An anime box for Connie, bunny slippers for Historia, a horror novel for Ymir, a coffee mug for pa, a fur scarf for ma, and two hours later, Sasha was still gift shopping.
"Mikasa, your friends are impossibly to shop for-no-offense!" she blurted out in frustration, after Mikasa shook her head at another random book Sasha had pulled of the shelf.
Silence was her answer, as Mikasa raked the bookshelf as well, in the seventh – as Sasha had made a point to count –bookstore they had visited. Just as Sasha was about to explode again at being ignored, Mikasa sighed.
"No good. He doesn't want any of these either," she said, without a sign of getting tired.
"Can't ya just grab one?" Sasha exclaimed, slipping into her old accent as she tore at her hair. "He can't have read all of 'em! And he'll read whatever, I've seen him flip through that Justin Bieber book they've got on display in the library!"
As she ranted, Mikasa had started heading towards the exit, so her girlfriend could only follow.
"Read and like are different things," she stated indifferently, as they left the warmth of indoors, and wound up on the busy street again.
Sasha donned her green knitted cap as soon as they were out, and Mikasa put her matching earmuffs back on, and through gloves they held hands for imagined warmth, Sasha's bags divided between them.
Sasha was still grumbling, annoyed that Mikasa wouldn't just heed her words, as they walked through the crowd. For the last week snow had invaded the city they lived in, the Christmas décor up since long, and as darkness had fallen, the displays in stores and banners of lights hung between the buildings created an atmosphere most worthy of their task. But it was growing old.
The cold snuck its way past their clothed defences however, and no matter how cosy the city had become, she longed for snuggling up to Mikasa with hot chocolate and finally make her sit through the last episodes of Avatar: The Last Airbender. She longed for sharing a blanket and lazy hot kisses and being snow bound.
Instead the hours clicked by, and they were still shopping at five in the afternoon, despite leaving after lunch.
Mikasa spotted another bookstore and Sasha groaned aloud as she was pulled towards it. Before entering, Mikasa looked at her with contemplation, her dark eyes conflicted as she stared Sasha down. The strangers in warm, large clothing rushing past them, the stress of city life and last minute gift shopping, eluded them.
"You don't have to come," Mikasa said. "You can go home and start to wrap up your presents. I'll come when I am done."
Guilt struck at Sasha's heart, when she recalled how eagerly she had suggested to Mikasa that they should go gift shopping together. Their first Christmas together, she had said that they should do it all side by side, from decorating the tree to bake gingerbread and buy presents for friends and family. And Mikasa had seemed outmost delighted at the idea, in her own, serene ways.
Hanging her head in apology, Sasha told her it was fine, she wanted to be with Mikasa no matter what, so they entered the eight bookstore as a pair.
The procedure from then went the same as before, both girls split up and looking for any novel of any genre which Armin would like. Sasha had to check each one she thought sounded good with Mikasa, and was constantly turned down. They spent another ten minutes there, before Mikasa declared their visit fruitless, and they left with new pent up frustrations.
"He apparently doesn't think any book is good," Sasha ranted on their hunt for a ninth store, back in snow, cold and holding hands. "You shouldn't even git him one!"
Mikasa came to a halt, and immediately Sasha felt the colour drain from her face, thinking she had just offended her girlfriend. Cue her surprise, when Mikasa looked hopeful.
"You're right. I shouldn't get him one. Books aren't the only things he likes."
With those words, they were off to a hardware store, and Sasha stared in confusion at Mikasa looking up construction tools.
"Err, we're still talking about your friend Armin, right?" she asked sheepishly, when Mikasa inspected a drill.
"On his spare time, he tinkers with electronics," she stated. "And builds computers." Walking over to a neat tool kit, filled with screw drivers of each size, she added, with a complete straight face; "And he mentioned that he didn't have the right tools, when I brought over our dildo to fix-"
"You brought that over to Armin?!" Sasha shrieked, more so at the bluntness of Mikasa's statement. At the sound, they gained a few onlookers, and she felt the embarrassment burn, until Mikasa placed a hand on her shoulder.
She said nothing, just allowed Sasha to stare into her eyes, until the realization clicked.
"Hey, we don't have a broken dildo-"
"It was the electrical fan," Mikasa corrected herself, as deadpan as ever, and if she hadn't been the quickest woman ever at fetching a chocolate bar from her pocket and giving it to Sasha in apology, she would not have been forgiven on the spot.
The slick, metallic coloured box of a tool kit was the item they ended up buying together for Armin's present, and so it was only one person left. They had saved Eren for last, because Mikasa was sure which store to visit to find a present for him, though it was located in the far end of the street. Back outside, when they left the hardware store, the snow storm had picked up, and the white unique snowflakes became a blur as they plagued the city and their faces.
