EDIT: this chapter was slightly edited to fix a plot mistake. If you've read it before, I replaced Erwin's appearance towards the end with another character, because at that point, the Commander was still injured. This is why I'm supposed to edit. ..sigh..
Good day, to you!
Not very many thoughts to preface with, just that I hope you enjoyed the last chapter and that you will, for this one, as well. I did my best to actually keep these two in character, something not quite achieved by the majority of the limited selection of Eremika smut fics on this website. I hope they stay true (or at least near true) to their characters.
Like the last chapter, this one, too, is not edited. I don't typically edit things if they're just side projects, like all my fan fiction works. This one is a good deal longer than the last, and is basically just headcannon content, up until the very end where we see the beginning of the SNK manga chapter 51. This one also required a lot of research concerning the 3DmG, even though I thought I knew everything there was to know about it. Well, I was wrong, but at least I can say I am an expert, now. lol
Spoiler: Eren is a tease. Have fun.
(P.S. I hope I don't end up ruining it for anyone else, but as I was picturing the story in my head while writing, I kept imagining Eren as ten-year-old Ben 10. .c.)
At the distance he was away from Mikasa's motionless figure, due to her rolling and the horse's intense speed before he managed to turn around, Eren wouldn't make it back to body for at least fifteen seconds. He was sure he could make it there and start heading back in all of half a minute, quite possibly a little bit longer. With his newfound angry source of power, along with his shifting ability, he was sure no straggling titan would be the end of him on his return trip, even if it proved some difficulty. Either way, any risk was worth the return, in this case.
"Just go on ahead!" Eren shouted at his friend, who had started to slow down his horse as well. "I can get her by myself, don't worry about me!" Armin hesitated briefly as Eren's horse began to accelerate, completing the turn, then quickly nodded and snapped at the reigns, his own horse shooting forward as both friends headed in separate directions simultaneously, eyes locked for just one moment before they both looked forward, Armin's eyes on the backs of his comrades ahead of him, Eren's on Mikasa, who still hadn't moved a muscle.
An eight-meter class had emerged from a small, but thick patch of trees while they were on the retreat, after they made good distance from Reiner and Berthold's location. (Eren didn't recall seeing what had happened to Ymir.) It was now approaching Mikasa's body, as it had been behind them for a short time before she fell off, and as Eren sped towards it, urging the horse to go faster, he gritted his teeth in rage.
Eren caught up to the titan after it had plucked the girl up with two fingers, and as she dangled from the cloak caught in its grasp, Eren stood and leapt off the horse, shooting at the titan, hitting it with a startling impact from below that sent it back a ways. Then a few more titans that had been lurking nearby, hidden by the trees, sprinted out, soaring at the eight-meter and beginning to devour it.
Mikasa had begun to fall from the air when the titan released its hold, and Eren braced himself to catch around the waist and upper legs, kneeling as he caught her to help ease the impact of the fall on her ribs. A low, but quiet groan that escaped her lips told him that she was still conscious, albeit barely, and with that information he quickly stood and darted away from the titans right next to them, gripping her to him in the way that he caught her for the time being.
As he jogged, Eren scanned the area for his horse, but it seemed to have run off. He knew it still had to be somewhere nearby, if it hadn't run off to the soldiers that were escaping far away from them. They were so far away that he could barely see their retreating figures anymore. His encounter and escape from the titan had taken slightly longer than he thought it would, and he didn't expect to lose the horse in the process.
At that point, he knew he had to seek cover in the trees and try to call for the horse. Armin was the only one who knew what had happened, and he was going to be too far away before he checked on Eren's progress to find that he wasn't returning with Mikasa. They had to find cover first, and get to safety up in the trees. He knew he shouldn't try relying on a power he didn't yet fully understand, and if he shifted, he would draw the attention of the titans to him even faster, before they were done with their meal.
He quickly changed course, turning and heading for the trees to his left. After a solid minute of frantic running, Eren found them brief shelter in the shade of the trees, the thick, long branches arching high above them. He allowed himself to lower to his knees, setting Mikasa down as quickly yet as gently as he could, grabbing her shoulder with one hand and holding her up with the other.
