."

   "Yeah..." Speak up, or forever hold your peace. "Uhm Eren, can we... can we talk?"

   "Oh? Well we're holding a conversation right now so we're pretty much talking-"

   "No, no, no- I meant talking... " He cocks a brow. "As in about... 'Round ten years ago."

    He pauses from stirring his spoon. To her chagrin, she flutters her eyes - it didn't seem like a great idea at all. "Actually, no, never mind please carry on-"

   "What about it?" 

    "I don't think it's necessary-" He was no longer going to protest as indicated by both of his brows raising. "Well..." She raises a white flag in the form of a deep breath. "Uhm I'll start off with - please don't misread that I'm expecting some sort of rekindling, that's not the case-"

    "Oh girlie, I know my crooked teeth are straighter than you now."  She lets out a belly laugh and he chuckles. "Besides, you look happily married and me, freshly affianced." Maria, he isn't.

    "Of course." She nods, then prepares herself once again through a sigh. Even if it was years ago, she still wanted to seize the chance to say,

     "I'm sorry about... everything." It was soft, akin to a somber singing of the breeze on a cold night. "Eren. I'm... really sorry."

     He blinks. If it were back then he figured he'd react on the opposite side of the spectrum as he is now - the three goddesses would only know the extent of his angst. Their last encounter a decade ago was a blur; more of a reckless and an emotional kaleidoscope of events. Eren, despite feeling awkward around her now, had already found peace with it all. But with Historia, she was definitely at war with something involving it. 

   "I - uh..." She shuffles frantically, aiming to gather her things. "Well it was nice seeing you again, I'll go get Ymir and we'll-"

   "Stay - I thought you wanted to talk."

   She became still again yet her fingers still trembled on her lap. "That's all... what I really needed to say... I uh... I know it's not gonna change what happened or its shallow compared to the burdens I-"

   "Give it a rest, Historia." He smiles lightheartedly. "Thank you. I appreciate and accept your apology. I forgave you a long time ago already and life did go on, did it?"

   It felt like a light loomed that broke the tension into relief.

   "It did..." She smiles but there was still a hint of reluctance. "How were and are you able to forgive like that?"

   "Well back then, it took awhile. But last time I checked we were young and stupid - some people around that age pee in buckets and Reiner got his ass stuck by a wired fence thrice."

   "Oh my god! Yeah!" She chuckles at the hilarious recollection before dropping again, "You're right but still. I put you and your family through such hell... You guys didn't deserve it at all..."

   "Well..." He flutters his eyes. "We can't change the past can we?"

   "Your life... It had so much greater things ahead and your parents... I pity them so much."

   "Historia, I did that to myself and my parents are completely fine now."

   "Yeah but if it weren't for me-"

   "Your hands didn't do anything, mines did."

   "But I gave you the ear."

   "But I was dumb enough to listen."

   "You only did it to appease me. Mea Culpa, Eren."

   "Well, that I can't deny."

     To put it simply, he was a golden child flipped into a teenage nightmare influenced by a wrong crowd - Historia's crowd. His Nana's sobriquet for him summed it up, "Rebellious Rat'. The exact order of events were merely a blur now but his actions did stick: if you were crapping your pants in those hours and if you got slapped with a life-turning consequence, you wouldn't forget it. 

     He did everything to appease her like said - when she'd ask him to bark, he'd bark. Eren's gaga for her spiraled him downwards that his life goal then was to simply be her 'dog' - setting both of his parents aflame when he lost tickets to various prestigious schools, of course. To make matters worse, he'd sneak his hands in their safe so he could tend to her Primma Donna-like lifestyle; he felt pressured to buy her the newest collections of purses and jewelry. When she butted heads with anybody, he would vandalize the property of the mentioned rival - and that transpired into the final straw. He was sent to juvie after being caught and at such news, his mother passed out in such stress from him. Where was Historia? Flying to London as if to wash her hands from it all. She did return and they crossed paths - some sort of a closure gone wrong with immaturity hanging by the hooks. It was mess you could pull out from the exaggerated soaps any grandparents in the world would enjoy. 

   He gulps, as if he just closed the book of a harsh story. "I wanna say you were such a fucking brat!"

  She chuckles. "I know, I was - can't live without phoning 'Daddy' every time my ass was in trouble, nor I couldn't even hold a spoon to my mouth-"

  "Waah, waah, waah." He mocks a cry of a baby and they both laugh. "Also, you've complete changed - that's what matters. And I'm proud of you."

  "Thank you." She feels such at peace. "All credits to Freida - we also cut off ties with our father, so that helped." Ah, the tycoon fucker who almost put his father's medical license at stake over such latter. "And Ymir... She's always making sure I stay grounded - I feel like I'm such a better person now because of her. Maria, I can't live without her."

  "Awww I'm so happy for you. You guys look so happy together."

  "Thank you, we are!"

  "And I wanna say thank you, too."

 "Huh? Why?"

  "Without such drama, I wouldn't be where I am today - in an unfortunate turn of events you unknowingly guided me away from med school."

  She chuckles, "Yeah, go figure, you're in a different path now. Quite ironic, you used to run away from cops and now you're one of them."

    "And I still hate a lot of them, so that didn't really change." She raises his brows. "But I got an epiphany during juvie that I needed to become a better person... didn't know how then saw the cops there - I hated them so much because they were full of shit that my pride yelled at me that I was gonna outdo them. There's also this kid who trespassed a property but all he wanted was to look for clues for his murdered sister, I grew livid at that."

    "Oh my... That's terrible."

     "Then I-I don't know, I chased a burglar on foot for a purse and I guess that led me to joining the academy. My brother thought it was great so I could learn a thing or two about discipline - didn't do much, people were still shit, but then I was motivated to prove everyone I was worth more than my history. And yeah, I wanted to help people and eat donuts all day."

    "Oh my god, donuts."

     "Just kidding - but let's just say without all that, I wouldn't be where I am today - love what I do, and hell, I wouldn't be able to meet Mikasa." He softly smiles at the thought of his best friend and she lets out a coo.

   "Hi! What about me?" 

   Both of their heads whip towards her in a shock of her sudden return. Mikasa smiles as she plops herself on the seat and Eren's mouth hangs open for awhile. 

   "Oh, uhm yeah... We were..." He glances at Historia. "I-uh I just told her about how I landed on the force and I wouldn't have met you if I went on a different path."

   "Ah y-yeah, Eren once wanted to be a doctor last time we saw each other and just wondered how he switched paths..." She giddily leans in, "Also, you guys take the cake of being the actual 'partners-in-crime'!"

    All of them let out hearty giggles, with Eren's and Historia's eyes thanking each other for the unexpected serene closure.

-------- 

    Ymir returned shortly with a long face and noting that she and Historia had some sort of serious moment inside their bubble, Mikasa expresses her 'disparity' towards Eren for the meantime. He bursts onto a fit of cackles while rocking himself and it didn't help that her face was full of such anguish and disgust.

   "It's not funny - stop laughing!" The next thing she knows is she's joining him along with tears on her eyes. "It's not funny!"

   "How are you gonna face the captain when we come back?"

  And Lieut Hanji that she flirted with - apparently. She throws her hands up. "I don't know!? Just... I'll try not to think or mention that I heard him fuck my cousin over the phone."

   Eren swears he was losing it. "How did they sound like?"

  "You fucking pig." She winces before glancing at the company in front of them.

    Historia was rubbing Ymir's hands and kissing them to give solace. "... It's gonna be okay, babe. You can do it - I believe you. You're... smart, intelligent, and you can kick ass in that presentation. You'll get the deal."

  "I love you, thank you... You're the light of my life and you help me get through everything-"

  "Is-Is everything okay?" Mikasa didn't mean to insert herself in their sentimental moment.

  "O-oh, just... She's stressed out from her work and I wanted to give her a couple of positive affirmations - it helps!"

  Eren and Mikasa utter 'ahs' (somewhat queasy about their PDA earlier of them on the verge of touching each other's nose).

   Mikasa resumed on eating the pudding but realizing she was on her last bite, she dips a spoon on Eren's. "You want the rest?" He begins placing the cup in front of her.

  "No! It's okay I just wanted one last bite."

  "Take it, I don't really like it anyway." He actually wanted more.  

  "Thanks, Yeager." He clears his throat. "Oh - thanks, babe." Lucky enough the blunder wont cost their heads.

   "Guys!" They both hum and shoot their heads towards Historia. "You should do it too!"

   They glance at each other, puzzled. "Do... what?"

    "Positive affirmations!"

    "Positive affirmations...?" They murmur behind their gritted teeth. 

    "Well, it's a thing me and Ymir do a lot! It's a literal form of love language. You know, if negative words can hurt and stick, I'm pretty sure positive ones will have the same effect but a much nicer one."

    "Oh..." They flutter their eyes towards each other awkwardly. "Uhm..."

    "C'mon you should try saying nice things to each other!"

    "Uhmm, well me and Mikasa aren't really into that type of thing-"

    "Eren, not even an I love you to your fiancée?" Ymir raises a brow. "That itself is an affirmation." 

    "Actually me and Eren aren't that expressive-"

    "You should be." 

     Ymir and Historia pick up their glasses of water and sip intensely, their eager eyes shooting at them like one big spotlight. They were pretty much pushing them on a plank with crocodiles gnawing below - not another excuse.

    The world around them felt weird all of a sudden. Eren internally was running laps and Mikasa was a fish in a net. She croaks her throat, "Well, we-"

    "Mikasa, it's just normal things you say to each other not a revision of the Declaration of Independence - C'mon you two!"

    "Not even what you love about each other? What you like? Something about them that inspires you?"

    "Okay, okay! I'll start!" They weren't going to budge so she takes the bullet. She began shifting herself towards Eren who also mimics her; it felt like she was taking small steps on the wooden plank with such a lump in her throat. As a response to her uneasiness she ended up bursting into a hearty giggle.

  "What's funny?" He furrows his brows; a smirk on his lips that was influenced by her guffaw. 

  "You are." He winces and she was gonna start from there. She cools down, running her fingers on her lap. "Well, you make me laugh a lot... I find myself smiling more around you. You're literally this... this ball of sunshine, man."

   And those emeralds struck her like lightning; her mouth see-sawing with barely a creak coming out. But for some reason, something about the softness of his face bewitched her into gaining more courage to push through. The words of his mother rung through her ears, 'Mikasa, thank you for making Eren happy.'

   "Eren, thank you... for make me happy and... I appreciate that you have my back all the time - and I'm always glad to reciprocate every little thing you do for me."

   "Oh... I-"

   "I'm not done - listen to what I have to say."

    He was swallowing the apple in his throat. Ymir and Historia? Leaning in like camera crew for a wildlife documentary.

  "You just... make everything so much better. If I'm honest, usually at work I feel scared - you know, the shit we deal with everyday is a lot. But when you crack your stupid jokes or when you sing too loudly in the car, it makes me feel safe - you make me feel safe and that gets me through the day. Also, when you show someone you care about them, you don't hesitate to do so even if you put yourself at risk - you're too kind sometimes and I wish you'd leave some for yourself. I don't think I thank you enough for always just being there too, whether its as simple as dropping by with a cup of coffee or just lending an ear. And I know I poke fun at you being messy and all but that's just you - and I got to admit your chaos is the balance I didn't know I needed in my life. You're a lot to deal with but... I don't mind it at all..."

  Her cheeks were on fire and the only way that she could put it out was to plaster a smile to the audience in front of them - Ymir and Historia totally didn't read her discomfiture, who were both melting in her words.

   "Eren! Your turn! Your turn!"

     He feels like his head was held under water. And when Mikasa's eyes found their way to his again, he was drawn like tides to the moon. Her steel eyes could cut anyone into fear when it was filled with fury, but in moments like this where her lids crinkle when she smiled, it brought him an odd feeling of serenity. 

   "Miks..." He began with an utter like the tranquil hush of the shore.

   "Hm...?" 

   "Mikasa Ackerman, I've always hated you."

   She was still.

   Their audience? Mouth and lips popping open - after everything nice she said about him how could he!? 

   He rows his shoulders backwards before folding his arms. "I've always hated how you're better than me in almost everything." 

   "Oh wow!" She was at ease and he smirks - he knows it ruffled her feathers. Historia and Ymir roll their eyes in such relief.

   "No seriously I... always looked up to you. I hate it how you're right most of the time but... your opinion matters to me. Well when you were new I bugged you a lot - and I still do. I was just hella jealous that you were taking my spot in being the best-"

   "So you admit that you cheated on the bet?"

   He scrunches his nose, "No not at all! C'mon! I definitely solved that shit first." She rolls his eyes and they both giggle. 

   "And from that, you inspire me to do better - no actually, work or not, you do inspire me. I'm a mess, we both know that, but you keep my ass in order even though I know it pisses you off at times. I appreciate that because you're patient enough to care - you care enough to put the toothpaste cap back on for me, and you care enough to make me a playlist even though some of the songs aren't of your taste. The irony is that you like to keep everything in order and you're quite strict, yet you're the one who I feel so free around with - I can be myself around you to whatever I please and you just... You just go along with it all no matter how idiotic my ideas are - you fucking hop on the back on the bike like the world's about to end!"

    And her laugh had never sound as sugared as before. "I don't know... I just.. I guess that's just how we are and... I have to put up with you - I can't waste away my talent of being able to read your crappy penmanship."

    "On my part, I have to put up with you being a stationery aficionado and you barking about how I should pick up my crumbs all the time. "

   Their laughter was of a sweet tune that sung along with their eyes that held more stars than the skies above them.

   "And you know, Miks..."

   "What?" She rubs her neck praying that it would break away the stone stuck in her throat.

    "In the morning, I... I always hope that I see you on your little desk.... And when I do - even though you're pouting or rolling your eyes or on the verge of breaking your monitor, I know its gonna be a good day."

   "O-oh..." He meant that he was looking forward to push his antics with her... right?  "Same... Same... It's... boring without you."

   For a moment, Historia and Ymir felt like the world belonged to the two. 

   He feels funny.

   She feels funny. 

   Why does she/he look so different now? 

   "Awh you guys are so sweet!" At their awe, Eren and Mikasa awkwardly flutter their eyes away to their opposite shoulders.

   "Right? A perfect match made from heaven! D'aaaaw~!"

    "Y-yeah... We are." And he curses silently as he was reminding his conscience of the silent vow he made. 

   Suddenly the restaurant's stage was occupied by an emcee on the mic and heads turn to it. "Alrightie! We have quite a handful of people sitting in here even at such a late time - how about a game you guys!? Give it an applause!"

   A ripple of applauses arose from all tables and the four of them shrug their shoulders at each other. Turns out, the restaurant would occasionally host games as fillers when the band wasn't playing or just to lift the mood. The man raises a coconut like a ceremonial torch, announcing it as a prop for 'coconut smoochie'. 

   "We need four people! Four people!"

  Ymir, Eren, and Mikasa quickly bowed their heads to their food - and even if their plates were empty, they were scrapping it in a frenzy. Historia? Waving her arms around with such enthusiasm - unfortunately catching the attention of the emcee and the howling crowd. The next thing they know is that they're awkwardly dragging themselves among the sea of claps on to the small platform. 

   "Perfect! Now, gimme your names!"

   "Historia! This is my wife, Ymir!"

   "Y-Ymir..."

   The mic nearly punched Eren's mouth, "Eren!"

   "M-Mikasa..."

   "Is she your wife?"

   They shake their heads vigorously, Eren taking her hand to flaunt her ring. "No, my... my fiancée."  And the cheering painted their cheeks into a deep shade of crimson. 

  He then explains the mechanics: the coconut is placed around the midsection of two people and the goal is simply to raise it up to their mouths, without using their hands or dropping it in the process. Noting the drastic height difference of their rivals, Eren and Mikasa nod at each other with such arrogance. The coconut was sandwiched between their stomachs as arms grasps behind their backs.

    "Ready?" The crowd joins in, "3!... 2!... 1! Go!"

   They shimmied rapidly, barking at each other along the process as the crowd cheers them on.

    "Get down!" "NO! STAY UP!"

    "YMIR! GET DOWN!" "I'M TRYING IT'S GONNA SLIP!"

     "Do I turn around!?" "NO!"

     "GET DOWN!" "I CAN'T!"

     Status? Complete signs of struggle with Ymir and Historia barely shifting the nut. But Mikasa and Eren? Making progress by pressing it on each other's chest - and god, his knees were about to break soon and her breasts were posing quite a challenge. 

     "This is so weird!" "WE'RE ALMOST THERE, EREN!" "UGH!" 

      "Love, try to turn around!" "I don't think it's a great idea at all-"

     Thud!  

       The people cry out a melancholy 'ooof' - Ymir and Historia were now disqualified as expected. They let out giggles and now all eyes were on the last couple standing. An audience member points a finger, "They're on the neck! They're on the neck!"

      "MIKS! WE'RE ON THE NECK!" She only lets out an inaudible squawk.

       "GO EREN! GO MIKASA!"

       "PUSH FORTH, MIKASA! PUSH!" "MMHURGH!" "YOU'RE DOING GREAT, SWEETIE!" 

       "Go! Go! Go! Go- WOOH!"

       Success, as expected.

       Their faces have never been this close before; separated merely by the rough coconut pressed on their lips. And Eren wonders...

       "Give it up for the couple!"  

        Mikasa peels the nut away and raises it to declare their victory with the crowd howling and whistling at their feat. He croaks his throat and joins with the uproar of applause, suddenly taken aback when she pulls him for an overly ecstatic embrace. Historia gives him a quirky wink that he reciprocates with a scrunch of a nose and a giggle.

       What a night. 

    "Oh... Really? That's why..."

    "Yeah."

