Day 3: Bubble Bath

Daycare!AU

A/N: A DAY LATE I'M SO SORRY! A massive headache just devoured me yesterday...ugh... Must...try...harder...

Disclaimer: I don't own SnK ;A;

'I really hate this job.'

Eren squeezed the rag he was working with, trying to rid it of all the liquids it absorbed. He then began wiping the floor dry, again.

"Hey," he gently spoke, his green eyes watching the little toddler in the high chair carefully. "Do you think you could maybe stop spilling things?"

The kid, a little boy with brown hair whom Eren always thought resembled a horse, simply stared at him, and with a blank "no", he began spilling even more, much to Eren's dismay.

Juice and milk flew out of their cups and onto the floor. Eren swore he felt a vein burst somewhere.

"Jean! You little-"

"-Cutie."

Eren froze, and ever so slowly, he turned his head in the direction of his boss's sudden voice that had cut into his special proclamation for little Jean. He gulped, prepared for the yelling and punishment he was sure to receive, when his eyes caught the beautiful girl standing next to his dwarf of a boss.

She seemed to be about his height, with short black hair and dark grey eyes that met his. With their eyes locked, Eren grinned and gave her a friendly wave, ignoring both Jean and his boss's presence in the background. The girl, though not smiling, raised her small hand to return his gesture, when his boss's sharp voice cut the silent air.

"Jaeger!" he yelled, causing the girl to drop her hand as she had now turned her attention to the short man beside her. "We are not here to baby ourselves, we're here to baby actual babies. Now scrub harder!"

"Yes, Levi..." Eren mumbled, returning to his work with a disgruntled attitude.

Levi stepped closer to Eren, and placed his foot right on top of rag the younger boy was using, preventing him from doing any more wiping. "That's Sir, to you." he hissed, his eyes narrowed as he looked down on the green eyed teen. "And if you're not going to clean that floor properly, I'd rather you don't at all."

"But-"

"Silence, Jaeger." Levi kicked the rag away from Eren's hand. He then proceeded to take Jean out of the high chair and hand him to teen on the floor. "Since you clearly can't handle feeding a child and cleaning up their mess, your next task is to give Jean a bath."

Eren's jaw dropped. "What!?" he exclaimed, getting up on his feet. "Baths are the hardest parts of this jobs! They seem way too...extra! I don't even understand why we have to offer them here!"

"Eren," Levi stepped closer to the teen, glaring at him furiously. "Here at Serve You Daycare, we gladly offer many services for people's kids, including baths. And since you work here, you will gladly give Jean a bath. Not alone, of course. I don't trust you with a kid in a closed room with water because you're likely to drown yourself and him in there."

Levi turned around, tilting his head towards the girl who stayed exactly where she was throughout the whole conversation, silent and listening. "That's why today, you're going to have an assistant, Jaeger."

He beckoned the girl to join him, to which she complied quickly and quietly.

"Her name's Mikasa. You're going to teach her how to give baths and she's going to learn and help you out from now on."

Eren shifted his green eyes to her. She bowed her head. "Nice to meet you."

He grinned. "Same here."

"Oi! Cut the chit-chat and get to work!"

"Yes Sir!" the two of them said, totally in sync with each other, as they headed, toddler in hand, to the bath room.

"So first, we put in the water. Not too cold. Just warm enough, I think."

"...Do you really know what you're doing?"

Eren looked around the place, listening closely for any indications his boss was near. When he found none, he sheepishly grinned at her, rubbing the back of his neck with his free hand. "I don't usually get to do this part because it's more...difficult and Levi would rather someone more responsible like my friend Armin do this job. So...not really."

She raised an amused eyebrow at him, causing a faint blush to heat up his cheeks. "L-look! Okay, it's almost the end of the day! We only do baths at the end so we could have parents pick up their kids squeaky clean! So...so let's just hurry up and finish!"

He set Jean on the ground and proceeded to remove his shirt, when the little kid suddenly punched him in nose.

"Hey! Jean! Stay still!" Jean kicked and squirmed, determined to escape Eren's clutch. After a hard kick to the teen's groin, Jean ran over to Mikasa, hiding behind her.

'Man... I really hate this job...and in front of a pretty girl too...'