"Mikasa," he said urgently, trying to arouse her from the lusciousness and to get her to be able to focus. He said her name a couple more times, shaking her gently, her eyes soon fluttering open, though they were a little hazy. "Wake up, Mikasa," Eren continued, helping her to sit up at she struggled to hold his gaze. "You need to use the 3D gear to get us up into the trees. That's all you have to do. I'll do all the work, I just need to you to keep your balance and try to support my weight, just for a minute. Mikasa? Can you hear me?" With a stiff nod, she clenched her eyes shut, then reopened them again to see fuzziness all around her.
"I can't see," she murmured in a dry voice, Eren rising with her in his arms as she spoke. She didn't need to see, just to keep her balance in the air. Her knees gave out underneath her as she struggled in pain, and Eren quickly stooped slightly, reaching for her arms to pull her up his back, leaning forward as he had done when he was carrying her on his back the first time. When she grabbed a hold around his neck, he reached behind himself inside her jacket for the controllers, then quickly attached them to the 3D gear and aimed high above them, shooting the pistons into the trees. When they landed securely, he fingered the trigger for the gas.
"Are you ready?" he asked, straightening his legs for her to wrap hers around, clinging to his form as best as she could.
"Yes," she whispered, mentally and physically bracing herself for the awful ache that was sure to come as she had to keep them upright. Eren counted down from three to give Mikasa breathing room, then shot them upwards at a slower speed at first, then rapidly accelerated once he was sure Mikasa could handle such a task. Once they were above the branch, he released the grapple hooks and twisted slightly to land as gently as he could on the hard branch, the piston hooks reeling back in with clangs audible in the silence that only existed this high up in the trees.
Mikasa wanted down immediately, and Eren obliged, lowering himself down so that Mikasa could fall backwards, leaning against the trunk of the tree. After a moment of their chests heaving from all the effort exerted since he was first captures, Mikasa's heaving more heavily than Eren's due to her aching body and ribs.
"I should probably take this off," Mikasa said after awhile, breaking their silence of catching their breaths, pulling at the belts strapped on her chest, as well as the rest of her body. "And you should put it on." Eren nodded, and proceeded to kneel forward towards her, reaching to unclasp the body and fan of the 3D gear from her waist, carefully pulling it off of her without disturbing her posture. He let her undo the belts, sliding her boots off momentarily so that she could strip of the belts completely, letting Eren do most of the pulling work so as to not put pressure on her shattered chest cavity.
As Mikasa slid her socked feet back into her boots, Eren donned the belts, adjusting them to his weight and size, then strapping on the gear itself and settled down in a cross-legged position in front of a tired mikasa, who had let her eyes fall closed.
Eren wracked his brain for a plan. He knew it was nearing nightfall, and that the rest of the Scouting Legion was probably alerted of their absence by now. He wondered how long it would be for them to double-back for them. He figured they should rest on the branch until then, as mikasa probably shouldn't be moving with her injuries, and they were still within hearing range of the pasture that stretched out beyond the patch of trees in which they were located.
"I feel like I'm passing out again," she mumbled, her hands finding the bark beneath her and gripping it, trying to hold herself steady. Her eyes clenched as she struggled to stay conscious, her body swaying slightly, but not too much before Eren stood and crossed the distance between them, squatting down in front of her and reaching out to hold her upright.
"I wish I was a doctor," Eren muttered, eventually getting tired of keeping his arm outstretched. He rose to his full height once more, then placed his hands under her shoulders. "Brace yourself," he said gently, a close-mouthed groan her only response to him. He eased her unusually frail body upwards and pulled her forward slightly, so as to give himself some room behind her, then stepped around and sat down, pushing her body forward some more until she was in a lying down position, her head resting on his soft pelvis. His bent legs gave the side of her body support, and enough for him to lean forward and cradle his head in his hands, which was exactly what he wanted to do.
"Who knew someone so violent could be so gentle?" she asked quietly, her question slightly out of place. Eren's eyes widened for a second at her implications, but decided to rub them off and closed his eyes as he leaned forward, bracing his lower back into the tree trunk, hands gripping at his temples.