         Mikasa finally had all the pieces on her hands with Eren deciding to open up about everything. The juvie record was no longer as a surprise as back then he had already revealed it to her. Of course, she had to pretend she was completely clueless about Historia's existence, holding onto the tidbit she gathered earlier in the day. 

    "How are you feeling, Yeags?"

    "You know... All this time I didn't care whether or not she'd say sorry but today - I don't know I feel so much better. I've already put it behind me for so long but it feels great that I was able to help her with it."

        And she was right about Eren being kind; no matter what, he always had the heart to embrace the flaw of others while helping them too.

    "She's a really nice girl."

    "Well, that's not the girl I knew years ago - and I feel proud to see her like this."

    Mikasa plops herself onto the couch beside him. "D'awww! Should we invite her and Ymir to our wedding, babe?"

     "We're off duty, detective." Eren rolls his eyes as they both snicker. He sighs as he flips through the channels of the television. The previous movie was a blur and they lost interest, mostly occupied with him spilling his guts out about his and Historia's soap opera flare. Mikasa silently chows on a chip and sets the bag between them so he could reach it easier. "Thanks."

    She nods. "What should we watch?"

    "I don't know, anything to kill the time until we doze off - you wanna watch something?"

    Just as she was planning on shaking her head, she frantically points at the screen, "Stop! Stop! Friends is on!"

    "You like that show?"

    "Uhmm, comsi comsa but I like the nostalgic aspect of it. My mom usually has it on when I'd come home from school."

    He nods, "I see."

   They sat in silence for awhile before she clears her throat, "Question."

    "Hm?"

    "I still don't understand why Mrs. Yeager throws dates at you though."

    "Oh," He snickers. "I'm not so sure either but... with Historia's case, she was paranoid about who I go out with or dated for awhile. Then eventually I stopped caring about such thing - and funny enough, that too she became wary about. She apparently got scared I was gonna end up as a sad bachelor like my uncle - her older brother."

    "Hmmm...? Really?" She cocks a brow in intrigue. 

     "Well, he was happy alone but he kept whining to his sisters about how terribly he wanted to settle. Well... He wasn't able to fulfill such thing - unfortunately succumbing to an illness before having the chance to do so."

     "Oh my god... I'm... I'm sorry about that..."

     "Don't be - I never met him before, actually. But I think that set alarms on my mother's ears thinking I was gonna end up like him - he too would bury his nose too deep in his job that he barely had time to cut his hair. And the icing on the cake? I was named after him."

     "So basically you were named after your Uncle Eren?" He hums and she raises her brows, "Wow, I knew you for quite a time yet I learn somethin' new about you everyday."

     "I'm a man of surprises - you could say so."

    Their heads turn to the screen and resume on the silence but the small crunching of the bag and chips. Mikasa beams - The One with the Proposal! The show itself wasn't her cup of tea but she recalls the episode quite well; it was the one of the rare things in the world that cracked the ice-hearted Himari Ackerman into forming a mountain of tissues. (Mimi, I'm not crying over some fictional show - your father's stupidity of putting his boots in the dryer is the thing that's making me cry - Sure, ma.)

      With the apartment decorated with a plethora of candles, Chandler saunters to Monica in such astonishment. "Oh my God."

     Mikasa's toes curl when Monica gets down on her knees as the audience in the background cries in such surprise. 

     Chandler, in all my life, I never thought I would be so lucky as to fall in love with my best... my best... there's a reason why girls don't do this!

     Even with such familiarity, she finds herself laughing at Monica's panic - God, if she was put on the same spotlight, Mikasa would be frantic too. Awkwardly, she glances at-

     Snoring.

    "Oh?" He was already dozing off and she giggles - they sure had quite a day, no quite a night actually. She resumes, 

    I thought that it mattered what I said or where I said it, then I realized the only thing that matters is that you make me happier than I thought I could be. And if you let me, I will spend the rest of my life trying to make you feel the same way...

    Monica, will you marry me?

    "Yes." She utters in synchronicity with the character. The rest of the scenes for some reason became a blur and her ears were crying a sharp tinging. She fishes for another chip that sat between her and...

     Eren...

    Even when asleep he waned such rays of sunlight. He murmurs like a baby unable to form words in his sleep that tickles her cheeks into a smirk. 

    Is there really anyone else in the world?

    Yet it all then drops onto a painful gulp as if there were thousands of needles trailing in her neck.

    Mikasa, please stop - don't do this to yourself.

    'You're not supposed to fall in love with me... We're not supposed to fall in love with each other...'

     'Won't be a problem.'

    'I'm not dating a fucking cop again'

-------------

     "SHIT!" 

     Mikasa curses atop of her lungs when she nearly slipped. But no matter how far she lunged her legs over the stairs, she was still late - hella late. The contrary of her punctual nature but losing track of time, she forgot that Jean had prepared dinner for the both of them. Her fingers trembled when she carefully presses the door open, the murmur of the television from the living room bursting. 

     She gulps as she hurls her boots by the coat hanger. "Hi babe..."

    Jean grunts back without ever peeling his eyes off the screen and presses a glass on his lips. "I already ate. Just heat up whatever you want to eat."

   "Okay..." She carefully turns to the dining table while biting her lip - everything was already wrapped in foil. She unravels some containers and it revealed steak and potatoes that all hit her with such guilt. Placing down her tote by the chair first, she then quickly strides and plops herself beside him.

   "Babe...Hi."

   The horseracing tournament filled the silence as he once again sips and cries out an 'ah'. She coots closer to plant a kiss on his cheek while snaking her hands on his; Jean still staring so ever-blankly on the horses on the tracks. 

   "I'm sorry I'm late... again... I-I was caught up in the office - Captain Smith wanted me to stay over to look through a couple of evidences. Well, it's a pretty busy day today and also, we finally caught the notorious cult leader - you know, Pastor Nick that your precinct is also keeping tabs on?" No response but she continues." But... Seriously, I appreciate everything that you do... Thank you for the dinner-"

    "Do you even care, Mikasa?"

    "Hm?"

    Jean bends over to smack the empty glass on the coffee table. "I said... Do you even care?"

   She flutters her lids but she's not sure what he exactly means, responding with a reluctant, "I do care... babe."

    He rubs his face before finally turning to her. "So how come you didn't even give me a text that you were gonna be late?!"

    She gulps, "Babe... You literally understand the gravity of my work - I can't be on my phone when the clock strikes! You know that - you do the same!"

    "Not even a quick one for 10 seconds? Mikasa, 10 seconds of your time for me?"

    "Are you serious, Jean!?" Now her face curled into an ugly scowl. "We're adults not in middle school!"

     He raises his hands up in feigned concession, propping himself up. "Fine! Fine! Okay! You're right, I'm wrong-"

    "Woah, woah, woah - hold on!" She pulls herself up from the couch too. "What's the matter with you!?" 

    "The matter!?" The audacity of his face to be red.

     "As I just said."

     "The matter!?" Jean exhales a sigh and she swears fire was coming out of his nostrils. He begins pacing around the room as her eyes trail around.

     "Are you gonna answer me or not-"

     "I got out of work earlier - literally abandoning all my responsibilities to Marco. I took the initiative to prepare such a lovely dinner for you - and you can't do something as simple as 'I'll come home late'!?"

       Her mouth pops open out of fury. "Over that!? Seriously-"

       "Mikasa! This doesn't happen only once - every fucking time in fact! And I wish you actually appreciate what I do for you!"

      Her voice was on the verge of cracking. "BUT I DO!"

      "I don't see it at all!"

       "God! You never do!" There was so many things in her brain that she could hurl at him but her tongue was caught on a leash. 

       This was nothing new. Th ey'll make up eventually.

       It's all going to end up with a soft kiss before a gentle dance to her bedroom.

       And when he peels her clothes away, he forgets everything... for awhile.

       Because when the black room turns into yellow, everything repeats.

       It's a melancholic song with very small bridge that brings her elation  - the thrill she wished and craves that lasted at all of the beats.

       That's how it goes. 

      Is this how you want everything to be for the rest of your life?

 Jean lets out another sigh as he folds his arms akimbo to the window. "All the fucking time." He murmurs to the dark street.

       No this is isn't.

 Mikasa flutters her eyes away to the shelf sitting below her TV. Rows and rows of CD books and cassette tapes and... Die Hard. She quickly whip her heads towards Jean - if she were to protest further, nothing good will come of it. She sighs, taking feeble steps towards his direction.

      "I-I'm sorry... Babe. L-let me make it up to you-"

       "Who were you with?"

       "H-huh? Why does it matter? My coworkers-"

       "WHO WERE YOU WITH!?" She jolts when he whips around. "Tell me - that Yeager son of a bitch again!?" 

       "ARE YOU OUT OF YOUR MIND!?"

        He strides closer to her and her instinct tells her to step back. "Is he why you never make time for me?" 

        "Why is he in the picture!? I literally come home to you! I literally make plans with you - I am with you!"

        "Do you like him, Mikasa? DO YOU" 

"FOR FUCK'S SAKE!" She cries out with her throat that cracked like a weak twine, "NO! I DON'T - WHAT'S WITH YOU!?"   

   He had always loathed every little thing about her colleague. Jean's ears would smoke when anyone's tongue talks of his name. Mikasa's attempts to limit her contact with Eren deemed useless; he sat adjacently from her, he was often her partner, he often guides her around knick-knacks around the precinct, he owes her a meal at Pixis'...

         "Well GUESS WHAT, MISS FUCKING OBVIOUS I SEE EVERYTHING! YOU'RE FUCKING STARING AT HIM WITH STARS ON YOUR EYES-"

         "ARE YOU FUCKING CRAZY-"

Her neighbors were going to complain again the next morning.

          "CRAZY!? TELL ME, DID YOU JUST GO FOR ME BECAUSE YOU CAN'T SCORE HIM?"

          "YOU'RE FUCKING RIDICULOUS!"

          "FUCK'S SAKE - WE'RE ALL COPS HERE AND WE KNOW HOW TO FIGURE OUT SHIT OR MAYBE YOU'RE TERRIBLE AT YOUR JOB-"

          "EXCUSE ME!?"

          "HE WOULD'VE ALREADY FIGURED IT OUT THAT YOU'RE INTO HIM - AND HE ISN'T! HE'S A FUCKING DETECTIVE, MIKASA."

           "I SAID I'M NOT INTO HIM!!! STOP MAKING SHIT UP!!! THAT'S SO FUCKING SHALLOW OF YOU - YOU'RE ACTING LIKE YOU'RE TWELVE!"

           "I'M NOT STUPID BUT YOU FUCKING ARE - YOU'RE FUCKING INTO HIM I FEEL IT!"

  Their foreheads touched at this point and the thin ice below her was cracking. S he was running out of things to rebuttal with. Out of her volition, tears came uninvited as her lips quivered.

           "... Too much... Let's Stop this... Let's...Stop this... Please." 

  Her begging didn't help. This went on and on for only the goddesses above know how long - everything around her turned into indiscernible and dull mosaics with his barking, and screaming... and...

   He raises an arm and she yells out a shriek - th is is something new. 

   In hindsight, his face loses all its colors as he gently plops his hand away. "M-Mikasa... b-babe... I'm... sorry. No I didn't mean to-"

   The damage is already done and the world around her was only a harsh bokeh. Her legs feel weak and her tries to collect her but she shoves him away.

    "Just... Leave... and never come back."

     "No! I-I'm sorry... I love you-"

     "I SAID LEAVE!"

----

     "So... You called it quits with him, huh?"

     She weakly nods. Eren and Mikasa observe the coffee maker pour out contents onto the mug. 

     "You... Okay?"

      "Yeah... Yeah... Uhm... It... It had to end." She ducks her head down, chuckling behind her bit lip." I swear to all holy Maria, Sina, and Rose, I'm not dating a fucking cop again." She groans. "GOD! Eren, take my advice!"

      "Oh wow!" He folds his arms. "Snipping off that aspect of your 'type', huh? Some sort of natural selection going on?"

       "I suppose..." She finds herself giggling with him. "I just... Cops.. You know us - kind of snooping in and like... Just being nosy and all. I don't know... Cops are weird. We're all weird."

       "Mikasa you're nosy?"  She punches his arm. "Kidding! Kidding! I know what you mean - and yeah we're all weird in our own little ways."

        "Some of us are a little too weird."

         "Oooh! Like me!"

          "Well, sure." 

    He sheepishly smiles. She stares at the mug again with the event lingering on her mind. Everything's all over yet...

       "...kerman... Ackerman? Your mug-"

     Her lips wave into quivers and she folds like a lawn chair with her hands on her eyes. 

       "H-hey!"

     She feels his arms wrapped around her... and its... warm. It's so warm that her body instinctively allows herself to submit, to fall, to crumble into a wail. 

     Eren could only pat his back and without her knowledge, Captain Smith was on the verge of stepping in with a file. Seeing the scene unfolding with Eren flagging him away, he pays his respects through retracting backwards.  He sighs, rubbing her back with such empathy. 

-----------------

    Mikasa cracked into a yawn - maybe it was finally best to hit the blankets. With Eren's snoring that gradually occupied the room, she takes a glance of his peaceful face in such disheartenment while rubbing the gems of her ring.

    "Why... Just... why do you have to be a cop, Eren?"

Chapter Text

  Sacrificing the leisure of sleeping in sounded like a bad idea - not until they were slapped by the strong waft of the breakfast buffet. All the yawning and grogginess in the elevator was tossed out of the window by the roar of their stomachs. For the past few days, they jumped right in at lunch or munched on snack bars as a morning boost, and when spotting the vast variety on the table, their hunger racked into a Gévaudan beast-like frenzy. After a couple of hums and oooh's later, Mikasa decided on quite a generous amount of fruit and pancakes as Eren imitated the Mount Everest on his plate.

       "Holy shit, are you that hungry?" 

       "C'mon! We know at Trost I consider myself lucky when I find peach rings in my desk or if I stumble across leftovers hanging around."

       "And my pastries."

  Eren grits his teeth as his face forms a denying wince, "What!? Your pastries? What-what's a pastry?"

      "Don't play stupid - I leave my desk and when I come back, there's already four bites off my Danish instead of one."

  Feeling her glare stabbing his neck, he sheepishly whistles as he slices through two layers of waffles. "I don't know what you're talking about~ I think your hunger makes you see things." He gasps, "Orrrr, maybe there are really ghosts in the precinct! Oh my god! Connie was right - They're the ones who ate your Danish, not me."

      "Ghosts."

      "Oh yeah!"

      "Eren. Ghosts."

      "Uhm yeah ghosts."

      "Translucent ghosts? Can they even shit?"

      "It's the ghosts, Mikasa! Believe me - who else would take all of our paper toilet? C'mon we always refill them and they're gone the next minute."

      "Well that would be Sasha and her affinity for cheese despite being lactose intolerant."

      "Oh fair point - but still, ghosts."

      "There are no ghosts but I can give you the honor of being the first." 

     "Gladly." His satirical smirk creased even more at the sight of her eyes rolling. 

       "Hey guys!"

Chapter Text

   “Oh God.”

    The ending of their performance began with a choir of subtle coos and claps that eventually rippled into a chanting of ‘ZekePieck, ZekePieck’. Tucked in a small and packed table sat the two culprits that began the uproar; Reiner and Eren lit the overzealous match that sparked the couple's cheeks into shy flames.

    Zeke shakes his head at his giggling fiancée before sighing on to the mic, "Thank you, thank you, everyone - Eren, Reiner, shut up."

    With small chuckles, the chanting came to halt. Eren shoots a wink at Mikasa in acknowledgement of their feat. 

  The table she and Eren sat was sardine-packed with disaster and good-time that consisted of rowdy groomsmen, close confidants, and their unfortunate partners. Their antics were no different to a school of teenage boys during lunch, and surely with their sudden outbursts of laughter, they attracted a few heads from other tables. As some of them had been the brothers' friends since childhood, it was clear as day to Mikasa that they influenced Eren's goofiness over the years. One stuck out to her the most as he was often mentioned in the past days - she finally met Reiner, who proved himself to be quite a jester. She also discovered that when he and Eren are put in the same vicinity, they would encourage each other’s foolishness.

     "You know what," Zeke flags the very table, "Eren come on here if you like attention. I know Reiner likes more - but he can't sing. Everyone give it up for Eren!"

   All of Eren's enthusiasm drained into shreds that contrasted him with the cheering crowd. As much as he wanted to protest, the big spotlight shooting his eyes was pushing him off the edge. Reiner began a chant of his name that was once again joined by the company. Mikasa’s nudging gave him the final kick to the stage, and with his sneering she howled louder than his friends. 

  Pieck slings the guitar’s strap over her head to pass it on to him while giggling at the folly. “Your turn - have fun!”

  Should he say thank you? An awkward smile seemed to suffice. “Yeah, yeah.” And he watches her retreat to her table then shoots his dull eyes at his brother. 

  Zeke presses a palm on the mic as he whispers. “Glad you could join me.” 

   “D’awww, thank you for the invitation, I do looove attention. Why are you throwing me in?” 

   He chuckles, “Well, I just thought it would be a great idea if we sang a lil song together- Oh!” He glances at a certain silhouette and Eren’s face curls, “I know what we should sing - you wanna piss off Ma?” 

   "Piss off... Ma?"

   “I’d expect you to know.”

  And with a simple raising of his blonde brows, it automatically dawned on Eren what he meant. He now hurls his dread out the window and replaces it with the same giddy he felt when he crafted a macaroni necklace in daycare. “You mean you want us to sing that song for her?”

   “What other songs in the world could you think of that pisses her off?” 

   "None but that." They both giggle. 

