It was Valentine's Day, and Eren Jaeger took a deep breath and stared at himself in the mirror.
Okay. I'm going to do it, the teen boy paused, running fingers through his freshly washed hair to comb it into something that looked half-way decent.
I'm going to confess to Hei...Heichou.
All at once his composure was lost. The titan-shifter groaned and buried his reddening face in his hands and began muttering "Oh God, oh God, oh God."
A powerful thump on his back and Eren was startled, yelping and turning around, uncomfortable considering that he was wearing nothing but a towel. Behind him stood Hanji, grinning maniacally and clasping her hands together, "Eren...!" She hissed in delight.
Eren stifled another groan.
"You're not pining over someone, are you?"
"No!"
A suspicious stare on Hanji's part, but she shrugged nonetheless, "Well, you just let me know if you are, alright? It's all for science!" The woman squealed and winked, clapping him on the back once again.
"I'll see you at breakfast," Eren murmured before hightailing it out of there.
The teen took his time getting dressed, fingers fumbling every time he thought of Rivaille and what day it was. By the time he was done, he came to the realization that he would be late for breakfast.
Great, just... Wonderful. He was really making a good impression on Rivaille, who was strictly in favor of promptness.
Eren ran for it. When he made it to the dining room, he was panting.
"Eren! Are you alright?" Petra called out.
"The brat is fine, he just needs more exercise," Auruo spoke before Eren had the chance to.
"Bite your tongue and fall dead! And quit trying to act like the corporal!" Petra huffed. Eren ignored it in favor of getting breakfast; it was standard behavior from the two of them.
His heart racing, the brunette glanced around the room, eyes searching for Rivaille.
He found him. The man was sitting at a table by himself and Eren found his heart pounding ridiculously.
Eren fought the urge to run away and just slowly walked over to the object of his affections, clearing his throat awkwardly.
Rivaille looked over his shoulder, "Yes?" He deadpanned.
Oh God, oh God, oh God-
...Eren dropped down on one knee. By then, the other military members were staring openly.
"H-Heichou, I like you!"
Eren just stared up at Rivaille, struggling internally against humiliation and fear, as the shorter male slowly arched his brows and turned in his seat, leaning forward so that the palm of his hand cupped his cheek, "Oh?"
"A lot!" Eren blinked and flushed harder, wondering why the hell he couldn't just keep his mouth shut. He could hear Hanji gasping, giggling and whispering to the other men and women, and he felt his pride die an even more horrible death.
"And what do you like about me?"
"I, um," ...What? The question had caught Eren off guard.
"Answer me."
"I like your laugh," Eren finally blurted. He wondered if it was possible for his face to get any redder than it already was, "I like how many titans you've killed, and I liked it when you grabbed my hair in court."
"Did you, now?" Rivaille hummed, a hint of a smirk on the edges of his lips, "Like this?"
Eren squeaked loudly as the corporal's hand fisted in his hair tightly. His eyes widened as a sudden surge of arousal shot through him.
"Y-yes, sir!"
"Good," Rivaille let him go, "Carry on, then."
Eren blinked, thoroughly confused, but went on about eating breakfast with the others, who tried to quiz him on what had happened. He just shrugged off the questions.
It began to occur to him that he wasn't sure whether he had been rejected or not.
...And yet at the end of the day, Eren found a box of chocolates on his bed.
Maybe things weren't so bad.