It was the way he saw the water drip down her leg. How it kissed ivory flesh, tracing the curve of her shin, dipping into her ankle and the arch of her foot. She rubbed a loofah into the perfection, spreading bubbles and soap. More water splashed, spilling down her curves. The way the light hit her skin and the water, like reflective glass in trickles on her body.
The tops of her breasts peeked from the water, and he could see her nipples were soft. Hair wet and flat and away from her face. Droplets clung to her eyelashes, caressed her cheeks. Eren placed the towel he had brought for her on the sink. Their gazes crashed, a frantic collision. And his eyes narrowed as he swiped the loose baby hairs that framed his forehead.
"You've got the dog in there with you?"
Jax sat between her legs, silent and unusually still, hair drenched and stuck to his skin. He looked like a little rat. Eren witnessed the smile that spread to Mikasa's lips, heard the sweet giggle that escaped her mouth.
"I figured, well, since he was due for a bath."
He felt the cold wet tile of the floor against his feet as he moved closer to her before kneeling at the edge of the bathtub. There were ripples in the water when she readjusted herself. And the dog remained unmoving, his eyes two large beads on a cute petrified face.
"He looks miserable." Eren paused. "And that's gross. It's like you're bathing in dog debris."
He squinted when she splashed water towards his face. His forearm flung to protect himself as she continued her assault, a slew of giggles fleeing her mouth and echoing. The sound was like a beautiful, teasing chorus of her laugh. His shirt was drenched, pasted to his chest and stomach, that he could feel his nipples harden and grow cold.
He felt the tie of his bun loosen, and as he reached to fix his hair, he caught her eyes fasten to his body. Carving into his black shirt, tracing the muscles of his torso, watching the flex of his arms. A flush took her. Dark red, swirling into the apples of her cheeks. She picked up the dog, thumbs pressing into the joints of his legs. Water dripped down his body like an endless stream. Black and white fur matted and disheveled.
"He's clean. Can you dry him?"
A strange look crossed his face, his brows twisted, lips furled into something that resembled a smile, but was more perplexed. She made the motion to hand Jax to him, and Eren shuffled briefly, grabbing the towel from the sink that had been meant for her. The dog was so stiff to the point where it was comical.
Eren sat on the floor with open legs, his back hurled forward as he ruffled the towel into Jax's fur. A struggle ensued, as he had suddenly sprung back to life and attempted to run away while soaking wet. Entrapped between Eren's legs, his little body squirmed in his grasp, and Eren took his feet, squeezing them like sponges. Getting behind his ears, his tail. Little whimpers grumbled in his throat as if he were being killed.
"Would you relax? I'm trying to fucking help you."
Jax slipped from his hold, his fur damp but no longer dripping, and with a yelp he scurried out of the bathroom, slipping on the watery mess he left on the floor. The silence was deafening, pulsating. Bouncing off the walls somehow. Eren looked down at himself. Joggers stained at his thighs and crotch, his shirt even more drenched. And he turned around to look at Mikasa, who sat in the tub with her knees pressed against her chest. Her grin was ample, flashing her teeth. She hugged her knees and her cheek rested there in amusement.
He crawled to her, dipping his arms into the tub to pull her body towards him. And she released the laugh she had been hiding, trying to resist him, and they became a giggling mess of water and stolen kisses.
Warm, wet skin, glowing as fair and luminescent as a pearl. He felt the heat of her body when his tongue grazed her neck, dipping into the junction of her shoulder. Firm, taut. His teeth seeped into her, and he fingered her ribs, felt the ripples of each individual jut of bone. Trailing upwards, until he pressed along the skin beneath her breast.
And suddenly she wasn't struggling with him anymore. The laughter was gone. She relaxed into his touch, her head falling back against the wall. Yellow tile highlighted milky skin. Water dripping down her body. His licks turned into kisses. Fingers nudged toward the curve of her breast.
She made a noise. It was light, almost inaudible. He wanted to hear it again. Forever, if he could. The sounds that she would make only for him, when they were alone. In the loving stillness, in lustful panic. Eren never wanted to live without her voice ever again.
Her thighs opened, ringlets of water bringing his attention there like a target. And her hands settled on his forearm, pressing into his veins. He could see her nipples harden, constricting in the water from her arousal.
"Eren." Her voice was soft and breathy.
