Chapter two: The scarf
Eren was walking outside. Even though it was freezing out, Eren was sweating. He was unbelievably nervous.
It had been two weeks. Eren was heading to the place he was meeting Mikasa. The only thing he had to identify her was a picture.
Eren pulled his maroon scarf over his nose. He was walking quick, scared, but also strangely…anxious. He wanted to meet her.
Eren saw Sasha Restaurant up ahead. The building was made of red bricks, except for the roof, which was blue.
Eren froze when he saw her. She had short black hair and was wearing a grey coat.
But what captivated him were her eyes. They were beautiful blue orbs…but they looked so empty, sad, lonely, and…
Broken.
Eren moved forward, slowly walking. Mikasa looked up from a picture she was looking at. Eren saw her eyes widen when he saw her.
The two looked at each other for a moment, unsure of what to do or say.
After a minute of silence, Eren spoke up.
"Um…Hi. I'm Eren," Eren said.
"…I'm Mikasa…" Mikasa said, her voice extremely quiet. If the wind had been any louder, he wouldn't have been able to hear her.
"So, um, we should go inside. It's cold out," Eren said. He felt so foolish. He didn't know what in the world to even say.
Mikasa nodded. The two entered the building. The building smelled of hot coco and coffee.
They both sat down at a table for two, right across from each other.
The two were silent, once again unsure of what to say.
"So, I heard you're working to be a social worker," Eren said. Mikasa nodded, not looking him in the eyes.
"…What about you…? What do you want to do…?" Mikasa asked after a minute. She was being very quiet anytime she spoke.
"Uh, well, I'm not really sure…" Eren said. It was a good question. What did he want to do?
"Hello! I'm your waitress, Petra Ral!" a girl with orange hair and brown eyes and wa holding a notebook and pencil, said as she came up to them.
"What would you like today?" she asked.
"I'll have a white mocha," Mikasa said.
"And I'll have a hot chocolate," Eren said.
"Okay! Your orders will be here right away!" Petra said, turning and rushing off.
Eren looked back over at Mikasa, who was looking out the window. She had a nonchalant look on her face. That is, until you look at her eyes. Her eyes expressed…fear.
Eren understood why. Who wouldn't be scared? She knew almost nothing about him, and she was going to be his wife. What if he put loads of work on her? What if he was abusive? She didn't know what kind of person she was ending up with. She probably didn't even want to know. She probably just wanted to go home and live her life.
Eren felt his shoulders soften from their tense state.
"Hey…what do you like to do in your free time?" Eren asked. He wanted to get to know her. To make her less scared.
Mikasa looked over.
"…I usually just take walks or runs…anything that keeps me active," Mikasa answered. She wasn't looking him in the eye.
"What about you?"
"Honestly, I usually just hang out with my friend Armin. We're roommates at college," Eren answered.
"…So you live at college then?" Mikasa asked.
Eren nodded.
"What about you?"
"I live in an apartment…" Mikasa said. She actually seemed interested in the conversation.
"You do?"
Mikasa nodded.
"Here's your drinks," Petra said, setting them down.
"Thank you," Mikasa said, picking up her coffee and sipping it.
After swallowing, Mikasa let out a sigh. She sounded…sad.
The two were quiet for another few minutes. They simply drank their drinks, not really looking at each other. But it wasn't really a bad kind of silence. It was…peaceful.
Outside, the snow grew ever so much more, falling onto the pavement, rooftops, and roads, and landing on the windowsills of building all around.
The snow seemed to captivate Mikasa as she watched the flakes flutter down. All of them were beautiful and unique.
Mikasa's heart ached as memories of long days in the snow flooded back. Long days that she spent having snowball fights and building snowmen with her father, then going inside and having hot coco that her mother would make, before cuddling by the TV and the fire.
Mikasa looked down. It was a sad thought to think that those days were gone, and that she'd never get them back.
She couldn't say that she didn't resent them; the people who murdered her parents. She wasn't sure if she'd ever forgive them. What did her parents ever do for them to deserve the pain they put them through such cruel death?
Mikasa felt a migraine come flooding in. She was constantly having stress headaches. Mikasa doubled over with her hands on her head as her head pounded. Eren suddenly panicked, unsure what to do. He stood up.
"Mikasa! Are you okay?" Eren asked. Mikasa looked up at him.
"Y-yeah…I'm fine…just got a headache," Mikasa said. Eren still looked worried, but he sat back down.
"You sure you're okay?" Eren asked after a moment. Mikasa nodded.
After they were done drinking, Mikasa ended up paying the bill.
The two walked outside. Eren saw that Mikasa was shivering.
"Well, um, it was nice to meet you," Eren said in a slightly awkward way. Mikasa nodded.
"Yeah…"
Mikasa began walking off.
Mikasa's sad eyes flashed through his head.
"Hey! Mikasa!" Eren called. Mikasa turned around.
"What is it?" she asked. Eren unraveled his scarf from around his neck, gently wrapping the warm materiel around her neck. Mikasa froze, surprised. The scarf actually felt…comforting.
"You can have this. It's warm, right?" Eren asked. Mikasa nodded.
"It is…" she said, her cheeks slightly pink.
"Well, um, I'll see you next time!" Eren said, turning and running off. Mikasa stood there, shocked at what just happened.
Her lips curved up ever so slightly. Not really a smile, but very close to one.
Maybe this wasn't going to be as bad as she thought.