Tumblr Prompt: "I miss you."


I miss you


The muffled jingling of keys and click of the front door had Beast all but barreling into the living room, puffed tail wagging and tongue lolling from his mouth as his pointed ears perked, picking up the noise of his owner shuffling outside the hallway of the studio complex.

A twist of the knob caused an excited bark from the giant shepherd. He immediately jumped onto his owner the moment she walked in, almost causing the small woman to fall back, she braced an arm against the door frame. Staggering a bit as Beast buried his snout into her long cardigan and sniffed the fresh outside, leaving slobbery dog kisses on her temple. He barked again to welcome her home.

"Yeah, yeah, I'm back." Annie tiredly removed the shepherd's big paws from her sternum, "Down, Beasty-boy." She commanded, and Beast obediently sat down with a tilt of his head, not one to disobey his owner. Annie gave an affectionate scratch behind his ear, and he licked her palm before she could pull away.

"Good boy." Annie muttered slamming the door shut with her foot, then clutched the groceries she had dropped due to Beasts erupt greeting. She trudged along to the tiny kitchen, that was really only ten feet away from the living room space. Four cupboards lined the peach tiled walls above the sink, the mint green stove and refrigerator were placed tightly beside it, along with a single rectangular counter to prepare meals on. Annie always hated how ugly the colors contrasted with each other, but it's not as if she could complain. The appliances did come with the apartment after all.

She set the groceries on the counter top, already beginning to take out tonight's hefty meal. Which wasn't really a hefty meal but rather a weeks' worth of ramen noodles and T.V dinners. Annie sighed, ripping open one of the sealed packages of the T.V dinners.

"I really wish Eren were here, don't you?" She turned to the shepherd who sneaked to her side, he stared at her curiously, but his attention was wholly on her dinner. Beast's big olive green eyes often reminded Annie of Eren. Well, Eren in particular wasn't that far off from sharing the same personality as their own dog.

He too, got excited whenever she came home, either from work or simple grocery shopping. And he always followed her everywhere around the little studio apartment; either to chat animatedly or coddle her. It annoyed Annie quite a lot at first but, she found herself missing it more and more. Him, to be exact.

At least Beast was big enough to use as a pillow. She also missed that. The shepherd eyed her meal with a little plead in his twinkling eyes. Annie huffed, "Of course, I got you." She grunted, hoisting herself up onto the counter, and snatched the half-full bag of dog food that was right at the top of the cupboards. Annie very carefully dropped it onto the counter; unfortunately, the bag hadn't been closed from the morning she had fed him, and it tipped over, spilling chunk sized kibbles n' Bits all over the kitchen floor.

Annie cursed under her breath, luckily Beast took to cleaning it up rather quickly. Annie eyed him warily as she hopped off the counter, "You better eat all of that." She pointed at the mountain of dog food on the floor, Beast answered looking up with loud crunching and wag of his tail.

While she finally set her meal to preheat in the oven, (Microwaved dinners are done better in the oven, so says Eren, apparently) her smart phone she forgotten on the couch went off. Playing a catchy eighties tune on loop; Annie raced over snatching up her phone from the cushion pillows. Catching a glimpse of a picture featuring a tanned shirtless brunet carrying a large dog bridal style, before she tapped the green call button.

"Yo!" A cheerful male voice answered from the other end, Annie sunk herself onto the love seat, breathing a little easier. "So you finally called." She mused, perching her feet on top the coffee table.

"I know, I know. But I've got some free time on my hands now, so we could talk as long as you want!" He piped up, and Annie was forced to position the phone further from her ear because Eren still hadn't a clue how to use his inside voice.

"Okay, that's great," She tapped a blue manicured nail on the receiver end, "Ask me what I'm having for dinner."

She could hear him roll his eyes way back, somehow, he chuckled and the sound vibrated through the line. "Alright, what're you having for dinner?"

"Breaded chicken, with mashed potatoes and peas." She said, then added. "Including a brownie." Eren scoffed, and she heard a light ruffle as he shook his head, probably in disapproval. "T.V dinners again?"

Annie clicked her tongue, "You're not even here to prepare those light weight meals anymore, I don't know anything about scaling food or counting calories."

"Or cooking in general." He quipped quickly. Annie pouted, narrowing her eyes just about to retort when Beast strolled into the living room, happily fed and full. Annie peaked behind her and sure enough the mess she'd made was completely vanished save for a few stray kibble here and there.

"How's my Beasty-boy?" Eren asked on cue. The shepherd slouched near her legs, resting his head on her lap. Annie patted him gently, threading her fingers through his soft fur as she leaned further into the couch. "He's getting fat. I think I'm feeding him too much."

"How dare you, my son is not fat. Are you even taking him for walks?"

"Are you kidding me, I'd rather not be launched across the city by a hundred and thirty-five-pound dog."

"Annie." Came his warning no non-sense tone, and Annie very nearly grinned. "Relax," She drawled, blowing tendrils of blonde from her face, "Mikasa does the walking. She's even more of a beast than him, after all."

"Oh, cut that out."

"It's true." She ended with a small laugh of her own; Eren shifted on the other end and she could hear some bustling noise in the background along with a couple of other masculine voices. Another voice boomed into the line, this one higher pitched but slightly teetering away, as if it'd been shouted over Eren's shoulder.

"Hello Eren's insanely hot girlfriend!"

"Dude- Connie, c'mon, man!"

Annie listened in on their bickering, rubbing the soft tip of one of Beast's ears; and for a moment she imagined herself there with him. She imagined staying in one of those lofty hotels that were usually the standard in military bases; and being able to see him every day. At least on the off-duty hours. The biggest quirk would be traveling overseas with him, sightseeing the world had always been a child hood dream of hers. She could almost taste the sea salt on her tongue as she closed her eyes and imagined it all. Eren's timbre tone now picking up further from the speaker.

Of course there was a catch, for all that happen. They would have to get engaged to acquire those benefits, then lo and behold Annie walking down the aisle. And Annie, well she was just not ready for that next step. For absolute commitment, becoming one and whole, till death do them part. Though she cared about him, and Eren did love her, she knew that he wasn't all that ready either. They were only in their mid-twenties, and perhaps even when they reached their thirties, things will still be the same. That's just the way Eren and Annie were. But she wouldn't give up her cozy apartment life or her career in fitness training for all the frilly white dresses and wedding bands in the world. She was content where she was. So was Eren, she'd hope.

"Ann', sorry 'bout that." He sighed into the speaker, the noise creating a sort of distortion. She sighed with him. "There's no such thing as privacy around here." He laughed. She laughed quietly with him. "I miss you." She blurted than, pursed her lips, then added, "A lot."

"…I miss you too." His voice was gentle but somber, the tones he would use when she was having a terrible day and he'd come comfort her with back rubs and a marathon of her favorite series on Netflix. The ones he hated but she enjoyed; she really missed those days.

Annie grumbled into the speaker, feeling all to sentimental at the moment. "You better hurry your ass up and get back here."

Eren laughed, sniffing, "I plan too."

"I mean it, Jaeger."

"I know you do!"

The next hour went by reminiscing about high school drama and discussing Ju-Jitsu techniques that Annie didn't particularly care about, but she felt giddy at how excited Eren got whenever she explained them too him.

It was going so great until the stench of burnt plastic reached her nose, and Annie jumped up startling Beast, whirling around to see the oven puffing out plumes of black smoke. The fire alarm than started to screech obnoxiously into her ear drums.

"Eren." She groaned dejectedly, dragging a hand across her face as Beast began to loudly bark in tandem with the fire alarm, "I'm serious, come home already or there won't be a home to come back too."