The trek of his palm towards her navel was slow, deliberate. Slushing in the water, elbow deep. He placed a kiss beneath her chin just so she would extend her neck for him. He didn't answer her with words, but heaved a hot breath into her skin.
"I'm going to miss the nineties."
He opened his eyes. His brows fidgeting for a moment, while his hand pressed against her pelvis, holding it there.
"Fuck the nineties." Eren kissed her collarbone, letting his face fall into her shoulder. "The new millennium is going to be way better. Better music. Better technology."
Mikasa wasn't so easily convinced, shifting uncomfortably in the bath. "I don't know. I feel like nothing could ever get better than the way it is right now."
He would have agreed with her, even if only to humor her. Because he was going to miss the nineties too. It was frightening stepping into new year, a new era, and leaving behind this one, as chaotic and wonderful as it was. But for some, he had learned, the nineties were not the best time for them. Things could get better. They could change. He remembered Historia's question—how many years did she need to wait to be happy? Because it wasn't right now, in this current decade.
There was a twinkle in Mikasa's eyes. Trembling silver circling large pupils. Vulnerable and sad. Was it really this that was bothering her? The fear of something new? White swirls bled into the grey of her irises, water clinging to her bottom lashes. So void of colorful yet still so vivid, striking, as if he were looking at a painting.
His fingers trickled lower, past her hips. He felt her buckle forward when he grazed short curly hairs. Her knees opened further, her skin turning red as she pushed against the edge of the tub. And she squeezed his arm, nails digging into his wrist.
Their lips a breadth apart. He could feel her breathing—humid, warm. Her mouth puckered in wanting, and he kissed her to ease her desire. Kissed her slowly, carefully, feeling the wetness of her skin drip into his mouth. Tasted her when her tongue sought entrance, massaging his own. And his fingers crept further into the water, discovering the source of her pleasure.
Small and delicate, how it pulsed eagerly against the tip of his thumb. Water spattered around him as she squirmed, ripples cascading her body almost violently. She moaned into their kiss, cupping his face. Lukewarm water doused his cheeks, dripping down his neck. Her hips moved forward in tune to his rhythm, while he swirled gentle circles against her most sensitive area.
The sweet, desperate murmurs mingled with low, thick groans. Water mixed with her fluid when his finger prodded within her. And he slipped in another almost instantly, feeling the heave of her breath on the bridge of his nose, the slickness of her center. Fingers curled upwards, stimulating a tender spot at her core. And she shut her thighs, trapping his hand.
But he kept moving, continued to touch her. Rubbing her clit, thrusting his fingers inside her. Feeling her hungered tug on his shirt, droplets drizzling down the length of her arms. A beauty embraced by water, eyes half closed, a sensual flush to her cheeks. A gentle pulse against his thumb. Growing, and growing. And her back arched, her head hit the wall. She pulled away from the kiss.
He felt her flutter against his fingertip. He could feel her coming. How she unraveled before him, unashamed, waves of water serenading her body as she convulsed in the tub. Filthy sounds and filthier words spilling from her throat in random sputters. The way her tongue hung from her mouth as she panted like an animal in heat.
She was a beautiful vulgar mess. And he was hard, painfully hard, felt the burden of his arousal begging for release against his joggers, the quiver of his own longing difficult to ignore. Watching her climax was the sexiest thing he could ever look at.
"Can I come in there with you?" he asked her with a hoarse voice. A beat passed. She was breathing lightly through parted lips, her body limp. It took her a second to turn her head to him, her eyes heavy, as she reached to caress his cheek again. She thumbed the high point of his cheekbone.
It took him off guard when she stood. He traced the shape of her body. Like a slim hourglass, the plunge of her waist from the swell of her thighs. There was a gentle bounce to her breasts, and her skin glowed, pearlescent. The way the drops of water caressed her skin. She was ethereal, magical.
Slow and elegant, she lifted her leg out of the bathtub. The arch of her foot was dramatic, a beautiful curve. A puddle formed around her as her feet touched the floor. Her eyes anchored to him, and he could feel the weight of her gaze. Even when she bent to his level, falling to her hands and knees. The tips of her breasts grazed the floor, pink and constricted. Ample swells of fat, he wasn't even thinking when he reached to touch them. Just as soft as they looked, her nipple firm against his thumb.