   Eren begins with settling the mic on his level. "Hello, hello mic check?" He taps and beams after seeing a couple of raised thumbs, "Oh it works, haha. So hey party people! I, uh, Zeke dragged me along here. He decided that it's best that we both dedicate a nice, nice song for our lovely girls! Forrr his soon-to-be-wifey, Piecky - Hey guurl! And for my lovely Mikasa. Hello, my one and only bébé gurl~!”

 "Hi love! Hey Mikasa!"

   Pieck and Zeke had stars all over their eyes when he blew her a kiss, meanwhile Mikasa responds with a disgusted grimace at Eren’s wink. With the table’s attention now on her accompanied by a teasing coo, she sheepishly throws a peace sign as a stressed reflex.   

 "And also, also! Sure this song is for them but this, too, is a special homage to a very, very special woman - well actually the MOST special woman in our lives.” He waves at his mother, “Hi Mama!”

   “Hi Ma! This is really for you because we want to piss you off - and please don’t knock our heads open with your sandals after this!” A couple of light chortles arose.

   Adjacent to the groomsmen's table was where their parents, uncles, and aunts sat. Carla hums as she somewhat has a clue and when turning to her husband to fish for a puzzle piece, he only gives her a smirk. A wash of apprehension and intrigue mushed her brows into a deep furrow. 

   "I think they wanna piss you off."

   She watches their sons shuffling themselves in their stools in such zeal. When the guitar cried the familiar tabs, she broke into a gentle cackle that caused her sons to exchange grins of victor.

  Zeke begins, 

      “ Every breath you take 

       Every move you make  

       Every bond you break

       Every step you take

       I'll be watching ya..."

  With Eren joining in to harmonize, Reiner began encouraging people to clap along. 

      “ Every single day

      Every word you say

      Every game you play

      Every night you stay

      I'll be watching you…”

  “So, are you pissed off ?” Grisha raises a brow before pressing another sip to his lips.

  “I sure am!” She throws her hands merrily. 

  When the chorus hit, Zeke and Eren belted onto the mic that she finds her and her husband singing along to. Like always, Grisha was the one who was the odd one out with his off-key melody, and when the company in the table giggled, it motivated him to sing a bit louder. Carla mocks him through covering her ears; Eren and Zeke from afar nearly stumbling through a small chortle at their parents.

    The very song ‘pisses her off’ for a plethora of reasons but to put it simply - it is overplayed and over-sung. Her husband was to blame: in every chance that the four of them were crammed in a car, he’d choose the same CD despite racking a bibliothèque in their dashboard. When the song was new to the boys, it instantly became their favorite. Eren would squirm in his booster seat while belting out in broken adorable phonetics, meanwhile Zeke would utter the parts or resort into a hush when he finds himself stuck with no knowledge of a line. When Grisha would assist them with the words, they'd wail "Papa! Stop it! You don't know how to sing!" (and he'd bite his lip in shame). 

   Such repetition eventually drove Carla mad and one fateful road trip to Disneyland birthed their little running joke. With exhaustion drooping on her bags, she whined that the song 'pissed her off' as she smacked it to silence. Even without the CD they continued on with acapella accompanied by Zeke banging on the windows - they sure love to disturb her peace. From that point, it was sung on mornings like clockwork while she'd drown herself in caffeine, totally pissed off.

   That until everything faded into the CD being alone and then into silence. With tension leaching their household like mold, the car rides as four became rarer than sporadic. After an arduous day of stitching skins while being stung with such void, she’d hum the melody while instinctively glancing at the empty rear-view mirror. It was ironic that the song she once dreaded to hear became something that brought solace; a reminder of such times that seemed to be out of her own reach - and that pissed her off.

  Later on to her relief, the worries began to slowly sew itself into hanging patches. After wrapping it all up in an emotional hug-out, they finally sat in one car again. The way home was silent, with Eren holding the most volume as he was freshly picked up from juvie and the rest adjusting from the sentimental outburst. That until Zeke, who now had his hands behind the wheel instead of their father, popped the familiar CD in. As if such a gap of time never existed, they once again shouted ‘Every Breath You Take’ right in her ears - sparking the type of 'pissed off' where her eyes were filled with glistening waterworks. 

   “...la? are you okay?”

  Carla snaps away from her stupor. “Oh… just...” A soft smile plants on her lips watching Eren and Zeke giddily scream onto the mic. Nothing really changed from the moments were they'd bounce in the backseat with their squeaky voices - they still beamed at the song now as they would then.

  “… break

  Every smile you fake

  Every claim you stake…”

 Grisha leans for a tissue adjacent to his reach and she finds herself giggling - how hasn't she noticed she was crying? She mouths a 'thank you' and when he asks her if she was fine, she waves an arm. 

   "Yeah, yeah just... Time flies, you know. Of course we have our little girl but I just… it felt like it was only yesterday that you three were driving me nuts on that road trip.” They both giggle at the recollection. 

  “Well I mean if you do miss them being little and all… we can, if you wanna-”

  ”The bank's closed! Please!"

  His coquettish smirk curved into a wince at a swat of his arm.

    “Since you've gone I've been lost without a trace!

     I dream at night I can only see your face!

    I look around but it's you I can't replace!

    I feel so cold and I long for your embrace!

    I keep crying baby, baby pleaseeee!”

   Starting the interlude, the brothers lean away from the mic to break into a fit of giggling. When it came to bridge, they'd pour all of their energy out that often ended up with their throats being scratched. The mood remained upwards with the claps of their friends syncing with the guitar.

   Eren glances at the loudest table once again and although Reiner stuck out the most with both of his feet atop a chair, his eyes were on Mikasa. She too was gazing at him in a fit of hilarity and enjoyment, all while motivating each other's gentle head bang from a distance. She mouths the chorus to him that influenced a giddy,

      Oh, can't you seeee!

      You belong to meee

      How my poor heart aches

      With every step you take!......

   He leaves the rest to Zeke while Mikasa and the crowd ecstatically continued on. He finds himself giggling when she dances with her shoulders and clapped - and that enthusiasm sparked a great idea. He ducks his head on the instrument while throwing in the background adlibs. 

     I'll be watching you... (every move you make, every vow you break, every smile you fake, every claim you stake)

    I'll be watching you... (every single day, every word you say, every game you play, every night you stay)

And they wrapped it up with a mellow finale, "I'll be watching yooooou..."

    The steady applauses cascaded into a unity of a loud crash and howling with the brothers awkwardly bowing their heads at their friends. After an exchange of an up top, Eren fans himself that Zeke leans towards in, and a squint later, he nods his head. Pulling away, he shoots a thumbs up and Zeke proceeds to the mic. 

    "Thank you! Thank you! Me and Eren had so much fun - and it seemed like everyone did too!" The applause appeared again until it calmed.

    "So Ma, thoughts?" All eyes were on Carla who shoots an okay hand gesture and a wink.

    "Okay! Cool! So far, no sandals off yet which is a good sign!" A couple of hearty giggles with his mother shaking her head. "So yeah. I think I'm done for now and I'm just gonna pass on the torch to Eren." He props himself to join Pieck and gives Eren a pat as he was now alone in the small stage.  

     "Hello, hello!" Eren leans in a hand cupped around his mic. "So like Zeke said, I’m taking over the stage. And sure solo's are nice but," He sucks his teeth, "I kinda... feel lonely up here. I guess some company would be great."

   Eren shoots a look at Mikasa; her brows slowly levered itself up to her bangs - no, no, no, don't pull me into your-

    "Mikasaaa?"

    She snaps her eyes shut in a wince. 

    "You wanna join me here, babe?"

   She mouths a large and slow 'no' while vigorously shaking her head.

    "Aw, of course you do! Come on in!"

     A cheer roared while she drowned into a puddle of annoyance and timidity. She tried to put her foot down by gluing her ass right in the seat, but all anticipating eyes were watching her - leaving no choice but to stiffly waddle on to the stage. Her legs became numb but she knew that they were just charging themselves up for a kick right on his ass later (and that stupid smirk was only a punch away to becoming flat.)

    He dances in the stool while patting the empty adjacent one as an invitation; her signature death glare persuaded his mocking smirk. 

     “Why-”

     "C'mon! I know you like to sing!" He whispers.

     "I don't."

     "You do."

     "I don’t and can't sing."

     "Bullshit - the patrol car, bar-hoppings, and my EARS can attest to my statement."

     "Eren...." She momentarily glances at the waiting heads and boom, her gut swirled into origami knots. "I can't-"

      "You can." He picks up her obvious discomfiture and ducks his head slightly to meet her gaze. "Just look at me. Pretend we're singing alone together like we sometimes do."  

      "Eren no I-"

    Without her permission or even a small hint of a song, he began to to pick on the strings. Her mouth hung open at a loss that pushed his sardonic simper even more. The further he tries to talk her down, the more ways she was going to fish for excuses to rebuttal. 

     "Hey-"

     "Do you hear me,   

'Lucky? Sixth on his playlist...'

      I'm talking to you...    

      Across the water, across the deep blue ocean

     Under the open sky, oh my, baby I'm trying..."

  "I can't-"

 He hisses, "JUST SING!"

       "B-Boy, I... hear you in my d-dreams..."

She nearly misses her cue and he mouths her a consoling 'keep going'. With her wrecked nerves, she took his advice of focusing on his face - a good and a bad idea at the same time. 

      "...feel y'r whisper... acr'ss the sea..

      I keep you'ith me... in my 'eart... 

     You make it easier... when life gets hard..."

"You're doing great."  They joined in euphony with her dipping her toes further. (and there were now rows and columns of flashlights swaying like the breeze). 

     "I'm lucky I'm in love with my best friend...

      Lucky to have been where I have been...

      Lucky to be coming home againnn..."

 Eren playfully snakes his head around to shake her nerves off; a smile ripped right on her face that told him she was gaining courage. 

     "Ooohh ooooh oooh oooh ooh ooh ooh ooh..."

      They don't know how long it takes (they don't know long it takes)

       Waiting for a love like this...

      Every time we say goodbye (every time we say goodbye)

      I wish we had one more kiss, I'll wait for you,

      I promise you...

  With his quirks, Mikasa was finally able to break loose from her fear,

     I wiiiiilll..... (He throws in a small run for good measure that she giggles to).

  Now the chorus, with greater gusto - more like unravelling their trapped subconsciousness akin to a bird out of a cage. 

      I'm lucky I'm in love with my best friend...

      Lucky to have been where I have been...

      Lucky to be coming home againnn...

      Lucky we're in love in every way...

      Lucky to have stayed where we have stayed...

      Lucky to be coming home some day....    

  A soft smile plants on her lips as she tilts her head; with his singing he sounded like he was directly speaking to her,

      "And so I'm sailing through the sea,

      To an island... where we'll meet, 

      You'll hear the music, fill the air,

      I'll put a flower in your hair..."

  And she responds from the deep crevices of her giddy, 

      "Through the breezes, through the trees...

      Move so pretty, you're all I... see...

      As the world keeps spinning round,

      You hold me right here, right now..."

Their eyes spoke of a language that touched each other's souls. 

      "I'm lucky I'm in love with my best friend...

      Lucky to have been where I have been...

      Lucky to be coming home againnn...

It felt... so good; this just felt so right.

      Lucky we're in love in every way...

      Lucky to have stayed where we have stayed...

      Lucky to be coming home some daaay..."

His whole world became a bokeh with her shining the clearest.

     "Ooohh ooooh oooh oooh ooh ooh ooh ooh..."

And she swears even with the stars hanging above them, his eyes bore more constellations that pulled every being of her. 

       "Ooohh ooooh oooh oooh ooh ooh ooh ooh..."

The finale was like an amour-filled letter sent from Aphrodite above and addressed directly to them. 

      "Ooooohh..."

    The sudden roaring jolted them away from a state of hypnosis. Eren finds himself blinking at his feet for awhile before meeting her gaze once again. Mikasa felt an odd yet good sting on her cheeks and began to peel her hands away from the mic. Awkwardly glancing at the ecstatic audience then at each other, they both broke into a fit of a light and hearty titter.

   "You did well." He felt proud, as displayed on his tender smile.

    "Thank you. You too-"

    "KISS!" Zeke, from his table, cups his free hand as a megaphone.

     An echo of their friends, "KISSSSSSS! KISSSSS! KISSSS!"

  Caught in the net - in the epicenter of a stupor.

  Eren's jaw creaked a see-saw and his face was tinted red. 

  There was a lump in Mikasa's throat and her mind drew blanks.  

  Kissing was a thick boundary he swore to never cross.

   He turns to the audience for an attempt of a protest, but before he even has the chance to say anything, something wet yet soft pressed on his cheek. And every inch of his body floated in to a different realm; the way her eyelashes tickled his skin set his heart into a flutter that soared above cloud nine. It lasted for a jiffy but it felt like forever.

   The applause remained a cacophonic ripple as the two could only duck their heads away from each other. 

    "E-Eren, I'm sorry if I made you uncomfortable by kissing your cheek I-"

    "Oh no, no don't sweat it - I... uh... I know we were walking on a plank."

   And with a bob of her head, she turns towards the obsidian horizon. It was Eren's suggestion that they step out for a calm refresh; Mikasa seemed to need it anyway as he sensed that she needed to soothe her nerves.

    The very spot they rested was tucked away just a couple of feet from the venue. A fallen stump of a palm tree became their seat, and the sky and sea becoming their personal theatre. This area differed from the rest of the resort - it had little to no cracks of string lights or torches illuminating, but only the twinkling diamonds and the crescent moon above. 

    Mikasa closes her eyes and takes a deep breath; the hushing of the shore embracing her like a sweet lullaby that put her rattled nerves to slumber. 

    "I gotta say..." Eren interjects her halcyon. 

    "Oh?"

   He rubs the very spot on his cheek, "Quite a wet kisser, you are."

    "Well, my intention was to spit on your face."

   He rolls his eyes that brought a giggle before she resumes to the sea again. Not much of a complete silence as the music from the hall boomed in a muffle, but the murmurs of both the wind and the shores hummed the loudest. 

   Eren observes her keenly.

   She was like the scene in front of them - an embodiment of such peace. He should feel soothed, but instead it created a war between his vow and conscience. To be silent? To say something? He sighs when he faces the dancing waves; he hoped Oracle would emerge that could give him the verdict of whoever has to raise the white flag. 

   A small snicker escapes from her soft lips, "Wow... It's been a crazy few days, has it?"

   "Yeah. It has."

   "I mean... We didn't get caught just yet - so I guess we are really, in fact, good at our job."

   "Of course we are." He rubs his nape, "Well that aside, everyone's keeping more tabs with the wedding."

   "Oh! Definitely." His head dances around sideways in agreement; Mikasa dropping to a relaxed sigh, "But you know, Yeags..."

   "Hm?"

   "This is kinda fun, no?"

   "It is... it sure is." A soft smile plants on his lips as influenced by her light chuckle, "Miks..."

   "Yeah?"

   "Would you... Do you think you'd be down to pull some crap like this ever again?"

 She squints and hums, "Let's see - No."

"No? A mocking grimace, "You said you had fun."

    "I realized in hindsight that you aren't paying me at all." 

    "Oh? I thought it was you owing me a favor."

    "I rejected in the first place until you brought up how I would've cracked my head open if it weren't for you. Well actually, come to think of it, in a way that is a reward."

    "Hmm, fair... But I think you did more than enough for me - even though you pulled the 'oh look at me, I'm Eren's fiancee' crap-"

    "I wanted you to see what it was like being in my shoes!"

 "You fucking sure you did." He punches an arm that activated a belly laugh. "But anyway, I think you deserve a treat to Pixis' when we come back."

    "Only if you fucking bring your wallet this time!"

    "Hey, that was only once."

    "Sixty dollars for food in one night? I don't care if it's once!"

    "At least we walked out with clean hands." They both giggle and dropped onto quietness again.

  Eren peers over his shoulder in a giddy as she was enamored by the stars. Her pale skin, despite in the dark, glimmered in such opalescence too. 

    "So, uhm..."

    "Yeah?"

    "You wouldn't be down to do this all again?" 

     "Hm?"

     "Well... I don't fucking know - what if I run into some shit like this in I don't know? Next month or next year?"

     "In what possible way of shit are you thinking of, that'll lead you to have your ass stuck in the same manhole again?"

     "I thought you knew me quite well enough that I'll get my ass stuck no matter what."

    There was a hue of fondness behind her large guffaw, "But no seriously... I don't mind doing this again. Well it's fun right?"

     "Oh cool and I knew you would."

     "Two peas in a pod we are, in some way. So... I guess whatever crap you're in, I'm dragged along and likewise with you to me."

     "Yeah, so true." And I'd kill to do this all over again. He was fishing for something trail with. "S-"

     "Well, I didn't realize how fast time flies. We only got until tomorrow, huh?" 

     "Oh..." A big lump in his throat ballooned.

     Tomorrow.

     And when the clock strikes twelve tomorrow...

     They're back at Trost. 

     "And after this... We're gonna be running around the city and cracking files open - We ain't gonna be relaxing anymore! Also, we don't have to be weird around each other too, huh?"

      "Of course... Back to uh... normal." It was barely an utter. "Same, I kinda feel like not going to work after, after all this nice beachy stuff... And great food... and yeah..."

    He shuffles quite uncomfortably on the log - he swears his ass was chewed by a couple of splinters.

   "Ah! There you guys are!" They whip their heads to a direction of the voice. Hannes waves an arm keenly while sauntering towards them, "I was getting worried that you two suddenly dis'ppeared."

       "Oh," They murmured in unison.

       "Mikasa needed a bit of fresh air and me too."

       "Yes!"

        "I see, I see." Hannes fans an arm towards himself "You kiddos should come back - every'uns dancin'!"

 Eren props himself up from the log and she mimics, "Oh sure, Uncle! We'll... We'll be there." He turns to her, "So u-uhm, shall we go back now?"