As luck would have it, they had to walk through it without a tailwind, so snow and wind abused them with each step as they fought their way forward. At least it had left the streets less crowded, but it had also forced the street musicians – who lightened everyone's moods with Christmas carols – to stop playing and take cover indoors.
Bereft of all these few lovely perks of being outside during winter, Sasha felt like complaining again, but seeing the determination in Mikasa's eyes, her will to prevail through it all, made her keep her mouth shut. Not a single complaint left her mouth, and she was rewarded when the storm started to ebb, allowing them to walk hand in hand in comfort once more.
The last store they visited, where a present would no doubt exist, turned out to be a massive department store where they sold everything and anything Sasha could imagine. Upon arriving, tucking her cap into the pocket of her poufy beige coat again, she couldn't help but feel despair in the pit of her stomach.
"So uhm, what are we looking for?" she asked as they entered.
Mikasa looked awfully clueless, and confirmed as much. "Eren said that he didn't want anything special."
Sasha waited for more, but this time she was quicker at catching on.
"You have no idea?"
"None. Let's go," Mikasa replied, and before watching Sasha cringe, she bravely soldiered on towards the maze built of aisles, Sasha begrudgingly in tow. It was going to be a long visit.
One hour and thirteen minutes later, Sasha had taken a food break, her grumbling stomach telling her that enough was enough. She told Mikasa and walked to buy a hot dog ready to go which they sold near the exit, but it tasted as cheap as it had been, and she couldn't help worry for Mikasa the entire time.
Sasha didn't know Eren all that well yet, but if not even Mikasa knew what to get him, she felt like she wouldn't be of much use. She had wanted to be Mikasa's saviour for once, and find the perfect present, but suggestion upon suggestion had been turned down, and they hadn't even made their way through half of the store yet.
Was it a useless task or no, Sasha wondered whilst chewing on the last bite. All she knew was that she couldn't abandon her girlfriend now, no matter the task, so she brushed her hands on her poufy coat and walked back inside, hunting her down.
She found Mikasa looking at posters of popular movies and actors, and surprised her with a kiss to the cheek, announcing her return. They proceeded to scan through the store carefully, and discovered everything from packets promising to contain a million napkins, to sweet chili sauce and a unicorn themed swing set for the backyard. Needless to say, these were not items they could give to Eren.
It took Sasha a while to see that Mikasa was starting to look tired, and she realized that she had to intervene. Mikasa hated her own limitations, so she had to be reminded of them by other people, or she would never stop. Sasha had realized this early on in their relationship, so before Mikasa could continue down another aisle, she snuck her arms around her waist, happy that Mikasa's black coat was slim enough to allow them to be close, and held her still.
"… Sasha?" Mikasa asked after a while of being held, and she made no attempt to move away.
"Some people just don't want presents," Sasha blurted out. "I know my grandpa used to be like that. He'd get angry if you actually got him something, saw it as charity." She didn't want to be presumptuous, but she continued, since she had a good vibe going. "I don't know Eren that well, but he's not really into things, is he? He's more of a… he's more physical. Maybe you can't find something because he doesn't want something you'll find here? Like when you're out in the wood, you wouldn't hunt a bird by looking at the ground. Well, unless it's a pheasant or a turkey or something…"
The corny and terrible metaphor made her bite her tongue, but Mikasa leaned back towards her in acceptance.
"Maybe," she said softly. Her tone made her true answer, and thoughts, all too obvious.
They left the department store without anything bought, back into the blizzard to be and flickering Christmas lights, back towards the subway station across slippery ground and pouring crowds. All the way back home.
A gift card to a shooting range to Eren bought online, and one minute after arriving home and placing that order, Mikasa and Sasha collapsed onto a poor neglected couch in their living room and bedroom combination. Sasha dozed off, but she woke when Mikasa came back to the couch with two cups of hot chocolate, and disc two of season three of Avatar: The Last Airbender pushed into the DVD-player. Huddling up under the blanket, finished with shopping and ready for cuddling, they were finally warm and indoors.
In just a few days, they would have their first Christmas together, with oven baked ham and homemade sweets, and as the snow fell outside their windows, Sasha felt her body relax and melt, her head fitting perfectly against Mikasa's chest.
Mikasa leant down and kissed her softly during the credits of the first episode, and Sasha smiled hazily back, exhausted but happy.
"Thank you for today, Sasha," Mikasa murmured gently, and it seemed like it was the most perfect present she could give at that time.
Sasha put her hand on the back of Mikasa's head and pulled her down for a second kiss. Upon parting, she smiled and responded:
"Yeah, well, Merry Christmas."