He removed his clothes quickly, in earnest. Peeled the wet, clinging shirt off of his torso, the skin of his abdomen slick and feeling cold instantly. He took off every layer that prevented him from having her. Desire clouded his mind, his vision a delirious haze as he saw nothing but Mikasa sprawled on all fours on the bathroom floor.
And he took her with a carnal greed, his longing for her hard and pulsing. His hands slipped when he grabbed her waist, yet he plunged her towards him, while he sat on his knees, the chill draft of the room embracing their bodies. He entered her quickly, in one quick draw. A sharp cry spilled from her mouth at the blunt intrusion. Bare, that he could feel her in all her entirety. How her essence drenched him, her pelvic floor clenching his length. She felt so fucking good and he wanted her so badly, and he took her body as he pleased, began to push inside her with a heated fury.
Her grunts echoed, hitting his eardrums in all different directions. Every thrust rewarded him with a matching groan. She fell onto one of her elbows, slipping from the puddle that shadowed her form. Such a steep, gorgeous curve to her back as he fucked her, her shoulder blades jutting from her body. He pressed into her hip bones, watched himself disappear inside her. Over and over, lost in the frenzy of his movements, in a world of ecstasy. His need for her grew, his love overwhelming.
She was saying his name and making such sexy noises, and she felt so fucking amazing and tight and wet—it was a burning heat inside him. Sizzling, boiling. He exhaled steam, felt every muscle of his body contract. He barely remembered to pull out before he came. A grunt blended into a moan, rumbling deep in his throat, and he swiftly disconnected from her. His fluid stained her back, mixing with the water that already covered her.
The sight of ruining her was so filthy and provocative that he lost himself into another ripple of his orgasm. Sending glorious shudders all over his body as he released the remnants of his desire on her skin.
Eren would have felt embarrassed for coming so fast if he wasn't so completely worn out from the impact of his climax. He was trying desperately to catch his breath, watching her slip away from him as if it were a dream. She found the towel he had dried the dog with and wiped his fluid off of her back, kneading into her spine.
And she stood again, dipping her feet into the bathtub. He heard the swirl of the water plunge into the drain as she removed the stopper. She turned on the faucet and huddled into the thick stream of running water.
A hint of a smile pressed on her mouth as she peered over at him curiously. "Yes."
His eyes narrowed, a slouch taking his back as he scratched at his forehead. He could feel his bun becoming loose again. "Yes what?"
Mikasa fingered the water as it spilled from the faucet, her gaze drifting away from him. "Yes, you can come in the bathtub with me."
Late October 2002, Marley
Three men of nearly equal height stood together. Black suits and trench coats, their shadows cloaking a beloved name on a tombstone. The wind rustled against them in a gentle breeze, a divine embrace of their forms. The shine of the sun was relentless, warming.
And Eren didn't know how long they had been standing there. He focused in on the flowers he had brought, nestled into the dirt of her grave. He didn't pick them out. So colorful and different, various hues and types nestled together to form a unique bouquet. His hands clamped together, a shudder to his breath. This was never going to get easier. But he didn't have to face it alone.
"Jax—don't pee on there!"
His gaze shifted, his father and brother following the source of the sound in unison. To the grave next to them. Mikasa bent awkwardly in her black dress, trying not to let it rise above her knees, as she picked up her dog, who had lifted his leg over another tombstone.
She shuffled with him awkwardly, cradling him in her arms as locks of velvety black hair fell over her shoulder. And she looked at the family with a bashful smile, a chuckle hummed in her throat while making her way towards them. Her black flats sloshed in the grass, and her jacket was almost as long as her dress.
Zeke tilted his glasses when something caught his attention. He took one of her hands, admiring her nails.
"Wow, look at those things."
Bright orange and long. Overly long. She blushed at the gesture as she balanced Jax against her elbow.
"I was an extra in a music video and they had me get my nails done. I like it, though."
Zeke lifted a blonde brow, gently dropping her hand as he reached to tap the top of the dog's head. Jax squinted his eyes, a snarl to his mouth.
"A music video? Anybody I might know?"
She seemed a bit flustered, a shrug lifting her shoulders. "Oh, probably not. He's an up-and-coming rapper."
"Well, I know of plenty rappers," Zeke insisted, rubbing at his beard. A gloss shone over his lenses. "There's MC Hammer. And Vanilla."
Eren groaned before he could continue. Fingers scraping at his forehead, he would have run his hands through his hair but he had cut it all off recently. Now gelled upward in a more popular look, the front of his fringe curved away from his forehead. The smell of expensive pomade constantly filled his nostrils.