        "Sure!"

    Mikasa dusts her skirt and with a nod, he began to lead her back to the hall. 

 It was clear as day which side of his internal war had to surrender: things were definitely better unsaid. 

    At first, they thought they walked in to a different venue but perusing the surroundings carefully, no head was a stranger. Instead of the tables being arranged and spread across like earlier, they were now tucked by the sides to convert the center into a dancefloor. Almost every spot in the vicinity had people grooving gently to the booming music; nothing crazy, as it seems like they were slowly gaining confidence or the alcohol hasn't kicked in their systems just yet. The empty kiosk became an open bar and surely, the kids were forced to have an earlier bedtime. 

     Unsure where their feet should lead them, Eren and Mikasa reflected shrugs until an empty table caught their attention. He pulls the chair outwards for her and nods after she murmurs, "Thanks!" 

     They were later joined by the affianced couple themselves, who didn't seem to be interested with grooving along too. In Zeke's case, he couldn't afford to lose the only hand that'll slip the ring tomorrow or else he'd be forced to use his toes; he'd rather use the night to doze off instead of cramming lessons from his capuchin monkey. Zee-Zee himself? On the same boat of docility as the four on Pieck's shoulder. 

   Pretty much for the entire duration, they bird-watched. With small snippets of silliness unfolding in different corners, the brothers would stealthily point at it before they'd all crash into laughters. The strongest contender so far is (obviously) Reiner and his pathetic attempts for a worm against the sand (and they're unsure if he has alcohol running in his veins; sober or not, such antics were expected). Poor Bertholdt was sweating pools on his forehead as the 'worm' by his foot attracted heads like they were a freak show. 

    "Ah you guys are here!"

    "Ma, Pa!" All turn to the chirp and beam at Carla with Grisha trailing behind. They too joined the table and racked the remaining chairs. 

    "You two really pissed her off today, good job."

    "And I sure loved it! Eren, Zeke, my loves - thank you, it made my night." 

The brothers plant gentle smiles on their face while cooing, "D'awww Maaaaaaa."

    "Was there any waterworks, Pa?"

    "I was collecting pails from her eyes!"

    "Shut it!" She hisses while swatting an arm that brought light chuckles, "Anyways, what's with you four sitting down here? Eren! Why aren't you dragging Mikasa along the center?"

  Eren furrows his brows, "Yeah! Why am I not dragging her-"

  Mikasa hums a 'nu-uh'. "The stage was enough."

    "Well, there's my answer."

 She giggles, "It's okay - who knows, your minds might change later. And say, you didn't tell me you can sing, Mikasa!"

 He pats her back, "Yes she can!"

    "T-thank you!"

 Carla's attention were now on "Zeke and Pieck! Darlings! You two - tomorrow's your wedding! Don't you guys wanna have some fun? Join your friends or something!"

    "We are having fun but well..." Zeke raises his brows while waving the casted arm around. "And a monkey too."

    "A couple of steps wouldn't hurt unless you're planning to toss her up. Zee's going to do just fine."

    "Oh Ma," Pieck cries, "I was born with two left feet and I might break his toes - it's better if we all sit."

    "Pieck, honey, I'm pretty sure you're not as terrible as somebody." Carla shoots a sneer at Grisha and all eyes were on him.

     "Huh?"

  Eren folds his arms. "Pieck, if you think you have two left feet, he has all limbs and his ears."

  Carla belts out the largest cackle among the rest; her husband sheepishly rubbing his nape. "I have quite a complex relationship with rhythm."

     "Oh honey, it's beyond complex and complicated." She sneers conceitedly, "Because your relationship with rhythm doesn't exist!"

Brows arose with his the highest of course, "I'm not that bad as you make it to be." (Eren and Zeke would say otherwise)

She pats his forearm in sarcastic consolation, "Dream on, my love. Dream on."

     "Dream on you say?"

  The brothers shot looks at each other as another of their petty retorts were starting to surface - who's going to take the heavyweight belt this time? Pieck and Mikasa awkwardly blink but their toes were curling in intrigue.

     "Dreaming is free, why not?"

     "Thank you for the advice my lovely wife, but don't think I need to dream - I thought you were the one who made rhythm a reality to me."

     "Hm? Reality?"

  He glances at the center of the floor crowded with shuffling and dancing bodies, and at her again. "I thought you taught me a thing or two about rhythm - why don't we review a couple of your notes from a few decades ago, Miss Magnolia?"

     She tilts her head. 

     "Or maybe not." He raises both of his arms up. "I guess I'll give your retired joints a rest." 

  "OH!?" A pretty loud one; the others in the table biting their lips when her face boomed into life (more like fury). "Ha! Joints? You wanna talk about joints?"

    He shouldn't have brought it up - Grisha nervously laughs, "I'm kidding, I'm kidding-"

      "NO! NO! You know what! If you want to talk about joints - maybe you do need new lessons about rhythm, Mr. Yeager."

  Their audience's mouths curve into "Ooooh's".

       "Honey, I-"

   She flags for a passing waiter that carried a couple of glasses on his tray. Zeke leans in towards the other three. "She's getting fired up, watch out."

    Mikasa couldn't resist a surprised snort and shoots an astonished look at Eren who was rubbing his temples.

  Two gulps later, Carla rips out a satisfied 'ah' as she smacked the empty glasess on the table. Much to Grisha's efforts on licking the bowl of words he spewed out, it didn't do anything to prevent him from being dragged by the wrist. Zeke, Eren, Pieck, and Mikasa cried loud cheers as they disappeared on to the center.

   The crème de la crème of the preparation? "OH MY GOD THE PONYTAIL'S OFF!" "THIS IS GETTING SERIOUS THE SIDE PONYTAIL'S OFF!" As if on cue, the music switched into an upbeat tempo of house merengue as soon as the hair tie hit the sand.

  "Carla, d-don't you think we're a little too old-"

     The next thing he knows is he's stumbling awkwardly in her sudden challenge of footwork. Her tan cheeks faded into red, but he knew that alcoholic courage wasn't the catalyst to her skill - dancing had been her prowess. With her sudden twists and turns, he was forced to keep up although like always, he posed struggles. He feels the crowd of eyes beginning to shine on them: his guts were writhed like a wet cloth but there was a huge bragging grin on her face.

      A tipsy giggle, "Seems like your elbows still don't know how to keep their distance, Mr. Yeager."

     Ah, just like years ago. 

  Grisha remembers everything as clear as crystal. It started off with their petty rivalry gone awry - well, more like resulting into a sudden kissing session in the breakroom (with the chief resident walking in). When their status was set to stone, they decided to take a small step forward with a first date. The date wasn't even planned: he only came for take out in a restaurant adjacent to his new apartment, and lo-and-behold, his new girlfriend was a staff that freshly ended her shift. 

     "You wanna get outta here and go out or something?"

    Since she called the shots, he gave her the honors of choosing a venue - maybe she'd pick a quiet stroll by riverbanks or maybe she'd decide on a much more refined eatery. No, they walked hand in hand to a dark and smoky alley and his intuition was screaming fire with his shaking knees; she was calm and he was getting worried on what he just signed up to. Through a rusted door led the stairs to downstairs, the cracking walls were shaking... to a beat? She dragged him to what seems to be an exclusive underground dance hall that all this time, he thought it only existed in the universe of 'Dirty Dancing'.

    He was no Swayze; not a single patch of his flesh understood the mechanics of dancing. But there Carla was, automatically becoming the star of the dim room as he watched in from afar in such wonder. Whilst rotating between different partners, her eyes closed even when tossed and spinning in nauseating circles. When her sequence ended, she throws him a wink and a kiss that he blushes to.

    The next thing he knows, he's lectured about basic footwork beside a boarded up bathroom. He was a lot to work with, but she was patient and bore a consoling smile although veins were peaking through her forehead. In that night, he was inspired to dance that he signed up for lessons to surprise her. Or simply, he was just too head-over-heels and he wanted to make an impression. (He also made a terrible mistake of practicing in what he thought was an empty corridor, and Grice mocked him about it even after graduation). 

     It was all worth the embarrassment - her jaw snapped into half even though he knew he looked terrible. Although with passing time, practice, and years that soared by a few blinks, he'd still stumble and miss his timing. But it's good enough to dance with her in the kitchen when the kids are sleeping, despite her relentless taunts.

    After almost thirty years, she continues to lead the rhythm of his heart.

    Instead of polished wooden floors they had the sand under their feet. Instead of the tight jeans and cropped shirts, it's now a pale yellow sundress. Instead of her feathered auburn-dyed hair, she now rocks a deep ebony shade to patch up the grey strands. Wrinkles began to crease her skin but the same hearty smile was plastered on her lips.      

   And the way she belts out a giddy laugh makes him feel so young and wild over again. 

   He didn't even realize that the spotlight was on them, and although nervous and insecure, he didn't mind it at all. In moments like these where she shines the most, he wanted to seize it all until his last breath.

    "Hmm, something about your joints tell me you do know a thing or two about rhythm, you pretentious ass wipe." 

    "I learned from the best, Miss Stuck-Up Magnolia." 

   And of course, they'd never forget the nicknames that birthed it all.

--------

   So far with his constant loud wooing, Eren reckons he might need at least three cups of hot ginger tomorrow. Mikasa remained astonished with her brows perked up. 

   “Oh my God! Your parents are so cute together!”

   “I know! That’s why they ended up with a hot ass baby.”  He references himself with a vain wink and she hurls a cringe. 

  He rolls his eyes and they resume on peaking at the same scene. Carla waned beneath the spotlight and Grisha’s awkward stance made him look like her prop, but he seemed to enjoy every bit of it. Behind his fogged glasses, Mikasa could read that his eyes were filled with endearment and joy at the sight of his wife. Eren’s yelling folded her into a pained wince when it shot right through her eardrum, but instead of barking with a scold, she finds herself grinning at him. 

  In the deep creases of her mind, she’s envious - no matter how much wishes she throws at the stars, she knows she'll never get the same look from Eren... at all. There was so many things she wanted to say awhile ago, but that idea plummeted her courage into nothingness... Cut the crap, Mikasa.

   She croaks her throat to turn the opposite shoulder in hopes of washing away whatever the fuck her mind was up to again. 

   "Are you okay?" 

   Her neck snapped to face him again, "H-huh?"

   "I said are you okay?" He assumed the booming music posed a hurdle.

   "Oh uhm yes!"

   "You sure? You look a bit down."

   "Me? Down?" She furrows her brows. "No! What makes you think that?"

   "Dunno, or were you sneezing?"

   "Uh yeah." Lies. "Nose had a bit of sand I think."

   "Cool!"

     Both look at center again but this time, his parents broke away into thank you's and sheepish bows to the audience. Carla began fanning her hands up in the air as an invitation for the rest to take the floors, but then focused her signal towards Eren and Mikasa, "C'mon you two!"

   "U-uh..."

  There was a wash of reluctance on her face but Eren flashes an eager smile. "Wanna bust some ankles, Miks?'

   "Well... I don't know?"  Peering at the crowd, some looked too hammered and too caught up in their small steps - or being a Reiner. Maybe diving right in the pool wouldn't hurt. It's not like anyone was going to care anyway. "Actually, why not?"

   "Good!" Eren pulls her towards the mid-center of the crammed bodies, and when hitting the spot, he began with subtle grooves. She awkwardly stands for awhile before mimicking him in half-assed steps to match his tempo. 

   "Ou! Looks like Zeke and Pieck gave in too!"

   He points towards his brother and fiancee, who were now infected with the dancing plague through small steps while being aware of the monkey and his hand.

    "Awww!" She coos. "And... am I doing it correctly?'' A small and basic left-left-right-right.

    "Yup! You're doing great!"

    Eren's swaying became much more exaggerated with both of his arms waving along to the direction he'd step. Mikasa tried to match him but could only meet him halfway due to her timidity. 

   "Let loose, man!" He props her hands with his a bit more higher, creating a bridge that also serviced a channeling of his energy towards her. "That's it!"

  A more confident smile rips on her face that transpired into the both of them in a caper.

  That until the record squeaked into a scratch and the yellow lights blinked into a blinking of different color variations. Instead of the upbeat house music, it slowed down into a romantic beat of bachata. "Oh" - they murmur in different tones: Mikasa grew puzzled and scared, meanwhile Eren's excitement powered even more. 

    And the way how the other couples swayed gently raced her chest into rapid beats. Glancing at his parents whose foreheads were now pressed against each other's, Mikasa wonders if she too had to close the gap between her and Eren. 

     "You wanna try?" No words came out of her tongue. "I think you're worried about space - I know, people look like they're about to smooch but look at their legs, that's not how it works."

     "What do you mean?"

     "I suggest you follow my lead, milady!"

     "O...kay?"

     "So it's quite easy - so side by side and on the forth, it's a tap. No physical shit. Look at me," He frees his hands from hers to demonstrate the sequence while counting; she was nose deep in concentrating on his feet. "Got it?"

     "I'll try."     

   He repeats it again but this time she follows through with ease, and with his praising she thanks him. They eventually advanced by Eren dropping the technique of using her hips (when he ran his hands on her hips momentarily as a guide, she nearly lost her focus). "Guys usually use shoulders. So you hips, me shoulders."

     "I-I see."

     "Ready to do it again? Wow you're a fast learner - well, you did ballet at some point so."

     "Of course, I'm naturally gifted."

     "Don't rub it in!" She throws her head back giddily and he rolls his eyes, "Okay, okay, lets follow through again with the upcoming beat, 5, 6, 7, 8...One two three, Tap!..."

     Another repetition of the sequence but this time she had improved. She was motivated by his encouragement to the point that her overconfidence peaked through a sudden twirl. 

     "Wowww! I see you! I see you!"

      She ruffles her feathers literally through a shimmy and he rolls his eyes.

     Something new about Eren she learned today - that is he's quite a good dancer and teacher when he actually takes it seriously. Quite the contrast in the office as Connie and Sasha are at fault; they'd bust moves through twerking in front of her desk to snap her nerves into flames. She hates to admit that the renowned White Chicks choreography was his and Connie's best duet so far, although it costed an injury to the breakroom's vending machine.

     A couple of minutes in, she and Eren now twirl together in unison all while keeping the distance and gap. The mantra of his counts became hypnotizing and before she knows it, she's singing the counts to. Her mood skyrockets into such glee with every step with the ecstatic Eren boosting her 'morale'. 

     "So this is it? This is what bachata is all about?" She remains the sequence with the counting done on her feet and shoulders.

     He shakes his head in such defense, "Nope! There's definitely more. Oh- Mikasa, you're beginning to rely on shoulders now-"

      "Sorry!" She clenches her teeth and gyrates her hips around uncomfortably, "Kinda felt stiff for a bit - this is actually quite tiring."

      "You wanna take a break?"

      "If you want!"

      "Sure!"

-----

    Their feet dragged them groggily onto the bar's kiosk and threw themselves over the stools. On the other end of the ledge was his Uncle Keith who drank in silence. Eren had the suggestion of approaching him, but he gave the impression that he wanted to be alone with his army of empty glasses. He and Mikasa bit their lip in such pity once again, assuming his Aunt Faye was likely the cause - oddly, she was nowhere to be found.

    Eren stretches himself like a sun during dawn while ripping out a large groan.

    "Are you tired already? Wait what time is it?"

    "No! My back kinda stings that's why."

    "Okay... I see!"

   He spins himself on to face the bar's shelves and tilts his head. Drowning himself with some booze wasn't the plan but, "Hey, Ackerman. Are you down for drinks?"

   She also shifts herself properly to face the racks of bottles and glasses, "Hmm... Are you?"

   "A consideration. I mean look at everyone behind us!"

   "I'm concerned about Reiner."

 The jester was now hunched over beside a tree on what seems to be a garbage dumpster unload of his guts. Eren belts out a sardonic laughter, "There it is!"

   "Maria..." She bites her lip. "I'm dubious whether or not I should really have a sip." 

   He shrugs, "Up to you but I think I should have a couple of shots. You know, it's our last night, technically, and by tomorrow 'round this time, we're off to Trost! And besides, we don't need to pay!"

  Mikasa dithers through a hum and a lean backwards - he has a point. Besides, even though her colleagues had a tradition of bar-hopping at least once a week, she would rarely drown herself in shots (or sometimes not at all) as she often offered as their 'Uber Driver'. So... A couple wouldn't hurt right? But then... 

      Ack'man...

    "Ah there's the guy - you sure you don't want some?"

    "I change my mind!"

    "What transpired you as such?"

    "I... Uber everyone almost every time and like said, it's free. I might regret it when we're back at 'The Barracks'."

    "Riigght! But hey, it's great that you decide to have a bit of fun- oh hi! Yes, can you get four kamikazee shots please?" Two for him, two for his best friend - an equilibrium of drunk that he hopes wont garner the result of one of them (or both) knocking on the gates of heaven. (He still needs to return the Die Hard cassette that's a year overdue and Lieut Hanji owes him a slushie from Circle K). 

  The bartender bobs his head obediently and as he was on the verge of turning his heel, Mikasa barks him into a halt, "Me too! Me too! Same thing as he's getting - four kamikazee's"

  Eren's face stretches in such sarcastic surprise, "OooOOh! Wow? Four shooots, Ackerman?"

  He nods and is about to turn away again, "Coming right up ma'am-" 

  "NO, NO, NO, NO, WAIT!"  She shows a palm and she feels sorry that a nerve was creasing his forehead. She gulps as if to prepare herself for the most asinine impulsive decision. 

  "Make it five. Five... shots please."

Chapter Text

       "Make it five. Five... shots please."