After silence followed for a long while, and given she hadn't opened her eyes since she first laid down, Eren assumed mikasa had fallen asleep, which didn't surprise him. What did surprise him, however, was how unusually long it was taking for his comrades to come and find them. He also realized, with a strong sense of remorse, that he was exhausted. Not just physically, but also mentally. So much had happened since he had had a chance to sit down and think; there wasn't much of that since the apparent breach in Wall Rose.
That seemed so long ago. That was before Reiner and Berthold were revealed to be betraying bastards, before Ymir revealed herself to also be a titan shifter, and before he was captured. He couldn't get over the fact that he was at fault for all of this happening, for as many soldiers, comrades, and friends dying to get him back that fell.
"Don't feel so bad," mikasa said quietly, after listening to the sounds of Eren's tearful frustrations above her head. He froze momentarily, as he was sure he had been hiding his tears by wiping them away before they could fall from his face to hers, but, as always, he didn't necessarily think everything through, and thus didn't try to hide the small sounds he was making.
"In the end, you proved yourself wrong," she spoke again, her voice gaining some life back into it since her last blow to the ground. "And you proved to Jean and everyone else who ever doubted the need to devote their lives to you, exactly why they should."
"And I proved that you don't need to baby me so much," he spat back, grateful for her words but annoyed that she always knew the right thing to say. "I can protect myself."
"And I guess I proved that sometimes I'm the one who needs to be babied," she replied, her voice still gaining its regular fullness, but quiet nonetheless. It was something she didn't necessarily feel confident in admitting about herself, that when it came to protecting Eren, she was sometimes reckless and forgot to protect herself. But then again, it was Eren she was talking to, so it wasn't like she wanted to hide it from him. She could admit anything to him.
"Not even the best can always be the best," he replied, shrugging his shoulders. Looking down at her, he realized he had never seen her look so weak in his life. Her face was pale, and she was still trembling with each breath she took, particularly when it was a rather deep breath. He could tell she felt dizzy from the way her lidded eyes were constantly moving, and that was probably due to her forced rapid breathing. Normally she looked so confident, even when she was hurt.
Now that she could hardly move without her face twisting in pain, and was nearly helpless, she seemed rather pathetic, when he thought about it.
"I'm still better than you," she said, derailing his train of thought.
"Oh yeah?" he challenged. "And just what if I happened to accidentally let you roll off the edge?"
"I don't think you would do that, and even if it did happen, I trust that you wouldn't let me hit the ground. But that doesn't make you better. If the roles were swapped, I would hope that you would trust me to do the same for you."
Eren sighed, defeated. There was no willingness in him to fight her dominance over him any longer.
"I know you would," he said in a low tone, letting his eyes droop as he stared at nothing in particular. "I wonder why no one has come back for us yet," he said worriedly, changing the subject.
"Just trust that they will, Eren, and they will. That's why I was okay with letting myself fall off the horse."
"You blacked out. It wasn't an active choice."
"But I didn't fight it, because I knew I would be alright, because I trusted you." When Eren didn't respond, she continued. "Sometimes I wonder what I would do without you."
"Well don't bother," he snapped under his breath. "I already told you-"
"Before that," she interrupted. "I've had to wonder, when I was faced with that reality."
"Well don't bother anymore, because it doesn't apply now. I'm not going to leave your side, and I'm certainly not going to die. You can count on that." It was silent for a moment after that, and Eren was startled when mikasa suddenly let out a sniffle, and it was then that he realized she had been crying that whole time.
She definitely looked weak, now. His heart softened a bit, and he refused to look at her. Instead he dropped one of his hands to her face, and grabbing the scarf hanging loosely around her neck, he dried the skinny streams on her cheeks and dabbed at the corners of her eyes, seeing as how she couldn't move either of her arms that were pressed against her sides by his legs. And even if she could, it would still hurt like hell.
Rather than putting the scarf back, he dropped the top of it over her nose, the way he's seen her fashion it over her face whenever she gets emotional, as he figured that's what she wanted.