"Don't worry, we won't hurt you." she calmly spoke, the child staying still as she undressed him. After he was butt naked, she wrapped a small towel around him. "What do we do now, Eren?"

Somewhat recovered, Eren stood up with furrowed eyebrows. "We put in the bubble soap in the bath... you know...for bubbles..." He opened a nearby cabinet, pulling out a small, rectangular container, and then walked back to the bath, pouring some in. He was about to stick his hand in to mix the soap and water to make bubbles (his favourite part), when he saw in the corner of his eye, Mikasa silently watching him, Jean in her arms, her whole body still, awaiting orders.

'Geez. She's really pretty, and seems to be good at everything, but she's so... dull."

"Hey, Mikasa?" he called, beckoning her to come kneel next to him on the floor. "You want to help mix the soap?"

"What?"

"You know... use your hand and just mix the water and soap together... like this..."

He took her free hand and held it in his, his warmth encasing her cold skin. In small, slow circles, he guided her hand in the water, the sounds to be heard- the lazy movement of the liquid, and the breathing and heartbeats of the two.

After a minute of this, the bath was ready and bubbly. He released her hand, pulling back for a towel to dry his hand. He notice her pale hand still in the bath, so decided to make a comment. "Mikasa? The bath is ready for Jean, so..."

She snapped out of the weird trance she was in, her cheeks reddening subtly. "R-right..."

Eren grinned, finally getting a different kind of reaction out of her. She removed Jean towel and placed him carefully in the bath. The two teens kneeled at the edge of the bath, silence engulfing the space between them as the little boy splished and splashed around the tub.

"So... What do we do now...?"

Eren shrugged. "I don't know..."

He wished she would say something, because not only does he not want to be the one trying to engage a conversation only to be ignored, but he really did want to get to know this girl. And, he thought her voice was very soothing, an excellent substitute to all the cries and screams of the kids and Levi's yelling.

"...My parents died a long time ago..."

Eren, taken back, spluttered "Wha-what!?"

"And I always wondered why they had to go like that, when I was so young...I thought they'd rather die than have a child like me... I was a mistake after all...But when I watch you and Jean..." She closed her eyes, bowing her head to Eren, just like earlier. "When I see people like you taking care of these children, even if they have parents... I see life is beautiful... And maybe mine is too..."

"Mikasa..." Eren took her hand, holding it in the air between them. "My parents died too."

She opened her eyes, and genuinely laughed with a cracked smile- the first since she came.

"What...What's so funny?!" Eren asked, his cheeks heating up in embarrassment.

"I just...I didn't expect you to say that...hahaha!" she spoke between giggles.

"Same goes for you!" he replied with a grin, as he reached into the tub, scooping some water, splashing it at her.

She gasped. "You didn't..." She grinned, returning the favour.

"Hey!" cried Jean, from the tub, at the two soaked and giggling teens. "Can I have more bubbles?"

"Sure, Jean." Eren smiled at the tyke, reaching for the container. He poured some more in. "Wanna help, Mikasa?"

"Sure. But...could you..maybe...teach me again...?"

He opened his mouth to ask her why when he was sure she'd know it by now, but shut it, deciding to gladly accept her request.

"Of course." he said, taking her hand once more, and this time, when the bubbles were made, he didn't let go.

"See you tomorrow Jean!"

Jean waved goodbye to the two teens, and oddly enough, before he left, he even hugged Eren (and Eren hugged back. Wow!).

Eren removed his green apron, hanging it on the employee rack beside Armin's. Noticing Mikasa had taken off hers as well, not knowing where to put it, he took it from her, hanging it next to his.

"Well, it's the end of the day now..."

"Yeah..." she replied, wearing her bag on her shoulder. "See you tomorrow, Eren?"

He nodded. "You know, I was actually going to quit today. But here I am, still here."

She reddened. "Oh...?"

He waved his hands in the air, frantically trying to convince her it was a good thing. "I-I meant it in a good way!"

He smiled at her, feeling familiar all of a sudden.

"You know...I think after today, my job...my life... I feel like it got brighter somehow...What about you?"

Though Mikasa didn't say anything, she didn't need to.

She just held his hand.

What I said about his parents was just me, okay? Like we know his mom is dead, and I'm not too caught up so I don't know about his dad... but I'm just assuming he's dead too XD

And sorry for the slight angst I just couldn't help it.