      Eren's brows nearly touched the crown on his head - she was really upping the ante with this one. He reckons that the reminder of being the squad's chaperone sparked the thought but really, he believes that her pride is the true catalyst. Knowing his best friend's knick-knacks, her competitive nature was something that peaked through even in such small matters. At times it brought her great advantage, but other times it was something that killed her. Now it was the fun type of deadly; she may have thought he was challenging her with his four shots instead of a split of two each. And if that's the case, he might as well gamble his best cards.

     "Five?" A scoffing titter, "Really? Five? You trynna out do me with my four, huh?" 

    "I mean..." Mikasa shrugs her shoulders vainly, "Hey sure... why not? Maybe!"

     "I see how it is." Eren raises a brow at the bartender whose fingers drummed on the counter. "I'll guess have to call six - unless! If someone over here wants me to push through eight!"

     "If... If you want!" She folds her arms together, "I'm... I'm fine with five!"

     "So I won already? Already giving up before the gun flare tells you to run?"

     "Quantity doesn't define it - I'll doubt you'll even make it to three." She tilts her head upwards that he glares to in order match her conceit.

     "Hear this yip-yapping? Help me prove my point - seven, I repeat SEVEN for me, and five for the sore loser."

     "Whatever you say."

     "Coming right up ma'am and sir."

She sneers and he sticks a mocking tongue out.

     Their retort was cut short in an intermission of spotting an interesting exhibit. "Look!" He nudges her arm. 

  It could pass of as a renaissance painting: the intoxicated Galliard brothers and Bertholdt warily struggled to fish Reiner's head out of a bin. Even with the music, their grunts were prominent (more like wailing and screaming in fear of decapitating his head). Mikasa and Eren threw their heads up in a fit of laughter.

    "How much you wanna bet that's gonna be you?" 

    "My guts aren't that weak."

    "Really?" She scrunches her nose. "Are you sure? Seems like you forgot about the incident four months ago?'

     "Look, Connie thought it was a good idea to make that dumb glass as his cauldron and I didn't know it could make my stomach worse until it was too late."

     "Yeah actually now that you mention it - why did you even eat the sandwich beforehand?"

     "Look, I was hungry, broke, and that was the only thing on the fridge that day - literally out of all days!"

     "You do realize that it sat there for a couple of weeks right? There was a patch of mold..." The look on her face tells him that she wonders how he's still alive, and he was questioning the same thing too. 

     "Well on the brighter side of things, I got rid of it since no one ever took the initiative to take it out!"

     "But with your guts spilled out on Captain-"

     "Okay, please I haven't recovered from that. Don't mention it ever again."

     "I mean I'm going to have a new story to replace that one tonight!"

     "No you wont!"

     "Sure thing."

     "No you wont!"

   She blows raspberries and he hisses in return. 

     "Here you guys go!"

  The glasses were placed one by one carefully like a bunch of soldiers preparing themselves on the frontlines. They prepared themselves before the historical rumbling - Eren rubbed his hands akin to a mosquito waiting to dig its needle onto a patch of skin; Mikasa straightens her back with a croak of her throat, not only making room for a sting but to wash off Sasha's cacophonic barking in her ears.

     "Update me on whoever wins!" The bartender plasters an eager grin before disappearing on the other side of the counter.

     "We will!" They bark in unison before locking their eyes once again at the uniformed army of shots.  

   A look of determination on her face as she tucked both of her ears behind. Her hypothesis: Kamikazee shots wont turn her into five different people... Right?

  She and Eren cup a glass tightly in brief silence as if to bask in the final moments of sobriety.

     "Ready?"

     "I was born ready."

     "Three."

     "Two."

     "One."

---

 First shot.

   A remarkable feat of them gulping the entire glass in one go and smacking the empty glasses in a cry of 'ah's'. 

   "Not bad." Eren raises his brows and curls his lips downwards as if the very drink didn't just scrape the linings of his throat. Not bad, yet his head suddenly feels like it was starting to decapitate itself and float onto the dark skies. But so far, he has decent awareness of his surroundings.

    Mikasa on the other hand toyed around with the empty glass and concentrates at the small residue gliding downwards. She's not sure if Eren went on a tirade or not, and she's also not exactly sure if she responded or kept her mouth shut. 

   "Mikasa? Hello?" 

   A dull statue staring off into the void.

   "Miks. Mikasa. Ackerman. Ackerman? Mikasa?"

  The same thing.

  He snaps his fingers to garner her attention but to no avail, until he smacks the table repeatedly.

  Resurrected from her daydreaming, she slightly jolts. "Oh sorry you said something?"

   He groans, "Never mind."

  "Hah?"

  "Drink up!"

  "O-oh."

  Nose pointing the ceiling, another sting tugs their throats. 

---

    Second shot.

    Definitely a whopping contrast to the first - in fact, an instant skyrocketing slope to the moon. Mikasa this time looked like she had bolts of lightning up her ass and Eren struggles to hold himself together as well. The bartender painted quite a look of concern at the two hyenas. 

   Mikasa rocked herself back in forth violently and any time she was going to fling away from her stool. Her veins and eyeballs were shooting out of her pale skin and sockets respectively, yet not even a squeak came out of her mouth.

    Eren would have periodic outbursts of plateauing wheezes that heightened the redness on his face - all influences of her silent guffaw without the knowledge of the cause of their hysterics.

   At this point, more tears clouded their eyes than the two glasses of shots they freshly dunked.

  About fifty sways later, she finally falls off of her seat and onto the sand, increasing the momentum of their hysterical cackling.

   It took Eren quite a bit of time to help her back up on her seat once again, and remembering their competition, he raises a glass all while panting. "Third?"

  "Fuck yeah!" 

  Mikasa struggled to pull herself together and would wave the glass down and up.

  "Shut up and just fucking drink!"

  "I'm fucking trying!" 

 ---

    Third shot.

    "...No! hot dogs are fucking sandwiches-"

   The rhythmic smacking of the table caused the glasses to rattle and leap. "IT'S. A. TA. CO."

    "It's a fucking sandwich, Mikasa."

    "Taco."

     "Sandwich."

    "Taaaaccooooo."

Eren growls, "Sand. WIIIICCHHH."

And she doesn't back down with a dominating outcry, "TA. Fucking. CO. T-A-C-O!"

   "Fine!" He folds his arms and leans backwards in mock submission. "Prove ya point!"

   "Listen."

   "I yam."

   "I haven't fucking startededed!"

   "Carry'on!"

 She kisses her teeth.  "Sandwichezzz, right?"

   "Uhuh."

   " 'ccording to Merriam-Webster, it's two breads with a filling in between-"

   "A hot dog has a "filling", izza sausage-"

   She flags an arm down groggily, "Psst, psst, listen, listen, listen. Sandwiches, how many breads it have?"

   "Two." He shows two fingers up. "There's two." Another two from another hand - technically he's raising four. 

   "Now Tacos?"

   "Whabout tacos?"

   "How many breads?"

   "One folding over the meats- wait." Eren pauses for solid century all while a plethora of mathematical calculations unfold right in front of his vision.

    "Eren? How many bread does a hotdog have?" 

 All the hope he has in humanity and his future all plummeted into a drain of abyss. "No... NO-NOOOOO!"

  A couple of victorious banging, "I TOLD YE, YE FUCKING TWAT."

  This wasn't going to end here. "FUCK YOU! Spaghetti n' Chow Mein, same shit - noods n' saws!"

  A large gasp. "You're crossing the line, you fucking dickless whoremonger!"

-

   Forth shot. 

  The dumb argument? All tossed out on the window with no verdict of which side of the rebuttal declared as the winner. Whether or not Chow Mein and Spaghetti are the same thing remains a mystery. 

   Just a few minutes in the forth Kamikazee burn, Mikasa peeled herself from the stool to throw her body in a spazztic dance. Instead of timorous steps, confidence took over her spirit with her flailing limbs and shimmying body. 

  He giggles, "Lotsa arms n' hip. Too much hip."

   "And they don't lie."

He too joins, instantly forming a ridiculous dancing showdown with an audience of eight empty glasses and three full ones. From afar they look like feral animals in terrible mating phases with Eren eventually bent over in front of her crotch. 

   They later met with another mystery of how and when they found themselves in the epicenter of the dancefloor once again - this time of docile steps.

   The world around them became kaleidoscopes of colored circles and blurred faces.

    The more they dance, their awareness decreases and their alcoholic spunk increases. 

   Their eyes are closed in the enjoyment of swaying heights, as if to imagine that the crowd surrounding them were merely illusions. 

   Without an exchange of an agreement through words, they mimicked the couple adjacent to them to fit in the atmosphere. Eren guided her hands on his broad shoulders and with a permissive nod, he wrapped his arms around her toned waist. Still, a prude gap remains. 

   They shuffled side by side in a groovy sequence but eventually broke off due to Mikasa's sudden cackle. The gentleness of his hands tickled her sides in great giddy, and when she tried to tickle his shoulders as a retribution, he laughs at her futile attempt. 

   With their concentration snapping into a fit of giggling once again, they raced each other to the bar to claw the fifth drink. (More like looping and zigzagging beelines as their temples throbbed in a mania).

   Halfway through, Eren falls face flat against the sand without noticing a hurdle in the form of an empty bottle. Mikasa belts out her sardonic laugh while raising a glass to celebrate her victor in their race.

   Instead of chugging it alone, she waits for Eren who, to his embarrassment, crawls the remain steps to the stools. So far his guts remain intact but their original competition was left into oblivion. 

   "Forthff!"

   "Is fifthffffff ya dipshit!"

   Winces morphed their faces with another uninviting sting. 

-

 Fifth shot.

    A return to the dancefloor at Eren's suggestion. 

    The upbeat music sunk into a lento tempo. A great timing. 

  The lights dimmed into a deep shade of crimson that mirrored their cheeks. Unlike the other days where shame and softness were the cause, it was now set aflame with the push of alcoholic courage. 

   Under a spell, Mikasa's body tickles. 

  She snakes her hands around his shoulders now with greater gusto and something under her skin tingles. Eren wraps her hips again but instead of throwing herself away like last time, she's steady.

   As if they've done this before and countless of times, they passionately moved in synchronicity to the slow rhythm. 

  The more their feet glide them along the sand, the more their awareness slips, falls, and snaps from the loose knot of consciousness.

  The more that their visions become a pointillism scenery of red shades, the more they abandon the gap into a shut pressing of their swaying bodies onto each other. 

  The more the song continues to hum the expression of intense passion, the layers of their subconscious desires were beginning to... unravel. 

      Unravel.

   In his eyes she dove right in its deepest depths - it was those damn viridescent pools that drove her mind beyond a frenzy. Her gaze trail down at his cheeks, and on his nose, and on his lips; in every direction and turns of her obsidian peruses, he watches her carefully.

      Unravel.

   The way she gently caress his jaw racked his insides into madness. Don't even get him started at how she bites her lip - enough of an aphrodisiac that knocked beyond his socks. 

     Unravel.

  Lost in each other with boiling magma at the tip of their tongues while their foreheads are pressed. 

   Unravel.

  Everything becomes an enigma: the past, the future, the lines, the boundaries, the vows, the ploy, their roles, their friendship, Trost - all that alluded to reality became a solid blackout. 

     Unravel. 

    And on the pièce de résistance of the layers, an Eros eruption.

  It started as a slow pecking.

  Then a cascade into a deep kiss with flavors that sent themselves beyond the towers of ecstasy. All numb from shame with intoxication as their anesthesia and stitched together in the outburst of their desires. A satisfied moan escapes from her when they pulled away that sparked a cocky grin on his face. 

    At a loss of words, they momentarily stood in silence to seize the moment that they were in each other's grasps and stupor.

   She steps on the battlefield again with her finger dallying behind his ear, onto his jaw, onto his neck and the collarbone behind his shirt.

   A breathy plea as she leans in on his shoulders that felt like a bullet on his chest.

   "Wanna... Take it upstairs?"

   When he cupped his hands on her face and pulls her into one grenade of a kiss, yes is definitely his answer. 

   (👁👄👁) 

Finally . It took them a couple of tries to get the floor right, thanks to their marred visions that morphed the elevator buttons into a jigsaw puzzle. Mikasa isn't so sure if there is a grimacing janitor in her peripheral vision - besides, her full attention was on the saccharine taste on her tongue. 

    Bang!

    When the door slammed against the walls, the cozy atmosphere of the suite shifted into intense heat. In every twist and turns of their lips, the crave for each other's piquancy heightened. In what looks like a choreographed tango sequence, Eren and Mikasa stumbled left and right inside the walls until a couch halts them. He stumbles with her weight on top while remaining the passionate kiss. He couldn't help but sing in muffled deep tones that complimented her high squeaks.

   Their hands travel on the maps of each other's mountains and terrains that hid beneath the layers of their clothes; fueling their hunger for something so carnal.

   Out of breath, they break away for large gasps. From her neck, his hands find its way in her mouth, and her tongue didn't require any instructions on how to play with his fingers. 

    His brows flew off his forehead. 

   With a final pluck, she hums and giggles that brought upon a smirk. Mikasa begins to touch the hems of skirt and peels it upwards, and spotting his hands mid air that asked for an invitation, she hums permissively.

   Off the dress goes that revealed her curves and underwear waning against the dark. An ethereal apparition where Eren became a worshipper at the foot of the goddess's golden temple, and he was willing to devote himself to every inch of her.

   She shoves him deep on the navy couch once again for another kiss, their hands snaking onto the button of his shirt to loosen... uh oh, it wont budge. 

  "HmmMgGh- Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait." He ducks down instantly in a war against a stubborn button. 

   And this went on for... how many minutes?

   The awkward pause was beating him right in the guts - Maria, hoped he didn't just ruin everything. 

    "I-"  She watches in a shutter of confused blinks as he gnaws at his collar. Mikasa signals a motion of pulling her hands away from her chest. "Hulk, Hulk, Hulk!"

   "I'm ffff-trying!" He barks in a whisper and she hisses impatiently.

  "Gah! Let me do it- oh." The same thing despite triple efforts. She takes another stab by pulling his shirt over his head but it became an obstruct to his airways that he painfully wheezes to.

   "Sorry, sorry, sorry!" She clenches her teeth sheepishly and props herself away from his lap. 

    Eren watches her wobbling shadow disappear and a thousand curses bell in his mind while his eyes snap into a shut. 

   Great. 

   After a downcast sigh, his eyes fluttered open that introduced him to a horror: a tip of a knife shining right at his throat, and on its end was a malicious and eerie stare sprung from nightmares.

   He yells atop of his lungs as if his soul abandoned its fleshed host.

   Mikasa cups his mouth; she too panicked as he convulses in terror beneath her. 

    "RRRYUTRYNGTOKKKKLMEEEMPP-"

    "SHUT UP THISUS D'ONLY WAY!"

    "MMMHHRGHH!?"

     "STOP! SHAKING!"

  Fearfully grimacing, she cuts through his shirt in a rodeo bull ride. After slashing the last thread, she flings the knife over her shoulder and frees his mouth. Eren gasps for air and seeing his torn shirt, he huffs in such relief. 

     "See?"

    To his chagrin he joins her in a laugh and tosses his shirt beside her dress.

    They resume on locking their lips all while exploring each other's bodies even more.

   It became a race as their hands trailed on each others skin downwards. Eren places first at her pulsating crotch; not even halfway towards their finish line, Mikasa already folded as indicated by her soaked biker shorts. He further teases her with speedy rubs as she voluntarily positions herself supine on the couch. With Eren on top, her body was screaming fire. 

    "T-take em off..." 

    A breathy plea that made his dick twitch even more. He plants a soft kiss on her forehead before the shorts join the scatter. Now only revealing her drenched panties, she guides his hand for more teases while chewing on her lip. 

     "And these?"

     "Mhm."

   He slings them away from her legs, lump in his throat forming a spark of a thirst. Mikasa begins her ministrations of rubbing her folds, but he swats her hand away so he could dive in. Right when his tongue presses on her labia, she cries a long "ah" that persuaded the kissing even more. 

    He caresses his lips around and in, making sure to savor every bit of her pussy; a murky tang but to him as sweet as cherries. Quite a challenge as she squirms around but he didn't mind - her hiccups told him she was in the skies of pleasure. His other hand makes its way on her breasts and gropes despite the bra posing as an obstacle.

  Mikasa's back further arched when sticks a finger, and then two, and then three - in every stroke and lick she whined louder. She grips along the crown of his hair as she begins to sway her hips against his face. "Shit! Shit! F-Fuck!"

   He smirks between her legs before pulling both tongue and fingers away. Satisfied, he finds his way back on her mouth again, remaining the circles on her clit as they hum together. 

   Mikasa wraps her arms around the nape of his neck and toys around his hair once again. He needs a reward; she decided it was her turn through cueing a halt with a claw on his wrists. 

   "Hm?"

   "Stand up." She whispers in the airy gap between them.

   As instructed, he shuffles himself upwards on his feet as Mikasa ducks down right at his waist. 

   "...Yer sure n' okay with it?" He didn't want her to do it if she felt obligated to do so, but her permissive humming provided a go signal. 

   He helps her unravel the drawstrings of his shorts but halfway, he props his arms up to fix his bun properly- 

   "OW!"

   Eren instantly looks down and is met with a wince that he somewhat makes out in the dark.

    "Youkay?"

   "Why'dya fuckin' dumbass slap me!?"

   "Huh? Was tying my hair." 

    It dawned on her that his hands weren't the thing that slapped her cheek; her brows touched beyond the atmosphere as she was bathed in thrills.

   She spits on her palm before proceeding to feel all of his length. Hurling away his shorts and boxers, he prepares himself for what's about to come. 

     Mikasa teases the tip with her tongue like a fish to a pebble, and later formed spirals all while getting used to his taste. Eventually she rippled into bobbing her head further, further, and further, with enhancing speed until her nose touches his bush in a near-retch.