In a way, he felt like he was caring for a child. He didn't mind it, though, and in fact, it felt like a need of his to do. Then, he supposed that was probably how mikasa felt most of the time, too, when she would constantly follow him around to ensure his safety. He nearly smiled as he finally understood the unusually-fragile girl lying before him, completely relying on him to get her back within the safety of Wall Rose. And she didn't seem to mind it.
Come to think of it, she never even seemed to mind Eren's usual lashing out towards her protectiveness and 'babying' of him. She couldn't have minded it if she kept following after him, and continued to do as she pleased, always insisting that she follow whatever route he chose, rather than what she actually wanted to do, in her heart. He never considered it from her point of view before.
All the more guilt to add to his conscience. Just what he needed.
Shortly after that thought, the both of them tensed when they heard the pounding footsteps of a titan beneath them. Mikasa held her breath, her fingers locking onto Eren's ankles in the fright that they would be discovered. It would mean locating via 3D gear, and she didn't want to endure anymore physical aches for the time being. She'd had enough vital region bone-shattering for one day, and every time she moved, she knew it was only getting worse.
"Relax," Eren muttered under his breath. "There's no way they can see us. I'm no Armin, but I'm not a complete idiot when it comes to strategizing. I picked an extremely high spot in case they did come around." A few seconds passed before his words sunk in and her fingers relaxed into a loose curl around his ankles, but she kept her hands there for a personal sense of security.
"Just keep your voice down," he murmured, tilting his head down in her direction to keep his volume audible to only mikasa.
Silence followed, and Eren slowly closed his eyes, listening to the titan wander around beneath them. Eventually it traveled away from them to the point where they could speak at a normal volume, but it was still close by enough to keep him alerted.
While Eren had his eyes closed, mikasa allowed hers to open for the first time since laying down, and was surprised to see Eren's face above hers. Not that she didn't know it was; it had just sounded further away than it actually was. She took this opportunity to study his face, how much darker his tan complexion looked in the shade of the trees and with his face downcast the way it was. His rounded face had elongated, she noticed more closely, than when he was just a boy, and he had grown a strong jaw line, but she could still see the baby shape that he used to have.
The round shape of his eyes didn't seem so big anymore, and seemed to add enhancement to the barest of cheekbones beneath his skin. His hair seemed longer than it actually was, from her position beneath him, as it hung around his face. Her eyes traveled down from his face to his neck and collarbone, taking in the dirty patches of skin and the residue on his shirt. She noticed how his shoulders seemed broader than when they first enlisted in the military, how the shirt seemed to hang lower on his chest and expose more of it.
She studied the shape of his upper arms exposed by the short sleeves of his shirt, wondering how she hadn't noticed the defined shape beneath his lightly stretched skin. Sure, he wasn't a big guy like Reiner, but after years of military hand-to-hand combat training and 3D maneuvering gear usage, she supposed it made sense now why he wasn't so scrawny anymore. It showed beneath his shirt, too, and down to his lower arms, and even in his wrists as they formed into strong, clenched fists resting above his knees.
She wondered if he would continue to grow. After all, he was only fifteen years old. She vaguely wondered if Armin would grow, and nearly smiled at the thought of him overtaking her in a height advantage. She then wondered if Armin, too, had these lightly chiseled arms that Eren had, and if so, why she wasn't able to realize how strong her two best friends had grown, physically and emotionally.
Mikasa played back the scene in her head that happened just hours ago-not even that long, as Eren stood before her, punching the smiling titan's hand so hard that he knocked it away.
"You've always been strong, Eren, but you've become even more so," she said, mostly to herself, but it was something she didn't mind sharing with him.
"Stronger than you?" mikasa didn't answer right away. Because in some aspects, no, he wasn't stronger than her. Like when it came to titan-killing fundamentals, as there was almost no one better than her. But when it came to willpower and physical endurance, she was sure he could give her a run for her money.
"Yes," she finally answered.
"In what way?" he inquired, letting his eyes open, not expecting hers to be as well, startled as he met her close gaze.
