I had an idea that really wouldn't leave me alone, and fortunately someone left me an open-fandom prompt. Anyway now I can write this and my life will finally know peace again. Some good Eren and Mikasa in these trying times. Spoilers for the new season of the anime and some for the manga as well. You can view Eren and Mikasa's relationship as romantic or just friendship, whatever makes you happiest. Enjoy!
She can feel the cold stares of Hanji and Levi on her back as she settles in next to Eren and Armin. They're obviously still angry, but she easily ignores them. Her primary loyalty has always been to Eren and Armin, not to her commanding officer. If they're just figuring that out now, it's their own fault. Her priorities have been clear from the start.
"You all right?" Eren asks as he settles in next to her. Across from them, Connie covers Sasha with a blanket before laying down next to her sleeping form.
"I'm fine," she responds quickly, almost reflexively. It's not a lie, though. She's tired, more exhausted than she has been in a long time, but she's alive. On her other side, Armin starts to shiver. Mikasa shrugs out of her jacket and gently lays it over him, smoothing it out so it covers as much as possible. When she turns back to Eren he's frowning, staring critically at her. She follows his intense gaze to her arms … which are still all scratched up from their failed attack on the colossal titan earlier. "Eren-" she tries to appease him, but he cuts her off.
"Well you don't look fine!" Eren snaps, voice harsh with what most people would see as anger, but she recognizes as worry. "Did you even bother to put anything on those scratches? They're going to get infected!"
After what happened with Armin, he's got a right to be worried. Still. "I was a little preoccupied," she points out.
Eren just rolls his eyes at her. "Right," he scoffs. "Well, you could at least try to take care of yourself sometimes," he mutters, digging through one of the packs that had somehow miraculously survived all the fighting. He pulls out some disinfectant and a roll of bandages. "Let me take a look at them." It's not a question.
They've all been trained in first aid, and Eren has always been able to be surprisingly gentle despite his roaring temper. The pair sits in comfortable silence as Eren works on patching her up, broken only by Armin's soft snores. It stings when Eren trickles the disinfectant over the shallow wounds, and he mutters quiet apologies, but Mikasa barely notices. After nearly losing Armin forever earlier, this pain hardly even registers. She keeps her gaze fixed on the houses by the wall, barely visible in the creeping darkness.
Eren ties off the last bandage with a sigh. "That's better," he announces, sounding satisfied with his work. "You should get some rest."
"You need to sleep too." He's exhausted from shifting so much today, and they both know it.
Eren's eyes immediately dart over to their sleeping friend. "But someone needs to keep an eye on Armin."
She can already tell that this isn't going to be a productive argument. "Fine. You can take the first watch. Wake me up in an hour."
This is considered an acceptable compromise, and Mikasa settles down on her bedroll and closes her eyes. Despite everything that's happened today, she's safe and her friends are nearby. Whatever tomorrow brings, they'll deal with it together.
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