    Eren felt like he was whacked by the shin with his weak knees, all while uttering pleased sibilates that were music to her ears. To make matters better, she gently slithers her way on to his balls and he curls. But with a commanding smack on his stomach, he was forced to straighten his back.

    "S-shit."

   She removes herself in a large pant as she heaves him to sit, before resuming into the in-out rhythm once again. In every dip, she'd let screech muffled gags. As her hair got in the way, he wraps them in his hands to see her pale skin blooming under the small cracks of moonlight. 

    Her skill of multitasking was put into use - one hand pleasing herself while the other began unhooking the bra. With it off she peels her mouth away from his cock, now replacing it in a sandwich between her breasts. Eren hisses louder with his head thrown back, persuading Mikasa's flirtatious giddy. 

    "You like that?" She bites her lip with a controlling look. "Good boy~"

    He couldn't even say anything back but only letting out exhales of smoke. Yet he managed to restrict himself on ascending the mountains of climax.

   She climbs herself up on top of him to meet his face. Eren cups her cheek to wipe the wetness off of her chin, summoning another crash of passionate kiss instigated by Mikasa. She tugs on his hair in a command to prop the both of themselves away from a couch into a slow twirl across the room. 

   "T-toss me..." Her brows furrow with an ever-growing desire blossoming even more.

   "Toss...?" He slightly fixes her disheveled hair. 

   "Bed. Throw me..."

   She belts out a tickled giggle when she feels her feet off the ground. Carrying her in bridal style, Eren prepares himself for a javelin toss in three, two, one...

  "Hoopla!"

  THUD.

   "OW! FUCK!"

   A gasp with his hands on his mouth. He squints around for a hint of her shadow on the large bed - none!? Or was she lost in the pillows and sheets!?

   "H-hello!?"

   Sucking her teeth and groaning, she slowly revealed herself from the edge of the mattress while clutching a temple. "Didn't mean literally!"

  He wobbly scurries towards her, "You'kay?"

   Mumbling, "...said bed, not floor." 

   But before he even has the chance to apologize, his lips were sealed shut as they slowly propped themselves on the bed.

  Her throbbing skull is the least of her concerns as of the moment - and guess you can call that shit 'banging sex'. 

Crawling backwards, she again laid beneath him; a loom of his sweaty and toned body washing away the headache into an aroused frenzy. She coos when Eren begins a row of butterfly kisses downwards as he plays with her breast. Landing on her pulsating pussy he teases it again with his tongue. He reaches to grip his cock to stroke, the room filling their duet of deep hums. 

    Enough of foreplay, she watches him hunch over her in a pause as if the world stopped in that minute to listen to their huffs and puffs. 

 Boundary. In that moment, such awareness of all lines they drew were tossed beyond the circumference of their clothes. 

  A tableau of her legs spread open and their red faces nearly touching each other behind closed doors - Is this what best friends really do?

   "M-Mikasa..."

   "Eren..." A lump in her throat as she tucks a strand of hair behind his ear in great fondness.  "I... want you in."

   "You sure?" He tried to scan if there was a hint of reluctance; seemingly none when her begging 'yes' bore an elated desperation.

   "P-please..." 

   Her eyes shone of stars and his of comfort - both stitched together by passion. 

  Without ever taking his eyes away from her, he begins with a tender rubbing of his tip against the surface of her folds. 

 In a readied inhale, Mikasa remains cupping his face. When he finally gained the courage to push half of him carefully, her mouth snapped open in a twitch - a sign for him to instantly retract.

    "A-am I hurting you?"

    "N-no... It's okay... C-continue."

 He pushes in again to help her adjust at his full length. She gasps loudly in each tender stroke, but quiets down when she feels herself adapting.

 Eventually, the rhythm became less of a cautious lento and into a satisfying pace.

 Beyond the highest levels of ecstasy; she tugs on the very sheets on her sides as they both duet in moans. 

  "A-ah... shit... you feel s-so good." The truth rolls off his tongue out of his volition - and she pleasingly huffs at the flattery.

 "Faster." An airy and weak demand that hit him like a lasso. 

 "Faster." She feels their foreheads press and their hot breaths motivated with the speed. 

 "Faster." All of his inches inside sent her beyond Nirvana in a loud cry.

   Slowing down, he kisses her once more before they switch to doggy. 

 "Wait." He pants as he reaches for a pillow and props it for her. Eren growls in her ear that sent a thousand tingles up her spine, "...I'll teach you a thing or two about using pillows..."

 She giggles at the remark and positions herself in an arch in front of him with her head buried. This time, instead of being careful, he picks up with the speed where they left off and she was sent flying onto the moon once again. 

  For what felt like centuries, they further fogged their windows as they transcended into different positions, louder moans, scratches, gropes, kisses, smacks, and booming dirtied affirmations. At some point, her neck felt like it could snap as he grips on her hair - and she loved every bit of it. 

  A muffled giggling sandwiched in every pained cry; she can't pinpoint the exact feeling but fuck, it's all so good. In every collision and smack that echoed the room, Mikasa would beg for more. 

  Eren craned his head around in the cliffs of extreme erotism. With his hips retired, it was her turn on top with bounces - every motion curling his toes even closer. At the yell of his name from her tongue, he'd feel like he was bewitched into a spell - nothing close to a hex but of such a blessing that made him see colors beyond the known spectrum. 

    "H-ha..." And he could feel that he was reaching peaks. "I-I'm gonna cum..."

    At the precaution, she went gaga on teasing him with her rapid hips and her pleading cries; his soul had already begun stepping outside the realms of life. 

   "...drain that cock for me..." 

   With an alas of a howling whine, he made sure to remove himself from her and began stroking in brisk motions.

   "Shit!" He felt his entire body twitch a lightning strike at the ejecta.

   Just as he thought he was finished, Mikasa wrapped her mouth and her fingers around - one hell of a final straw that nearly sent him into a slumber. "M-Mikasa... h-holy shit!"

 A pluck as she pulls herself upwards to crawl near his face "Oops."

   They both giggle before closing the gap between them in a kiss of such endearment.

  Yesterday and tomorrow were all buried by the shovels of the inebriated present; unknowing of the consequences that will unfold at the crack of the dawn.

     Ten glasses knocked over and two shots remained untouched. The bartender cranes his neck around to spot the two as he was eager at the result. Did something go wrong? Did one of them pass out? Who won?

   He shrugs his shoulders as he begins to pick up the glasses. On the left side of his shoulder, the same man remains in his colony of hollow shots. 

 Keith could barely keep his head still but he fights the urge to smack his head against the table. As another rim nearly touched his lips, he is cut by a sudden presence beside him.

   "Hey! You gotta keep it cool with the drinks. Sure, you're sprightly for your age but your liver, not as you think."

   "Hm?" He turns and life springs on his eyes. "Faye!"

   She kisses her teeth and snatches his drink, "Gimme that!"

  His brows raised at how she was able to finish the glass in a gulp. Her face curls and she slightly convulses. "On earth is this?" She sassily tosses the glass over her shoulders (unsure if an unfortunate soul received the spike).

    "It's... something." He flutters his eyes in shame.

    She flags a hand. "Anyway - the long face of yours?"

    "My face?" 

    "You're not here to crap on my nephew's wedding are you?"

    "No? Why the assumption? Zeke is my nephew too."

   She raises her brows sardonically and murmurs, "Sure - anyways. What's with you sulking by yourself like you spilled all the milk there is in the world? Let me guess-"

     "No, no, I didn't ask for you to start jumping on conclusions. I thought you were apathetic of matters that don't really involve you, Ms. Yeager."

  Faye chortles; three years passed but hearing the reclaim of her maiden name still brought the same joy as when she signed the papers. "Can't I be concerned about a friend?"

     A dunked tone. "You consider me as a friend?" Groaning she starts to leap from the stool and he chuckles. "Wait, wait, where are you going?"

    "I don't like to dilly-dally much. Cut the crap, Keith." A sigh from him and she rolls her eyes. "And I'll guess again - your sulking involves a woman."

 His neck snaps. "H-huh?"

   "Or two, three but knowing you..." She sucks her teeth. "Not even a single one."

    "So you've come here to insult me?"

   "Precisely!" She giddily claps and he grimaces. "Anyways, tell me about her - I don't think she's all that worth it."

   A murmur before reaches for another sip, "She is."

    "Hm? Sorry?" Faye's brows furrow as she reaches for the last full glass.

  Keith shakes his head to wander off onto another topic. "Shouldn't you be with Hannes right now?"

    A wincing gulp halfway through the shot, "Sorry did you say Hannes?"

    "Yeah?"

    "Hannes?" 

    "I said his-"

  She throws her head back in a fit of a large guffaw with him staring in puzzlement. "You're the fiftieth person today - oh my god!"

    "What do you mean?"

    "Why does everyone think we're together? Honey, can't you sniff it?"

    An agitated hiss, "Sniff what?"

 Faye raises a free arm and bends her wrist. "He's gay."

    "...Wait, huh?"

    "You're friends with him before the dinosaurs were struck by asteroids and you had no clue!?"

  His brows raise at the realization of all the moments he overlooked. "I didn't think much of it nor he was very upfront. But either way, his love affairs were never my concern and well, I support him."

    "I see... And yeah, I've been helping him around with some..." She giddily shimmies her shoulders, "...flings so that's why we're always together."

    "Oh..." Quite a relief and he feels even more ashamed of himself for being puerile.

  Trost

      What great irony that is that about ten years ago, Annie dreaded the thought of becoming a mother. Now here she is, running her trembling fingers across the pages of a postnatal manual with a large bump. She was said to be due any minute, but those minutes turned into days; her anxiousness and eagerness growing more. 

    "Babe?"

    She cranes her neck upwards and instantly feels soothed at the sight of her husband with two steaming mugs. Armin places the pink one on the small table beside her, "I also put lots of marshmallows just how you like it."

    "Thank you." A smile on her face that is a rare sight outside, but an often occurrence when it came to him. "You finished marking the papers?"

   A wince on his face, "Halfway? Not much efforts from their essays and I had to quit for awhile."

   Annie giggles and he shakes his head. Spotting the book in her hands, he peels it away and places it on their coffee table. "What are you doing?"

    "I know you're scared and I want to get it off your mind for now. I'm worried about you, Annie."

  A sigh, "I... I can't help it."

   Armin takes her hand and rubs it gently. "We can do it, okay?" He gives it a small peck before he crouches at the level of her bump. "Hi little one. It's Daddy! Look, you're kind of enjoying your hotel stay too much - me and Mommy need you out! We wanna meet you, princess! Especially Mommy, you're hurting her back too much!"

    They both giggle and he props himself behind her into a cuddle; a relieved breath from his wife when he kisses her cheek. 

    The past nine months have been quite a roller coaster ride for the couple. Each month grew excitement, but also the piles of Annie's cravings, advice and superstitious from older folks, hormonal swings, and baby fever from their friends. 

    A journey she wont miss... for now. 

   Funny enough, despite organizing at least two notebooks of suggested names, a blank still draws in their heads. Who knew that naming their little girl would pose such a challenge? 

    Armin joked around the idea of letting an epiphany sit right when she's pushing - and she took it as a great advice. 

    Maybe the idea will pop right up on such moments. 

   "Also, babe."

   She raises a brow at the interjection of her musings. "Yeah?"

   "Random thought but you know how I sometimes talk about having weird guts?"

   "Weird... guts?" One of the things she adores about Armin since they were teenagers - his random ramblings that would confuse her. (And now she hopes he wont pass it on to their daughter or else she'll end up with an exploded head)

   "I don't know? Halfway through checking papers and all, I had a weird intuition telling me that I may have proved someone right? Like... I had a guess and the coin landed on my side or something."

   "Armin, what the hell are you talking about?" She scrunches her nose and he shrugs. 

   "Dunno. It felt like a kick in my gut - another reason why I had to step out."

  Annie shuts her eyes, "You mean its the cheese that twisted your guts? Babe, you know you shouldn't be eating cheese!"

   "Couldn't help myself! That was an authentic Swiss cheese grandpa brought from his trip!"

   "Oh God."

   "Cheese aside, I don't know. My guts are weird sometimes- Did you just pee?"

  Her blue eyes shoot out from her sockets and she's suddenly paralyzed with a cracked voice.

"Yesn't?"

  And up goes Armin darting to their room to pick up the duffel bag, keys, and their shoes. 

Chapter Text

      Eren shifts himself around what seems to be a cocoon, and in the darkness, small cracks of light peaked through that told him it was already morning. The couch suddenly feels too soft and he never felt this comfortable for the past few days.   

    But such luxury was tossed away with his head suddenly felt like it was smacked by a thousand hammers. He hisses as he unfurls the blanket weighing him. Worse, the sudden shooting of coarse rays heightened the pain.

    A creak of a door that he noted when he was rubbing his eyes. In his peripheral vision, Mikasa exited the bathroom.

   "Mornin' Miks."

    No response but a gentle shuffling.

  And how did it take him this long that he wasn't on the couch but on the bed where he promised would only be hers for the week? 

    A lump in his throat.

  His mind was smudged by a hangover but it was able to collect the pieces of a) how he has a blood-sucking headache, and b) why his naked body was out in the open on her bed. His cheeks were on fire and he could feel his eyes leaping out of its sockets.

    No... Way...

    No way.

   Surprisingly not much of a messy aftermath but only of a lopsided picture frame, as the clothes he remembered wearing (and likely tossed around during the process) were neatly folded on top of the couch. The finale of his answers came in the form of Mikasa, who couldn't look him straight in the eye - or actually, had her entire body facing against him and in front of a tall plant tucked in a corner. 

      "About last night..." She utters with her nerves clearly writhing her voice. The plant swayed as she fiddled with its leaves. "We...I think... uhm we need to talk."

      "Well... if... you wanna turn around first-"

   She clears her throat pretty sternly.

      "Aaaand roger that." He nods as he pulls the covers towards him. "Now, can you turn around?"

      "Y-you can take your time and maybe uhm... grab some clothes."

      "Mikasa. You can only see my face."

      "Okay!" She carefully pivots with her eyes snapped shut, and with gradual confidence she finally opens them. "M-much better... and technically neck up."

      "At least you don't see anything... well anymore."

 The then room bore the loudest volume of silence; in their years of friendship, such was never heard of before.

     Sure there were times in the past when they couldn't look at each other out of pettiness, but now it was loomed of such a heavy burden.

     Eren's denial paralyzed him and Mikasa's shame killed her dignity. 

      "So uhm... Last night did we... did we really have done the deed - and by deed I mean insertion... of the card... in... in to the machine? Kinda like an unplanned purchase..." He mumbles the rest behind gritted teeth, "And if we do receive an order in nine months I swear I'll be responsible..."

     It doesn't look like she was exactly following the context through her curled face.

     "No, no, no, no what I'm trying to say is, did we really throw the anaconda in the bun? I charged...your phone? Had a sausage party? Rhythmic skydived-"

      "Eren, Eren. I get, I get." She waves her arms, hoping he'd stop with the uncomfortable synonyms. "You can literally just ask...' Heyyy Mikasa, did we really just have...sex last night? ' "

      "Oh yes, yes! Here comes Ms. Ackerman saving me with her daily corrections - to that I say, 'YES! We did have banging.... BANGING sex, Eren Kruger Yeager!'... Haha... Haaa..." 

      She holds her breath uneasily, "You're making it weirder than it already is."

      "Do you think maybe I shouldn't have used the word 'banging' twice?"

      "No." She gently shakes her head. "Still weird."

      "Right."

       "I know this is all weird. I feel weird too-"

       "Yeah or maybe I shouldn't have yelled out my name because it sounds like I was just masturbating-"

       "Eren ."

       "Yes ma'am?"

       "You're not making it any better."

       "Right still weird."

       "Yes, weird! Weird ."

       "Oh for sures... Real, totes, weird."

       "Yes."

   Another pause as he relaxes his shoulders and she fiddles with her ring. 

        What now?

    This can't just pass the more he lets his nerves rattle him, he has to address the elephant in the room. Scrambling through his thoughts, he was trying to say the right words - if there's really any that could outweigh this.

   He watches her on the other end of the nervous seesaw; no one seemed to be above or below the other as they were on the same level of shame and guilt, as it seems.

   He sighs deeply as somewhat of a silent prayer. "Mikasa. I... Look. I'm... sorry I didn't mean for this to happen, I'm sorry."

       "No, no, no I-I think I should be the one saying sorry here-"

       "We both made it happen if we both look at it that way."

       “I-I don’t know what came to me - I… was caught up in the moment…”

       "I guess I could say the same... And I didn't expect this nor...I've never thought this could happened... And please my intent towards you is never this... I never wanted to or thought of taking advantage-"

       "Oh no, no, no, no. You didn't! You didn't."

        "O-okay..."

    On the other side of the plank, Mikasa's consciousness was yelling at her to get a grip.

    One hell of a shower thought really crushed her tough ass up into love-struck juice pulps - and its disgusting.

    Although last night marked such one hell of a blunder, she can't deny... Maybe... Maybe it really is time to stop lying to herself - should she just tell him? Or hold her peace like she always has? 

     Eren... Despite last night's crap... This entire week made me realize that all these years...

    She clears her throat in preparation of her possible demise.

       "Mikasa."

    But it looked like he had something to say first. Eren's face changed and her nerves danced even more. 

        "Y-yes."

        "I... I dragged you into my crap... for this shitty wedding and... our goal was just linking arms and calling it a week. I seriously didn't think..."

        "It already happened, did it? No use of crying over-"

        "Spilt milk?"

        "I... was gonna say an entire truck of Capri Sun but okay."

   He buries his face in the blanket with a muffled giggle, and she too feels giddy. “D'awww! You know me so well~"

        "I... sure do."