"Willpower," she replied nonchalantly. "Emotional capacity, physical strength, taking responsibility."
"Just to name a few," Eren added on sarcastically.
"I just feel like sometimes you need to be reassured about things like that."
"Not anymore," he said, lifting his head and averting his gaze, staring off to the side in the distance. "Are you going to go back to sleep?"
"I was never asleep."
"Well you should try."
"But you might push me over the edge, as you alluded to earlier."
"I was just kidding around, and you even admitted to knowing I wouldn't do that!"
"I'm just a helpless soldier who got her ass kicked by a titan because she was too reckless in trying to save her only family who went and got kidnapped because he was reckless."
"When you say it like that, it seems like it was my fault you got hurt."
"You are the one who went and got kidnapped, after all."
"Damn it, mikasa. Sometimes you just need to shut up." He did feel guilty, because he was aware that it was his fault she got injured. Truly, they were both at fault, but he had enough guilt weighing on his heart as it was.
"Don't worry," she said, not phased by his harsh words. "I do take blame for you getting captured. I had the chance to finish them off shortly after they revealed their true colors, but I failed to utilize it. I'm sorry, for that. Really, I am."
Eren groaned. He didn't want to think about anything anymore. Not right then. There was just too much going on and he didn't want to care, not when he didn't have to. Mikasa could sense it, and decided to not say anything for awhile.
"How is your…um…?" he began, not really sure what to ask about. He was sure she was hurting in a lot of places, and feeling dizzy, and was probably hungrier and thirstier than she wanted to admit.
"My chest is broken and my head won't stop spinning, but considering all of that, I'm fine," she replied gently, interrupting his stammering before he said something that would embarrass himself. "You're not hurt anywhere, are you?"
"No," he said. Luckily. His hands had stung for a little while as they were regenerating, and for a short while after they had completed, but that was hours ago. His heart hurt, but that was a given. Everyone's hearts were probably hurting. His head hurt, from all the thinking he was trying to not do, but she would respond with something of the likes that he just wasn't used to thinking, and he should probably just use his head more often, and he just wasn't in the mood for that kind of sass.
"Seriously, though," he continued. "Just try sleeping until they come back. I'll wake you if I have to."
"What about you?"
"I'm fine."
"Eren."
"I promise. Stop worrying so much." With that, she closed her eyes and tried relaxing, but her constant feeling of being short of breath made that hard with her head spinning the way it was.
"Well, maybe you'll just pass out again," Eren replied, trying to sound hopeful after she voiced her complaint. "That should help you rest."
"Not when I'm laying down," she said, brows furrowed in irritation. "And I know you know that." Eren chuckled in response as he considered an actual solution in his head momentarily. He hesitated before lowering one of his hands to her face, stroking the skin gently with the back of his first two fingers. "Does that help?" he asked shyly, immediately catching the blush in her cheeks and nearly stopping, finding the heat rising to his own face at her reaction to his simple touch.
"Yes," she said, though he could barely hear her response, barely a whisper. It was a silent plead for him to continue, so he did, watching with curiosity as she turned her head to the side, allowing his fingers to travel to her neck and ear, her face reddening in color when he dared to stroke her neck, as she seemed to be asking him to do. He could only dip his fingers down so far, until her scarf got in the way, but it was hanging loosely enough that he figured she wouldn't mind if he pulled it away, so long as he would be occupying that spot.
Eren's fingers trailed down her neck to her collarbone after gently setting the scarf aside, resting it on her broken chest, then worked to open the green cloak she was still wearing, letting its edges fall off her shoulders. His skin burned on hers, leaving behind a hot trail that took forever to cool as he traveled up her neck on the other side, dipping to beneath her chin, watching as her face turned and adjusting to more easily allow his movements over her pale, creamy skin.
Her lips parted when his fingers ghosted over them, and her breathing seemed to become more rapid with his touch. He wasn't quite sure what he was doing, or what kind of effect, exactly, that he was having on her, or whether he should stop altogether. But his curiosity got the better of him, as she was completely defenseless in that moment, unable to move, trapped between his legs and beneath his strong upper body, at his will. He felt warm inside, as he let that thought linger, having that kind of control. Plus, she seemed to be inviting it, almost as if she wanted to submit to his will.
