And part two is written! This one's a little longer, and from the perspective of Eren this time. I hope it lives up to everyone's expectations!
Disclaimer: If I owned SNK, I could give you a pretty long list of characters who would not be dead.
Mikasa had a funny way of waking up. She didn't yawn, she didn't rub her eyes, she didn't look groggy or take a minute to wake up fully. No, her eyes simply shot open and suddenly, it was as if she hadn't been sleeping at all.
Eren knew this better than anyone. After all, he did always wake up first, which was good, because when they were younger, he would often wake up with a couple of limbs thrown unceremoniously over her sleeping form, or maybe he'd even be half on top of her, and remove himself as soon as he woke up. Then, if he remembered correctly, he would usually just wait for her to wake up, too.
Today, it seemed, was no different.
Eren woke up to find himself in the mess hall, of all places, with one arm around a sleeping Mikasa's shoulders and the other stretched across the table. He seemed to have pulled Mikasa very, very close to him as he slept and found that he'd somehow managed to bury his face in her neck—or scarf, whichever—which he assumed had resulted from him using her as a pillow. This wasn't exactly new to him, as they'd repeatedly used each other as such during their childhood,but given their location, most everyone must have seen. And that was kind of embarrassing.
Not to mention, all those times when they were kids, they hadn't been nearly as close.
Eren glanced around briefly, his eyes darting back and forth before returning to the sleeping girl next to him. So she hadn't slept much either, then. It was weird sleeping alone after so long, and even though he hated to admit it, he felt a little less…secure. The bed just felt so empty, there was almost too much room, not to mention there was no one kicking him or muttering ridiculous strings of words that didn't even make sense throughout the night. He'd get used to it, but for now, it was weird and he didn't like it.
(It was just easier to have her close by, just in case something happened.)
He huffed, tapping his fingers on the tabletop. When he woke up, Eren had thought about leaving, but Mikasa was asleep, meaning she was most definitely off guard, being the deep sleeper she was; after what happened in their childhood, Eren had a hard time trusting men around Mikasa, and he certainly didn't trust any of the males here yet, especiallynot with her. Not the way they were talking (Eren shuddered at the thought. Why did the older boys have to be so gross?). So he decided to stay until she woke up and make sure no one sketchy approached her…not that anyone around could really count as sketchy, but the way they looked her up and down was pissing him off, and that was enough reason for him.
Eren watched patiently as Mikasa's eyes popped open, as per usual, darted back and forth, taking in her surroundings, and finally, landed on him. "Evenin', sleeping beauty," He teased. She blinked, staring intently at him. "How long have I been asleep?"
Skipping the pleasantries and going straight to the point. What should he have expected, really?
Eren sighed, slightly disappointed (what, not even a "shut up" for calling her sleeping beauty, of all things?). "I dunno," He shrugged. "We both fell asleep. I woke up about fifteen minutes ago." Mikasa gave him a scrutinizing look, one that he'd learned to expect when he did something stupid. "Why didn't you wake me up, then?" Eren shrugged a second time. "You looked peaceful, and I figured you were tired, so I let you sleep." Mikasa shook her head, and Eren rolled his eyes a bit. "Oh, here she goes again…"
"You should've woken me, Eren," She mumbled, moving to stand up. Suddenly irritated, he grabbed her wrist on impulse, forcing her to sit back down. "Mikasa," He started, his voice firm. She blinked, her face remaining expressionless, as his bright green eyes practically drilled a hole into her head. Neither of them spoke. They simply stared, waiting for the other to crack.
Eren's head was reeling. Why he'd started thinking about it now, of all times, was a mystery to him, but nonetheless, her telling him to wake her up when he'd specifically said why he didn't reminded him of how damn stubborn she really was. So she thought he didn't notice, did she? Thought he hadn't noticed that she was constantly stressed and tired and it was obviously because of him? Frankly, he was a little insulted; did she really think he didn't care enough to notice the slight slump in her usually perfect posture, the worsening bags under her eyes, the stress in her voice, so obvious it was nearly palpable? Of course he did. He always did. And it worried him a little more than he'd like to admit.
"Mikasa," Eren repeated, vaguely annoyed by her lack of expression. "You're stressed. You're tired. Don't try to tell me you're not, because I can tell. And I know it's because of me, I'm not stupid," He paused, reconsidering. "Okay, no, I am kind of stupid sometimes. And it's stressing you out. I'm sorry. I'll try to be better, I promise. But you have to be better, too," Mikasa raised her eyebrows, signaling for him to continue, but she didn't interrupt. "You need to stop worrying about meall the time and worry about you. You spend so much of your time fussing over me and making yourself crazy that you forget to take care of yourself. Relax. Take a breather. It won't kill either of us if you do."
They were silent for a moment, and Mikasa averted her eyes, "Sorry…but what does any of that have to do with waking me up?" Eren smiled to himself. "I said you looked peaceful, remember? That's such a rare thing these days, I didn't want to ruin it." She nodded, understanding. "Thank you, Eren," She whispered, a smile in her voice, as she rose from her seat. Eren followed in suit. "I think I'll get back to the girls' barracks now and try to get a proper night's sleep." Eren nodded. "Good idea. I'll walk you back over there," She was about to question him, but he cut her off. "A lot of the guys around here are kind of giving you the eye. I don't trust them." Mikasa smiled, and Eren found that he couldn't help but do the same. That, too, was a rare sight lately.
They started out of the mess hall, and Eren smirked. "Of course, it's going to take a while to get used to sleeping without someone kicking me all night." Mikasa's face remained blank as she turned to him. "That's true. But it'll be even harder getting used to sleeping withoutsomeone elsehalf on top of me."
Eren was so flustered by her comment that he missed the sudden explosion of noise from the group in the far corner.
So...as good as the first chapter? I was worried about this one seeming OOC as well at first, but I think Eren would say something like that to Mikasa, he'd just sound snappish and irritated. He really does care, and I think he worries about her more than he'd ever admit. I think the reason he gets so mad at her, aside from his pride of course, is because he's frustrated that she never takes her own safety or health into consideration, she only worries about him, and I think he's actually terrified that she'll get hurt one day, or worse, he'll end up losing her. Because if you think about it, if she died, Eren might just lose it entirely. She is pretty much all he's got, after all. They have a really complicated relationship, but whether you see them as romantic or platonic, there's a lot of love there, from both ends.
Anyway, I hope everyone enjoyed this one, and thank you to everyone who's followed, favorited, and left reviews!