        "And uhm... Miks... Friends... They don't... They never do this - well FWBs do but..."

        "We never signed or thought of such a contract have we?"

        "According to our 5x5 yellow sticky notes with strong adhesives tucked in a laminated hardcover binder, I don't think so."

        "And you sure do know me well too."

  They both burst into a fit of laughter before dropping onto a collected sigh. 

        "Mikasa..."

        "Hm...?"

        "We're...we're friends, right? We're colleagues technically... but I consider you as my best friend."

   She gently bobs her head. "We are... I guess best of... friends."

       "Of course."

   She watches him flutter his eyes away from her to the tall closet.

  At this point, he could feel his cheeks slapped by crimson as his nerves rattled under his skin.

        "E-Eren... you okay?"

        "But I just think... " What if...

        "H-Huh...?"

        "Mikasa... I just think... this is all a bad idea and a mistake that..."

        "A bad idea..." She echoes, unknowing if her fingers could even move. “Mistake…” 

  And her heart suddenly dropped right at her toes.

 Although she knew she crossed one boundary, of course, all the other lines should remain uncrossed. 

  What the hell was she thinking?

        "What I'm trying to say is- Mikasa- wait, wait, where are you-"

  Embarrassment dragged her to the door and in a blink she disappeared within an aggressive click - more instantaneously than a whiff of smoke to the wind.

       "...going?"

      "I-I think we should get back now don't you think?"

      "C'mon! We haven't been out that long!"

    A part of Isabel told her going along was dumb, but the other consoled her that she was doing the right thing. If there's anything she learned about her cousin, it was never to leave her to her own devices. Gabi, when alone, could be extremely rowdy and let curiosity override her morals at times - and she just wants to make sure she comes back in their suite in time and in one piece. 

    They carefully perambulated hand in hand in an empty corridor, their anxiousness hugging their backs tighter in every step.

    Throughout the night, Gabi's eyes were open; aside from being a natural light sleeper being disrupted by her grandmother's snoring, she heard pronounced banging and scratching on the walls. Being a supernatural and mystery fanatic, it was her best interest to investigate.  

    Hopefully their Nana isn't awake yet or Udo's mouth remained shut. In hindsight, three would be better than two but he's terrible with handling fear, and they swore he might've peed the carpet at the mention of 'ghosts'.

      "I think we should go back, Gabi..."

      "You're scared, chicken?"

   She kisses her teeth. "How many times did I tell you I'm not a chicken!"

      "Then why do you wanna go back now?"

      "Nana... or our moms might be looking for us right now."

      "You think with the party last night they'll wake up before us?"

      "The wedding's today isn't it?"

      "Yeah but it's in the afternoon-"

   Both of their heads whip towards a small bang on the other side of the corridor.

       "W-what was that!?"

       "I-I don't know..."

       "W-was that you, Izzy?"

       "N-no..."

   Their hands gripped tighter and they gulped. Taking careful steps-

       "Oh."

       "Huh?"

      "Just a cat."

 To her relief, Isabel relaxes her shoulders. "Gabi, I don't think there really are ghosts around. We should just go back-"

    "No! But the ghost thingy I watched two days ago said something that if you hear banging it might be ghosts! I heard banging and some scratching..."

    "Maybe it was a dream?"

    "No, I was awake. I couldn't sleep."

     "You should really stop watching-"

     "I think I heard something else, let's go!"

     "OW!"

   The next thing she knows is she's being tugged by her red pigtails like a dog on a leash.

       Mikasa doesn't even know where her feet are taking her but her instincts were telling her to never look back. 

   Every time she came across different spots in the hotel's labyrinth, they all haunted her to the bone. Each were reminders of the peace before it all; small snippets of their ridiculous plot throughout their week.  

   Spotting an empty patio in the midst of an opening, she decided it was the best place to give her legs a rest. As if she didn't get enough reminders already, the faint speakers mocked her circumstance too.

          ...You're wondering now, what to do

          Now you know this is the end

         You're wondering how, you will pay

         For the way you misbehaved...

     She throws her hands on her temples, "Gah! Give me a fucking break."

         Last night.

    They sang, they were alone under the stars, they danced, they laughed and at the suggestion of clicking a few glasses, Sasha's precaution belled like a horned id sitting on her shoulders. Enchanted by the alcoholic philter, they stumbled across the sand, lobby, elevator, a few floors, the suite, to the couch and to the bed. 

     Her hypothesis of denying the effects of 'Five-Drink Mikasa' was definitely proven false, and she figured that out with such a price of an aftermath. All were scattered after such a hurricane: her sandals, her dress, her shorts, her bra, her panties, then his shorts, his boxers and his torn shirt. (Also a knife tucked right under a lamp stand posed another puzzle but with the gnawed shirt, it may have been used for such.)

      The worst debris of it all was this. 

   What the hell was she thinking!?

   Of course... It would all be a mistake, a bad idea. 

   How was she going to face him during the wedding now - the sole reason why they're placed in this god-forsaken resort in the first place?

   Hell, what is it going to be like when they'd fly back to Trost? 

   No matter how much remorse she'd pile on her back, they couldn't push her back behind the line she had crossed.

   And what now - she ruined everything, did she?

      "Mikasa?"

  Quite a tender voice yet it was enough to rattle her out of her musings. An eager smile crept up on her lips at the sight of familiar faces.

      "H-hi! Historia! Y-Ymir!"

       "Oh... Are... you okay?"

       "H-huh? Why-why the question? I-I am! Okay!"

       "You're... kind of crying the Niagara Falls outta your eyes..."

---------------

      He wasn't even done talking. 

      Surely, she seemed upset. For what exact reason? He partly has an idea but mostly not. And he knows he's to blame.

   Twisting the knob to the hallway, Eren turns his neck left, right, and even front although a closed door, hoping for her trace - to no avail, of course.

      "Where the hell did she even go?" He huffs as he rubs his sweaty palms on his shorts. 

   In a matter of minutes, he surveyed a small chunk of the resort. Paradis Suites has quite a ridiculous maze that even with familiarity, you're still left stuck in a shady corner somehow. There is a lot of possible spots where she could possibly linger, and despite using process of elimination and remembering the places they've been, he was still met with futile results.

       "No... she wouldn't leave without her things..." He consoles himself as he peers towards the shore from a large window. 

   He crossed his arms and hummed.

   Eren can already hear Armin and Annie bathing him with laughs and jeers - that's if he does tell them about everything. 

   Last night wasn't supposed to happen at all. It wasn't. 

   But he realized...

       "Hey."

       He jolts. "Holy- Zeke. Where the hell did you come from? Aren't you supposed to be getting ready?"

      "Too early, and I'm pretty low maintenance - throw me in a suit, call it a wedding."

       "Fair."

       "What happened to you? I've seen you pacing around the same spot twice, and now you're looking at the window like you're about to spit some shitty ass monologue."

       "Well I was getting in to it until you came along, thank you."

  Zeke snickers as he joins him squinting at the scene of a the calm sea. He moves closer to the glass until presses his nose. "Don't see anything interesting..."

       "Because there fucking isn't."

  It doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out that something's awry with his younger brother. 

        "There's a stick up your ass, Eren."

   He turns around.

        "No idiot, I meant metaphorically - you good?"

        "I'm totes okay..."

        "You aren't. Don't say 'I'm good, just hungover'. Right now, you look like you're about to piss your pants any time."

        "Can I go to the bathroom?"

        "No."

        "Oh sorry, may I go to the bathroom?"

        "You may fucking not."

    Eren rolls his eyes and kisses his teeth. 

       "There's something wrong with you. C'mon. What is it?"

   He doesn't even understand what he feels either but agitated and apprehensive seemed to sit right. Numb? Too strong of an adjective but it fit well too.

   He's also debating whether or not it was best to spill his guts out to Zeke. Throughout his life, his brother was someone he confided with when it came to troubles. Despite his taunts, once in awhile he'd give reasonable and unbiased verdicts, sandwiched in his sermons that would burn a little too truthfully.

   Sure his current problem rattled him, but that meant having to explain this entire premise - which sounds too embarrassing to even ramble to his dog (even though he's likely much more interested in humping pillows than hearing him wail).

       "Don't need to guess that this is about Mikasa."

   He whips his head towards his brother in a stupor. "H-huh?"

       "A little fight with you and your girlfriend?"

       "N-nothing's wrong about me and her."

  The transparency was right there through his gaping mouth like a dehydrated fish. 

        "Check the way you're reacting right now - and I'm right. So it is about her."

        "N-no-"

        "So where is she right now? Why isn't she with you?"

        "She's sleeping and she's tired and I just... wanna walk around for fresh air and...  I needed... space to rehearse the speech..." 

         "Bullshit." He presses his glasses, "Something happened between you two?"

   Eren exhales heavily; it was no use restraining a submission. "Guess you could say that."

   --------------

     Well that's another layer of predicaments today - acquaintances she made a few nights ago are now seeing her weep pathetically in the wee stages of a hangover. Mikasa tried to shoo them off with the assumption of the couple having to check out, as evident from their large suitcases, but they insisted on taking the other seats on the table.

   Great.

      "I know we met only a few days ago but me and Ymir wouldn't mind lending you our ears, okay?"

   She gently nods her head. 

      "Wait a minute." Ymir raises a brow. "Where's Eren?"

   It became obvious that he was the source of her dismay by her face shifting a mood. They exchange a sympathetic look, in debate of whether or not it was right to bring him up.

     "It's... It's about him."

   She sighs and shuts her eyes; embarrassed but she terribly needed solace in the hour.

     "Fuck it! Just fuck it! I don't know what's wrong with me! This is all so...dumb! I-I don't know what to do... I know what I feel about him... but... It's not... it's not possible at all! I just... I don't think we can and... I don't know!"

     "H-huh!?" They both under the impression that...

     "Mikasa are you... " Historia glances at her wife before leaning on the table with worry and bewilderment. "Thinking... of calling it off? Your.... Engagement? Your wedding!?"

  Oh yeah. She throws her head back in a giggle that heightened the couple's concern with discomfort blooming on its sides.

       "We aren't engaged."

       "Oh no... We're sorry..."

       "Should've said that a bit more clearer - we were never engaged in the first place."

    They furrow their brows. "Pardon...?" "What...do you mean?"

   Fiddling with her ring, Mikasa smirks; at this point, immune to any more punches of shame she was going to receive.

      "You guys in for a wild story?"

-------

         "I'm sorry you... what?"

 Does he really have to repeat ordeal's book again? "Okay, so, I dragged Mikasa-"

        "No no, I fully understood but wait... you're telling me..." Zeke was nearly choking in his cackles. "You went around parading your crush as your quote-unquote girlfriend?"

        "C-crush!? S-shut up! Listen, listen I told you my reasons- stop laughing!"

         "Eren..." He hysterically wipes a palm on his forehead. "Who fucking raised you, dumbass!?"

        "D-dude! What do you want me to do..." And the rest of Eren's ramblings were blender'd  as his hands waved around. "...What do you want me to do!?"

        "What do you mean 'what do you want me to do!?'"

        "I panicked!"

        "And you think a whacking out a 'play-pretend' card patches up your shitty 'problem'!?"

        "Hey, what would you do if you were in my shoes!?"

        "Be smart and simply decline? Do you need lessons for it? Here's one - hey Ma, I'm 27 and somewhat stable in my life, but please accept the fact that I've accepted the fact that I'm gonna die alone. So stop playing match maker for me, it's embarrassing."

        "Were you even raised by Carla Yeager!?"

   He raises his brows - Their mother could be quite pushy with her agendas especially when overzealous. "She was already on the laminated business card basis - I guess you really were fucked." 

         "See!"

  But God, his brother was something else. Zeke partly blames himself for dropping 7 month old Eren five flight of stairs down head first; that seemed to be the catalyst of his stupid rationale.

        "And you swear you don't smoke the crack you confiscate? Because if you did, I don't think it was laced with logic at all."

        "Oh shut the fuck up!" 

-------

        "Really...?" 

        "Yeah, it's stupid but... I owed him a favor so, we're here."

  Ymir was on the verge of bursting into a cackle until Historia shoots her a scolding glare. It was an expected reaction from this caricature of a mess.

        "It's okay, you can laugh - It's stupid I know..." Mikasa bites her lip and snickers. "And that night, I thought it would be funny to pull the same trick on him by upping the ante-"

        "And you introduced yourself as his fiancé?"

        "Yeah exactly..."

   They both sing an intrigued and giddy 'oh'.

         "But... you have a ring?"

         "It's an heirloom. I just happen to have around."

         "Ah, but it's really pretty though!"

         "Thank you! But... If it was Eren..." She chuckles - he would use a pop tab if he did propose (and the thought of him bending a knee in front of someone else...). She snaps herself away through a croak of a throat. "Also, I didn't think he'd tag along with that crap since we're 'off-duty' in those hours... as his family wasn't around... I guess I had my fair share of fun..."

   Historia raises her brows and restricts herself from giggling. "I mean... Mikasa, if I have to be honest... I just... I'm completely surprised, I can't believe it!"

          "Yeah, you haven't heard of such thing outside pathetic rom-coms, have you?"

          "You could say that but... No! You and Eren..." She squints and tilts her head. "I really thought you guys were the real deal. I reckon anyone in this world would!"

         "Well...The colleagues part - that's the truth. I guess the reason why I think a lot of people bought our façade is that we're naturals. We're constantly walking on a ticking lifeline. So I guess we applied... that skill."

          "Mikasa, that's not what Historia meant."

-------

           "...And what do you mean there's another layer to this bullshit!?"

    Eren winces as if he's on the edge of a rollercoaster's peak. He planned on carrying last night's event to the grave, but his tongue slipped and Zeke, as always, never missed a single syllable.

          "I-I... We... Last night...So like the party right? We... We got too fucked up. Okay so picture this-"

          "No. " It didn't take the entire sentence to spell it all out. His giddy grin stretched wider as if he just dug out the hidden treasures of his mind.

          "No what!?"

          "Oh you definitely fucked."

          "It-it was an accident."

          "Accident." He sucks his teeth before belting out a louder guffaw. "Eren - you slipped on a banana peel, your pants fell right at your ankles, and your dick lodged right in her ass?"

          "N-Are you stupid!? We both got too pissed drunk and shit happened!"

          "A classic!"

   Eren watches him with a bored half-smile as his laughing fit lasted centuries; the very thing he dreaded. "Okay, now that you heard everything, I'm gonna go-"

          "C'mon you pissbaby, just give me this laugh! It's a great present!"  He pats his shoulder quite violently, enticing a grunt; damn, all that power from the dead arm really combined with the other. "And let's start with having a seat so that your big brother can properly serve you some truth juice, okay?"

          "And let's start with not calling yourself 'big brother' like I'm six."

          "Okay, little brother."

          "Ezekiel."

          "Jheez! Fuck! Okay!"

    The brothers sat on at a bench adjacent to the window while unloading great sighs: Zeke, entertained by such comedic news in early hours, and Eren, on the other end is clouded with great despondency and embarrassment. 

          "So, to summarize your fuckery - you went around in an undercover mission to 'save face' that ended up being a fuckfest."

          "Don't make this in to a porn plot, dipshit."

          "If you make it to be- hey, hey, we're sidetracking." He waves an arm down. "Anyways why are you here?"

          "Huh?"

          "Don't... tell me you just got up and ditched her after what happened."

          "Oh no, no, no. I could never do that to her at all. I-uh I'm... actually looking for her."

          "Ahhh..." Zeke sucks his teeth. "So she ditched you."

   He chews on his lip. "Well... How do I say this. N-not exactly. Uhh... we had a conversation after I woke up-"

          "Eeee, must've been terribly awkward."

          "No... Not as terribly, terribly awkward... Or actually yeah, I think it is... Well, if she walked out halfway... Then."

    Eren hums, trying to collect the pieces of the conversation but it was somewhat of a blur - and his throbbing head wasn't much help. 

         "Well, we were both very aware of what happened. And I may have offended her along the lines that she rushed out the door but I was trying to say something..."

    He awaits for a response or a reaction, but his brother continues to rub his chin.

            "Why are you looking at me like that? Go on."

            "O-oh..." He purses his lips; his nerves tugging him harder in all corners. "I didn't think things would turn out this way - who would? I feel like I may have just ruined everything and shit's not gonna be the same anymore..."

-------

    The naivety was extremely ridiculous and to say the least, frustrating . Historia's sweet giggle rung clearly in the wide patio (attracted quite a few heads from the kiosk), and Ymir uttered a soft 'yikes' under her clenched teeth. It was clear as water to them why she was at the towers of distress. Surely they needed to knock some sense into her: as for someone who solves puzzles for a living, this is quite a big fat joke.

    On the opposite side of the company, Mikasa's sheepish grin began to cramp her cheeks; suffocating her under the wraps of uncertainty.

          "I don't think you had to pretend just to feed in to your roles. Mikasa, tell me. The things you said to him, is it really a 'script' ? Or did it come from" Historia cheekily taps her chest. "Here?"

          "I-I guess I was telling him the truth that night."

        Ymir hums, "Your mini outburst earlier gave it away: you like him."

     Their eyes were glued on her like she was a guilty man at the foot of a confession. 

         "I do." She was arrogantly smirking, proud of her crime. "And... No matter how much I try to deny, it always makes its way. But... 'I like him' rings an understatement."

         "So you love him?"

      Her mouth malfunctioned for a couple of minutes, her widening eyes invited smirks and giggles.

         "H-hey y-you... that's quite a stretch-"

         "What about 'falling'?"

         "I guess... I've fallen into the pit long ago..."

         "Does he know!?"

         "No... Not at all."

         "I don't get it... Why can't you just be honest with him?"