Eren felt the sudden increasing desire to test this theory as the warm feeling grew within him. Soon his thoughts were revolving around how weak and fragile she looked, how small she seemed in comparison to him in that moment. For once, he truly felt superior to mikasa, and he admitted that he rather enjoyed it. And, perhaps, she was finally feeling inferior to him, and rather enjoyed it, too. She certainly was acting like it, the way she relaxed at his touch and egged him on, the way she turned her head just the way he wanted her to, the way her face was nearly as red as his.
He decided to carry out his test by running his fingers down her neck once more, pausing at the base of her neck to stroke under her chin with the lightest of touches, this time eliciting an almost-unheard moan from her small, parted lips. He found her pulse and felt it momentarily, taking a secret satisfaction in that it was racing, knowing it was because of him and his display of affection.
Mikasa didn't dare to open her eyes, not when she was being a controlled by him as she was. It was one thing to submit to Eren with his gentle touches in her weakest moment, another thing entirely to show complete submissiveness when she wasn't entirely sure what was going on between them in the first place.
It had started with an attempt to relax her busy, spinning mind, so that she could sleep, and somehow, through both of their curiosity, turned into something that was making her mind spin even faster, making it even harder for her to breathe. And she didn't even seem to mind the sharp stabs in her chest as she stopped trying to control her breathing. It was so easy to be distracted by his warm fingers, his delicate touches. And though he seemed a bit clueless and shy at first, she could tell he was learning.
Eren wondered what was happening as he continue to stroke her neck and face, beginning to work his focus down to her collarbone and even to the skin just inside the top of her shirt. He hadn't ever realize where the neckline was with the scarf always in place, just below her collarbone. He wondered if he might get to see her without the scarf hiding this skin from him, more often.
Now that he thought about it, Eren had just pulled it off without even asking, and she didn't object. She just allowed him to do as he pleased, putting full trust in him without any hesitation. He supposed she had always trusted him like that, and she was probably wondering if this kind of situation should still apply under that trust.
He wondered what other things he could do, without her objection. And, well, he was never afraid to try new things.
Feeling the warmth within him begin to boil, Eren traced her lips with his thumb, his eyes glazing over her face and down her neck, finally resting on her rising-and-falling chest, deciding what his next test would be. His alert eyes watched her closed ones as his hand traveled down, soon reaching the point where he hadn't yet dared to cross, then crossing it. He was careful to only let two fingers graze the softer skin beneath her shirt, extra careful to not put down any pressure whatsoever, even as he reached a dipping valley, surrounded by smooth, soft mounds of her luscious skin.
Her face was scarlet by now, but she remained silent, her eyes seeming to shake beneath her tired lids. Her mouth was parted slightly wider, and occasionally her tongue emerged to wet her lips after her short, fast breaths dried them out again. She didn't show any signs of wanting him to stop, and they were both beginning to pick up on the hint that, if she weren't severely injured, it wouldn't rely matter if she wanted him to stop or not. He could do whatever he pleased, and she would allow it, as she trusted him with her life. Her very essence revolved around him; he was the heart of her core.
His fingers grazed over the smooth skin of the top of her round breasts, going as far as the top of her bra would allow, then he retracted his hand, resting it at her ear. He stroked the sensitive cartilage, being sure to gently pull along a few strands of her hair, as well, and continued this until her breathing slowed, considerably.
Eren figured that was enough for now. He didn't want to do anything they might regret later, though he doubted that was possible. He did feel slight guilt in giving into the seething curiosity he had felt, but as long as mikasa enjoyed herself, it wasn't that bad.
"Sorry," he said, the first verbal words spoken in a long time. Everything else had gone unspoken, but clearly understood. He could control her, and with great ease, at that, but only when he asserted himself. And it was only in that way. He could never prove to anyone his class of superiority over her, not without breaking several laws and without putting her trust in him into jeopardy.
