Puppy Love
Prompt: "We are not getting a pet." Found on ask-british-eren (tumblr).
A/N: I'm not a confident role-player… but when I saw this prompt, I just couldn't resist writing a fanfiction about Eren begging Mikasa for a pet.
Word Count: 1384 (This was longer than I expected)
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"Please Mikasa!" The young boy whines as he straps himself into the front passenger seat.
"No Eren." She replies with a sigh as she inserts the keys into the ignition.
"Please!"
"No."
Eren sighs crossing his arms across his chest and slumping slightly in his chair.
"Well, why not?" He demands.
"Because."
"That's not an excuse Mikasa."
"Because Eren! A pet is a huge responsibility!"
"I know! I already promised I'd take full care of it."
"You're not getting a pet Eren."
"Oh come on Mikasa!"
"No, Eren! There are other factors too."
"Like?"
"Who's going to take care of it when you're at school? Who's going to feed it? Clean it? Walk it? Who's going to play with it and look after it? Who's going to train it?"
She says looking over at Eren and glaring at him, he was looking out of the window with a bored look plastered across his face.
"Eren!"
"I will!"
"And what about University next year, Eren? Who's going to look after it then? Will our campus even accept pets?" Mikasa retorts.
"Yes! I already checked." Eren says eagerly, hoping that this small remark might prove to her that he's responsible; Mikasa clucked her tongue as she indicated left.
"And what about preparing for a pet? Do you have pet essentials? Food? Bedding? Toys?"
"Geez…you sound like my mom!" He complains rolling his eyes.
"Eren. Buying a pet isn't just going to affect you, you know?"
"So what you're saying is that… you don't want a pet in our home?"
"I'm not saying that at all. I don't want it to be lonely."
"It won't be lonely! It'll have us." He says hopefully.
"What about when we're at college? And we both have part time jobs."
"I'll reduce my hours?" He offers.
"Plus." She continues. "A pet is super expensive, you'll need to buy insurance, and there'll be pet fees… and we'll need a passport for it if we want to travel."
Eren sighs leaning his head back against the chair.
"Aka… We're not getting a pet." He looks down at the pet magazine in his lap, flipping a page. Mikasa sighs, as she looks over at her frowning boyfriend.
"Have you talked to Levi about this?" She finally asks after a few minutes silence in the car.
Eren hesitated looking up from the magazine. He had indeed talked to Levi about owning a pet and it hadn't really… gone to plan. In Levi's opinion pets were messy and as Mikasa had said… were a huge responsibility – perhaps too big a responsibility for Eren to handle.
"Um… he said to ask you." He mumbles after a brief pause. "But why does Levi's opinion matter? He doesn't live with us, owning a pet isn't going to affect him personally." Eren babbles. Mikasa tapped her delicate fingers of the steering wheel thinking carefully about what he was asking.
"And what about when you apply for the Military… like you said you were going to do…?" She asks ruefully, the thought of her boyfriend applying for the Military and leaving to fight in wars frightened her.
"Yeah about that…"
She looks up hopefully.
"Are you saying you're rethinking joining the Military?"
"Well…" He says chewing his tongue. "I think… it's a little too early to say, but you know Mikasa… you're my family… and I love you. What good will it do if I die fighting abroad? Plus…" He says with a mischievous smirk. "If we get a pet…"
"Eren." She says with an eye roll. "Don't think you can bribe me into buying you a pet."
"Pleaaaaaseeee." He says batting his eyelashes.
She looks over at him:
"Exactly what type of pet do you want anyway?" She asks. He looks up hopefully.
"A puppy." He replies brightly. Mikasa gapes at him:
"A puppy! Oh my god Eren, do you know how difficult that will be?"
"Dogs are perfect family pets!" He reasons.
"But what about..."
She's cut off as Eren holds up the magazine showing her the cutest little puppies she'd seen in her life.
"C'mon Mikasa… look how amazing they are! Don't you want one?" He says gazing at her with his huge eyes.
"Driving. Eren, I'm driving." She replies sternly in an attempt to get him to put the magazine down.
He looks down at his lap again.
"Annie and Armin have a puppy." He says pouting.
"Annie and Armin are engaged and Annie isn't studying by day and working by night." Mikasa argues. "And Armin works from home; so their puppy is practically never alone."
"Why don't we go down to visit them?" Eren asks brightly.
"And why is that?"
"Because then you can see what it's like living with a puppy, besides both Armin and Annie love having a puppy, they say it's the greatest." Eren rambles.
"Eren… We're not getting a puppy!"
"Aw man, Mikasa! I'm not a child, I can handle the responsibility!"
"Calm down Eren." She says soothingly. "I don't think you're irresponsible and I don't think you're a child either."
"But-!"
"Listen to me for a second?" She pleads. "A puppy isn't going to be a puppy forever, you know?"
"Geez I know that."
"So we have to train it properly, it needs a lot of care…"
"You don't think I can handle it?"
Mikasa sighs frustrated as she slowed down at the traffic lights, clucking her tongue slightly.
"Please Mikasa…" Eren begs. Oh god… not the puppy eyes. Anything but the puppy –
"Eren, those cute eyes are not gonna work on m-" She halts at the end of her sentence as she looks over at Eren. He was making the most adorable face she'd ever seen. She huffs as she scowls at him, pursing her lips as the traffic lights turn green and she accelerates. The two of them were now silent as Eren waited with bated breath for a response; he knew he was winning her over bit by bit.
"What breed were you thinking about getting?" She asks. He grins:
"I'm not entirely sure, a Labrador maybe or a Retriever?"
"Great… of course you want a big dog." She murmurs tiredly.
"Big dogs are cool." He points out with a shrug. "And Labradors are super sweet. But hey… this will be a joint decision, right? So, what type of dog would you like?"
"I'm not sure." She says putting a hand to her forehead; they were stuck in traffic which was just great. The last thing Mikasa wanted was to be stuck in traffic with Eren when he desperately wanted something.
"So… you're considering-."
"Eren." She says resignedly. "A dog is going to be a long-term commitment. Are you a hundred percent sure that you want one?"
"Yes!" Eren insists. "I'm a hundred percent sure."
Mikasa once again sighed defeated.
"Alright… Let's go see Annie and Armin… I'm sure they'll have some information about breeders."
"Oh my god, really?!" Eren cries happily.
"I'm not saying we're definitely going to get a puppy… but it can't hurt to look." Mikasa admits.
Eren let out a delighted cheer:
"YES! Thank you Mikasa!" He says pumping the air with his fist.
"Eren..." Mikasa begins, but then she just smiles and giggles at the boyish grin on his face.
******
Half an hour drive later (which felt like two hours as Eren stated every single reason as to why they should buy a puppy and which breed would be best) and a visit to Annie and Armin's house found Mikasa and Eren preparing to buckle themselves back into the car.
"Bye Eren, bye Mikasa!" Armin calls waving. Annie smiles happily, their tiny little Retriever puppy in her arms:
"Have a safe trip!" She says. "Be careful, it's dark out there."
"And hey Mikasa." Armin says brightly. "Owning a puppy is super fun and rewarding, I'm sure you'll do fine."
"Yeah…" She replies quietly as she pops the keys into the ignition. "See you later."
Both Eren and Mikasa were eerily quiet as she pulled out of the street and started the journey home. Eren looks over at her, his eyes boring into the side of her face.
She chews the inside of her lip.
"Fine…" She whispers, he looks up eagerly, green eyes bright with hope. "We can get a puppy."