    'Whatever happens... You're.... not supposed to fall in love with me. We're not supposed to fall in love with each other..."

          "It's... a bad idea and a mistake in the making. Me and him, I think we're meant to be just friends. And I agree things are better this way." 

           "Are you sure that's what you really wish?"

  A lump in her throat and her heart was pounding beyond a marathoner past a finish line. If she was being honest, "No... But... There's no way."

          "If you think this is an unrequited case, I think you're heavily mistaken - Eren seems to share the same feelings as you."

          "What...?"

           "Judging that one night - the way he looks at you, the way he talks about you...Not to mention, when he was telling me his ordeal, you know where it led to? He said he was so happy it brought him to you. DON'T tell me, the words he said about you flew right above your head - assuming those weren't assed scripts too."

           "O-oh...?" She softly utters, unable to comprehend her emotions. What would be their reason to lie?

           "Look, if you really were just pulling such an act, it felt beyond an act. There was something - a 'spark', to be cliché. He seems extremely fond of you - how are you not seeing it at all?"    

           "And What's holding you back!? What are you so afraid of?"

---------      

           "...Miss me with that corny shit."

           "Thought you wanted me to be honest!"

           "I mean yeah I guess."

           "Bottom line, she means a lot to me."

           "Okay and?"

           "Okay and what?"

           "Then go fucking tell her if she means that much to you to the point that you're willing to rip out a nut sack for her!"

           "Don't put words in my mouth-"

           "Shut up. Anyways, I really thought you finally used your head when you brought her in. Holding hands and," Zeke changes the pitch in his voice into a satirical squeak, "Ooohh look at me and my little girlfriend~ We're so bloody puhfect and splehnded for each otha!"

           "Hey for the record, I did use my head because if I didn't, we would've already blown- OW! WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT FOR!?""

   He hisses, rubbing the very spot that Zeke just smacked and he swears he was seeing stars.

           "Quit your job if you're this naïve! She's into you, dipshit!"

           "You... really think?"  

           "Yes I think you are this fucking naïve!"

           "NO! Now you're the fucking idiot! I was asking if you really think she likes me back!"

            "Fucking... " He buries his face in his hands, belting out a muffled scream. If only he could jab a screw right at his skull. "Just. Go up to her. Tell her you like her. Done."

            "It's not easy!"

            "Because you're making it so damn difficult!"

             "Dude it's because-"

             "Stop! Whining! Look, trust me when I say she's gonna be saying more than 'I respect that and thank you' crap! Talk to her, and when you actually get your shit out-"

      Familiar guffaws of two women began to echo around the vicinity they were in. One of them louder than the other, and no doubt it was...

      Both their eyes pop open: Zeke saw it as a miracle that will give him more hands to smack his brother, and the other end of the bench...

              "Zeke. They are NOT gonna be involved." He shoots a threatening glare. "I swear to fucking-"

              "Goood morning~! Ma! Auntie!" He cheerfully chirps at their sight that definitely brought attention; Eren begun devising a plan of strangling him with his stupid beard.

       It took the women a minute to realize the source before bursting into giddy coos.

            "Ah! If it isn't the groom and his best man! Darlings~"

     Faye looked odd with a shawl hugging her neck despite being humid. Their arms were linked, as she seemingly was in need of support and boy, she was relieved to spot the bench.

              "Wedding day! Aren't ya excited, my Zekie? Eren, scooch your ass."

              "And you sure don't have a favorite nephew." He props himself up to give space and she throws herself beside the laughing Zeke.

              "Don't be a wuss puss - I swear I'll be nice to 'ya on your wedding day. Better be the lovely honey you brought over." She winks playfully. 

      The brothers shoot each other a look; Zeke's brows touching his hairline and Eren breaking his teeth in a tight clench.

              "You hear that Eren? Your wedding day."

               "Hah... Wedding...Yeah..."

              "Oh no pressure at all! You said you were still figuring things out with Mikasa, hm?" He never would have figured that he'd ever feel fear just by seeing his mother's calm smile. "Besides, I'm still processing you and Zeke are no longer kids anymore!"

      The four giggle - Eren as the odd one out.

              "But hmmm... Wedding, Eren? You're sure you'll get to that stage? Things aren't going so great, right? There's still bridges to cross... there's still truth-telling that needs to happen. Must be reaaally rough for you and Mikasa, man."

     And he sure did tug the last nerve.

            "Especially the truth telling part."

             "Ezekiel, what's going on?"

             "Ooh! Nothing! Just... Nothing. Eren and his girlfriend are definitely fine."

     Eren snaps his eyes shut but he could see puzzled heads turning his way. 

              "Is there something wrong?"          

------

          "...We really need to hit your head, huh?"

          " Babe! "

          "I'd give you the honours, Ymir."

    Laughter erupted in their table but this time, Mikasa was able to enjoy it in great relief. All her doubt, oddly, tossed themselves out the window.

          "It's just our thoughts you know - we want what's best for you."

           "Thanks you guys..."

    Seeing that Historia was aiming to touch her hands, she reaches out in return.

           "Say Mikasa. Out of the three, you're the one who knows him the most - obviously. And I think you could see that he respects you a lot. So I don't think you need to be afraid - in fact, I think he'd appreciate it when you're honest with him and especially, yourself."

        She gently nods her head. "You're right... I've made up my mind."

     Mikasa unloads the heavy weight through a large sigh, shaking her shoulders to flick the last bit of insecurity left. Whatever odds she'll receive, she has to embrace it. Life's gonna go on either way, right?

    Not long after, Ymir takes note of the time that prompted the girls out of their seats. Their flight was due in an hour, bearing check outs, traffics, and airport securities in mind. 

    Before bidding each other farewell, Historia suggested an exchange of each other's socials and email, in hopes of keeping contact. Well, more like she was itching to read whatever conclusion they will receive. Mikasa's gratitude stretched further that she jotted her phone number down - just in case if they ever came across the thought of dropping by Trost, and she'll give them a tour.  

           "...But seriously you guys. Thank you - your words mean a lot."

           "Don't sweat it, anything for a friend! Well, you're our new friend!"

           "You guys are so sweet! Speaking of sweet, I wish you guys very, very well and a very happy marriage. Congrats again!"

           "Thank you!" They cry in unison.

    And final adieu - Mikasa reaches for sentimental hugs starting with Ymir who's slightly towering her, and to the tiny Historia whose...

   In the midst of patting her back, she finds herself in a stupor at the stalls, trees, benches, people...

   No.

  It can't be. 

   She quickly pulls away which the couple automatically senses the shift of her mood. 

           "Mikasa...? What's the matter?"

  No answer but her eyes remained lock at the scene.

 Her heart was racing again but not of a heartache like awhile ago, but of a rush of intuition ringing its bells that throughout this week, she was right.

 There's no way that she wrong at all. There's no way she's mistaken.

  Dark hair, pale skin, thin frame, and a prominent scar on her forehead which was Mikasa's doing. Even though large sunglasses blur her face and she hides under a mask of a black hoodie, the unique dragon tattoo on her ankle confirmed it all. 

  It was the very thing she thought would be her last vision before facing death, until he came.

    Mikasa loses sight of her as she disappeared into the oblivion of pillars and adrenaline begun knocking harder on her doors.

           "H-hey... Mikasa-"

           "S-sorry you guys." She knew the company in front of her felt like there was something off the hooks. 

           "Are you... okay?"

      Her demeanor is now confident, stern, and ready.

         "I am. But I really need to find Eren now."

    The supposed ghost hunting adventure was all forgotten to a discovery of the lobby's arcade. Isabel's apprehension grew even more; at this point, she'd already expect a furious greeting by three women with crossed arms when they return. And with her nervousness, Gabi's carelessness and apathy grew too. Her cousin's tirade flew over her two ears as the vending machine was much more interesting than her. 

        "You got a coin? I want some chocolate."

       "Were you listening to me!?"

       "Do you have a coin."

       "Why would I bring money!"

       "You girls need a couple of change?"

     An unfamiliar voice that furrows their brows, and when they turned she was definitely a stranger. If there's anything you don't do with strangers, that is you don't talk to them. The cousin exchange nervous looks before shaking their head onto her. 

       "Hmm... I heard you guys want chocolate."

    Her voice sounded sweet but something about her felt odd. She fishes a bill out in her pocket before ducking down to meet their level. Even after she peeled her glasses off, it still didn't give them any consolation. A pretty woman with striking dark eyes and a scar on her forehead. She's smiling but her eyes look bored.

      "Uhm w-we're okay, Miss." Gabi utters.

      "Gabi! We're not supposed to talk to strangers!" Isabel hisses, and the woman belts out a giggle.

      "You guys are as silly as he tells me! You guys are Isabel and Gabi, right?"

      "He...?" They murmur in unison, confused - and their names...

      "I'm Eren's... friend. Me and him - we know each other very well. I'm... L- I'm Anna..."

      "Oh? So you must be here for the wedding too?"

  She hums and that alone brought them instant relief. 

      "So you guys want chocolate?"

      "O-oh sure, Anna! Thank you! You're really nice!"

      "Of course I am."

     Without a beat, Gabi snatches the dollar and the two girls press buttons on the vending machine. They watch the bar pushing onto to the glass on a coil, falling right into the shoot, and when they hear it hit the bottom, Isabel sticks a hand in. Reeling it out, she hands it to the enthusiastic Gabi. 

     But as they turn to thank her once again, they were met with something that instantly washed them with regret: a tip of a knife gently swinging in front of their throats like a ticking pendulum. 

     "If you don't do as I say, one of you is going to get hurt. Or both."

       "EREN! There's- Eren?"

     The only thing moving around the room was the curtain. The bed was already made, the folded clothes on the couch disappeared, and no trace of the sandals he'd wear throughout the week. Mikasa knocks on the bathroom door, hoping for his presence inside but to no avail as well.

      "Where... is he...?" She plops herself on a seat, collecting her breath from bolting five flights of stairs.

      This is definitely not good at all. 

      How is she here?

      Trost is a couple hours away from a plane. 

      Her face is on posters everywhere. 

      How?

      But it was clear as day to Mikasa that her presence's intention was vengeance. She was here to get back at them.

      And she should've listened to her intuition days ago. The beach. The dropped sundae. But to give herself the benefit of the doubt, it is a strange coincidence and she encounters various people everyday that it isn't uncommon to find likeness within faces. 

   She rushes to open her phone, being greeted by the picture she and Eren took and was hit with two bricks on her face: the conversation in the morning and her first encounter with her. Obviously, the second is her priority. The first can wait. It has to wait. But phoning Eren only garnered a ring on the other side of the room - he left his phone. She grew even more nervous, knowing she was met with a puzzle of finding him under a ticking clock. But the wisest thing in the moment would be phoning the Captain and inform him of such.

      "Ackerman. You're calling."

      "Sir..."

         "...A-and... Yeah."

      At least this time explaining the ordeal was easier - they listened eagerly unlike his brother who often interjected. Most details spread out except the accident of course, and gladly Zeke understood that boundary by keeping his mouth shut.

     All they know: brought Mikasa in as a date, just a friend, because Ma, and his problem is that after spending time with her throughout this week, he doesn't know if it's gonna be normal when they return.

      Their reaction? Not as scornful as Zeke's.

     Sweet Aunt Faye, in disbelief, thinks his anecdote is to mask a graver problem - by truth-telling, you mean one of you has been a little too adventurous? Exploring someone else's map like it's a fucking vacation while the other sits at home crying because they ain't got a ticket out of their hornied fuckery? (A little too forefront with her history). But when it dawned on her that he was telling the actual truth, boy, her mouth popped opened like she scored the lottery. "In...teresting..."

    Mama? Eren can't exactly read her face; it looked like it was too scared to wince as she was still. Her eyes flutter off elsewhere as Faye and Zeke giggle at his plot. Eventually she breaks her silence, and now it was apparent she looked guilty.

         "Honey... I'm sorry."

         "What are you... sorry for, Ma?"

         "I've been a little too pushy have I?"

    Eren bites his lip. She pretty much pulled the words out of his mouth. "I mean... I guess but I know you just wanted me to be happy right?"

         "Yeah... but it's far a stretch that I poke my nose in your-"

         "Ma, it's okay. But hey, I guess I could look at it in the way that I met a couple of interesting girls here and there."

     Zeke sucks in his teeth, "You sure that one necrophiliac was interesting to you?"

     They all groan in disgust.

         "Honey, don't tell me you kissed her that night..."

         "I didn't... I ended up telling her I had diarrhea and ran home."

          "Good."

      He sighs - he nearly forgot some dates were cryptids crawling out of hell. "Anyways, like I said it somewhat my opened eyes to who I wanna be with. One girl was an angel but it didn't work."

        "Which one and why?"

        "I don't even remember her name but... even though she was great, all the time I was just... thinking about Mikasa."

     Their puppy eyes were making him puke. 

        "In fact... every dates I went to - I can't get her out of my head."

        "Ew, you're even cornier than earlier."

        "C'mon man! Give me this spotlight." They giggle. "I don't know what it is. Is it maybe because I'm so used to seeing her around? I try to move on from her but I can't. And especially this week... God this is driving me crazy..."

        Faye hums, "Come to think of it, I wouldn't have figured you went around playing pretend. Eren sweetie, you glow around her so much and sure you're a jolly boy but dear, Cupid was throwing all of his arrows at you."

        "I wouldn't have figured too." Carla rubs his arm. "Mikasa's a great girl and I could see that both of you know how to take care of each other. I've never seen you so happy around someone, and she looks so happy around you too. So honey, I think you should tell her the truth - she deserves to know it."

        "But he's scared he'll be rejected, Ma." Eren rolls his eyes.

        "He shouldn't be. The girl has stars all over her eyes and I sure do know more than a thing or two about being... in love and just feeling that flame with someone. But you don't have to force yourself in a relationship or whatever that is - that's quite a commitment, tch. But Eren, she'd appreciate honesty and on your part, it'll give you peace."

       His aunt was right and if he already had three testimonies...

 Carla wraps her hand around his with great fondness. "Honey there's a lot of girls but... how many Mikasa's are there in the world?"

          He ponders on that thought pretty deeply.

   A scary and tough as nails woman but has a heart of gold.

   The only one who could read him like a book even with her eyes closed.

   The only one who inspires him to do better not only in his job but his lifestyle.

   The only one who knows what or how to add in to his jokes.

   Him and her are cut from the same cloth despite their differences of being messy and neat. 

   Sure she would relentlessly bark at him about his crumbs but it's because she cares. 

   Hell, she made a playlist to make him feel better.

   Hell, she'd listen to him ramble and her bored face may not seem like it, but she'd remember the anecdotes back and front.

   Hell, the only one who he was willing to go in debt for, just to publicly humiliate her as a consequence to their bet.

   This week, the only one who, aside from tagging along his crap, made him realize she IS the only one.

    And surely,

     "There's only one of her." 

     "Eren!"

     Their heads whip to a cry - speak of the devil it was Mikasa. 

     Eren's chest was choking him, as if the world just stopped that very moment. Hopefully, she can't read minds right?

         "M-Mikasa-"

         "Eren." She gives a soft smile at his family first before dragging him away from them. 

     The three? All their brows raising beyond the roof in a giddy, and Eren's red ears and red cheeks brought a laugh. 

    A lump in his throat; he wasn't given enough time to orchestrate what to say to her but he's hoping it comes naturally. 

         "Mikasa, I-"

         "We're in a dangerous situation."

        "H-huh?" She looked serious and alert. "What?"

    She cranes her neck around the vicinity before whispering, "Lara's here."

         "I'm.. sorry?"

          "Tybur. Lara Tybur. We don't have time dilly dallying around. We NEED to find her."

          "Are you... Are you sure? Maybe it's a-"

          "I'm confident. I remember the tattoo on her ankles."

          "Oh... God." Now he was nervous. A criminal on the loose - she better be here for a vacation, but even if she was, she should be behind bars. 

          "I've called Captain. I'm not sure if she's armed or not but we need to get her. He's calling the other precinct close by to help us."

          "Okay..."

      He can't let his nerves get the best of him - after all, Lara is the very one who nearly ripped Mikasa's head. 

 --

         "Oh dear, Eren is quite a silly boy."

         "Silly? I think stupid is a better word."

         "Ezekiel."

     He raises his hands, "Sorry Ma-"

        "Carla! Faye Marie!" Another cry but now it was their mother and Udo trailing behind her. 

        "Mama, what's with the fuss of you barking like a mad dog in the early hour of the day-"

        "You'd be barking too when you wake up with one child instead of three! Are your daughters with you!?"

        "What!?" Both women frantically yell. 

        "What do you mean? I thought they would be with you!"

        "I woke up, and none of the girls were anywhere in the room."

     Zeke steps in to console, "Maybe they just wanna walk around. and don't fret, they might be back in no time - or maybe they are back now as we speak" He crouches down at Udo's level. "Udo, you know where they went?"

     He gulps. He does but he's scared of ratting them out and being scolded for not holding them back. But with everyone growing nervous, "They... They wanted to walk around. Gabi wanted to go ghost hunting."

       The women groan with their eyes snapping shut.

     And just a few steps away, Eren and Mikasa heard everything.

        "Isabel and Gabi..." She utters. 

        He sucks his teeth. "Can this day be any more stressful!"

         "Uhm... Eren I don't want to be selfish or anything but... With Lara I think I might need a hand."

        "I know, I know." He huffs. "Those two girls are likely just hanging out somewhere-"

        "Mama!"

        Shrieks rung from a corner and they saw something exceeding beyond what they feared.

       The two girls, distraught with their hands holding each other tightly as they carefully walk. Behind, proudly waving a knife...

   "Eren Yeager... Mikasa Ackerman... Thought I'd never run in to you two again."