Eren sighed, knowing that that was okay. He knew that he could one day take it further than he had done so, today, if he really wanted to. And he most certainly did. That warm feeling she gave him wasn't entirely gone, and yet it had never been there before. He didn't need everyone to know that mikasa was better than everyone, even him, mankind's last hope. As long as he knew that he was mikasa's weakness, and was able to utilize it to his desire and advantage, then she could publicly kick his ass, all day, every day.
"Don't be," she finally replied, her voice small as she kept her head turned to the side, her nose pressing into his inner thigh, nuzzling right in between the two belt loops. Eren couldn't fight back the small smile at the sight of her so openly nuzzling him, even if it was hardly that. He still wasn't quite sure what had happened between them, but in a way he was glad it did happen.
Replacing the scarf back around her neck, he returned to stroke her face with the same two fingers as before, the blush lightening but not quite leaving her face. He imagined the same tint coloring his own skin, but was distracted from that thought when he heard the sounds of the titan from before, wandering about lazily, beneath them.
He thought it a bit weird, considering that the sky was darkening as the sun was setting, and that it was sheltered by the thick patch of leaves overhead. It was probably unique like that, as had been one of the captured titans for Hanji's experiments that she told him about.
That seemed like a very long time ago, too.
Not too long later, Eren could hear the gentle heavy breaths coming from mikasa, indicating that she had fallen asleep. As a breeze rustled the leaves about them, he noticed her shivering slightly, and it was then that he realized the temperature had been dropping. Not that he minded it, despite his short sleeves. He found it nearly incredulous that she was cold in her uniform's jacket, but nonetheless pulled the cloak he had removed back over her shoulders and clasped it around her neck.
He leaned his head back against the tree trunk, wondering how much longer it would be until their rescue squad showed up. He tried to estimate how long they had been missing, and figured it had been nearly two hours, at that point. Just what were his comrades doing? Setting up a fucking camp and roasting marshmallows?
He sat in silence for another hour or so, his hand that had once been stroking mikasa's face now lay limp against her ear, as he had been doing it absentmindedly and eventually stopped putting in the effort. His eyes had been closed, the adrenaline finally weaning out of his system. It was then that the effects of sleepiness started to set in, but before he actually felt tired, a promising noise sounded nearby.
Galloping. Shouts of his and mikasa's name. He could begin to see a faint glow of torches nearing the area far down below him, despite the numerous trees that must have stood in the way. That probably meant that is was well into the night, and the titans were motionless for the time being. Perhaps that is what Commander Smith had been waiting for, and trusted Eren to keep the two alive until help came to retrieve them.
"Eren!" he heard someone call, the voice familiar but not clear enough for him to tell who it was. Eren quickly stood to his feet, careful to not move mikasa around. His plan, as he quickly attached the controllers and sent himself soaring through the trees, was to alert them of their presence, first, then come back for mikasa, to ensure that they didn't miss their comrades on the search.
"I'm up here," he shouted at the group of his friends that were charging through the area, though at a slow speed due to the night limiting their vision. They stopped their horses, a captain of one of the scouting legion squads at the front of the group, and held up their torches to see as high and as far as they could in the dim space around them. Sure enough, they could see Eren's silhouette as he was standing against a tree trunk on the outskirts of the miniature forest, hanging from one cable.
"Eren!" the captain shouted, as well as several others in the search party, Armin among them. Eren sighed in relief as the group stopped, then trotted over to the side of the forest where he was.
"I'll be right back," he said, launching himself back to the tree branch where he had left mikasa, who was now awake and trying to sit up, worry on her face. It was replaced with relief as soon as she saw him land on the long branch and jog towards her, crossing the distance between them in only a few strides.
"I thought you-" she stammered, the look on her face indicating she was about to cry.
"Holy shit, mikasa," he said, kneeling before her with a scolding look on his face. "Even after what I told you earlier? You thought I abandoned you?"
"I don't know… I just-"
"Come on, they're waiting for us," he said, his face melting into something a little softer as he changed the subject, for her sake. "Can you stand?"
"Not by myself," she admitted, still propping herself up on her shaky elbows. Sighing, Eren squatted down onto one knee, the stood with a near-silent grunt as he lifted her up by the armpits. He turned his body so that she could have access to his back, then stooped down so that she could climb up and above the fan mechanism on his waist, trying to support her weight as best as he could while she was standing. When he knew she was secure, Eren leapt off the branch, shooting them forward and arching them through the small patch of trees, coming to a stop several moments later at the edge, aiming for a gentle landing on the grass in view of the rescue squad. He could almost hear everyone's sigh of relief upon sight of the two missing soldiers out of harm's way.
Moments later they were racing on horseback, heading for the wall. To Eren's surprise, they eventually stopped at a makeshift camp site, where everyone else had been waiting for the search squad to return.
Hours later, they had finally returned to the safety of the wall. Everything was in chaos now that they had no fears of titans sneaking up on them, or another attack launched at them. Their numbers had dwindled, and as he saw people around him crying for lost ones and thanking the gods for their saved lives, Eren couldn't help but feel that guilt returning to him again.
A cringing, injured mikasa in his arms, Eren searched for a place to lay her down, and was directed by an older man within the Scouting Legion to an available stretcher, near other wounded soldiers. The man sat across from Eren as he knelt down to his knees, lowering mikasa down gently onto the stretcher. He could sense Armin's presence approaching them from behind.
"Yeah, get her down slowly," the man said, guilt consuming Eren as he realized just how pale and weak mikasa looked after the trip back. She looked sick, now. Everyone around him looked sick, and it was all because of him.
"Her ribs must have been crushed from the titan attack, and were shaken up from being on a horse for a long time. She needs to get to a doctor quickly."
Eren felt Armin's presence as he came to a stop behind him, his friend kneeling down in front of mikasa, beside him. Both of them looked worried, Eren in particular. He looked remorseful.
"Eren," she said hoarsely, more than she had been at her weakest, earlier. "I'm alright," she assured.
"I'm sorry," he said, Armin's hand lifting and resting on Eren's shoulder, assuring him that mikasa would pull through. He didn't meet either of their eyes, and focused instead on letting their words sink in. All he wanted was to lie down somewhere and sleep. The overwhelming feeling of a guilty conscience weighed on his heart again, only more impactful this time, with all that had happened since his time spent thinking while up in the trees with mikasa.
Eren sighed, trying to temporarily numb himself of the pain that was being humanity's last hope. The world was, indeed, a very cruel place. But, as his eyes flickered back to mikasa's resting figure, and as Armin's hand comforting hand fell away from his shoulder, he remembered that there were some beautiful things in the world, too.
To be honest, I really didn't know how to end this. I didn't want to jump to Erwin passing out right after Eren gets mikasa medical help, because I didn't feel like writing out that chapter, too. That's not the point of this fic. (Chapters 49 and 50, however, were quite necessary. Oh, the feels.)
Next chapter is going to take place while mikasa is still recovering, but it will be at the point where Levi has selected his new squad, and Eren and Historia/Christa are being hidden.
I don't plan on making this very long, though. It's just intended for smut, but I also want it to follow the plot and make sense, too. I will probably upload three more chapters or so, if all goes as well as I hope it will. You can definitely count on two more, maybe just one if I work hard enough to squeeze things in. But, I don't want to do that. I would also like to wait on the manga advancing a little more to give myself an idea of where our two love birds will be before I decide to finish this, but I might just pull something out of my butt first and then rewrite it when more manga chapters come out that I think I can use.
This will not be my only Eremika smut. The world needs more quality Eremika fics, and I plan to write many, many more. I also hope to keep them in character, which is a major flaw I've noticed in other fics I've read.
Which brings me to my next thought; how well (or terribly, God forbid) did I write these two? O.o Any suggestions, or possibly even some praise? ^^ I, personally, think I did an okay job, better than most, in fact. But I could just be a bigoted hypocrite, I'm open to that possibility, too.
Anyway, thank you very much for reading, and any feedback to the aforementioned question would be greatly, and sincerely, appreciated.
.elric-logic