"God, you are so old," he cooed, watching all the attention refocus on himself. He kneaded into his temples. "And stop calling him Vanilla like you're old friends."
His dad sighed, opening his mouth to reprimand him but Mikasa beat him to it. Her brows slanted as she gave him a very severe look.
"Be nice to your brother, Eren."
A smug smirk imprinted into Zeke's mouth when he glanced at his brother. "Why didn't you tell us Mikasa was in a music video? That's very big news."
She laughed off the compliment, however, bouncing Jax to steady him in her arms. "It's nothing, really. You can barely even see me in it."
Eren looked at her from the corner of his eye, his expression a bit bewildered. "I'd hardly call being in a Nelly video nothing."
There was a generous roll to her eyes as she attempted to conceal the smile that crept on her lips, the blush that took her cheeks tender and sweet. And it warmed him, watching her stand there, holding her dog, the sun drenching her in its light. Blending into his world, his family. He would never have to do this alone, because she would always be with him. She would pick the flowers, and stand by his side, make his brother and father smile with her charm. Sweetness leaked from her essence. Sunshine and rainbows, everything good and beautiful and happy in the world all bundled in the sweet package that was Mikasa.
When he followed her to the car after taking an extra moment to say goodbye to his family, Mikasa was on her cellphone, the dog asleep on her lap. Her brows pinched together, a rather uncomfortable expression contorting her face. He watched her peculiarly as he buckled in his seatbelt, his key twisting into the ignition.
"I don't think getting eloped counts without a marriage license, Armin."
Eren's eyes squinted as he felt the rush of heat evade the vents, blowing hot air towards his face. The car rumbled as it came to life, and he hesitated to start driving, listening in on the conversation.
"Is it different in Vegas?" At her inquiry, Eren could hear the frantic, muffled stammering on the other end of the line. Her lips pursed, wrinkles pressing into her nose.
"Armin—Armin, you already know you can't wash off a real tattoo."
Another long moment of desperation echoed in her ear. A smile crossed her lips as she rubbed at her forehead. "Well, I think it's kind of cute you both have matching piercings now." A pause. "How did this happen anyway? I thought Annie doesn't drink?" And her brows furrowed, a baffled look claiming her face. "Pain killers? They can fuck you up like that?"
Mikasa pulled the phone away from her ear when the volume suddenly increased. Eren could make out a few phrases now. Such as what the fuck am I going to do and how did I let this happen. She sighed, long and hard, shooting Eren a knowing look.
"Armin honey, calm down. We will figure it out. And honestly, if you two were going to get married, this is exactly the way I would imagine it happening." She waited for his response, now less distraught, cradling the phone against her shoulder.
"Now, go enjoy your honeymoon. We'll talk later."
An entertained laugh dripped from her mouth as she flipped her phone closed, the curl of her lashes long and dramatic as he watched her side profile. The pretty dip of her nose, the curve of her lips. She swiped several strands of hair behind her ears, vibrating into her giggle.
"Do I even want to know?" he asked her, a curious lift to his brow.
Their eyes met haphazardly, and she shook her head at him, her grin still wide and glowing. "No. You don't. But we might have to get them a wedding present."
They drove in a serene stillness for a while, until Mikasa began to fumble with the radio, tuning through the stations leisurely. She stopped on one specific song for a moment, recoiling as the music settled into her ears.
"Oh jeez, I am so sick of this fucking song," she groaned, shutting her eyes in anguish. "It's been on the radio nonstop for the last fucking year. I can't stand it. I'm ready to pour bleach in my ears."
She moved to change the station. But Eren stopped her. His hand drifted from the wheel to grab her wrist. Instead, he increased the volume, the sound of guitars and drums and a gravely voice filling the car.
"What? I fucking love this song," he gushed. His smile became consuming, dimples pressing into his chin and around his mouth. As he nodded his head to the music, he tapped along to the beat against the steering wheel, letting the melody consume his body. "These Nickelback guys are fucking awesome."
He sung along until the chorus. It was too good, he just wanted to listen to the music, hear the words. And he could see her smiling at him, with the same intensity of his own grin. She reached to pinch his cheek gently. The solid diamond on her finger scratched at his skin. And he cupped his hand over hers, planting a kiss on the inside of her wrist.
And they drove together, into what felt like the unknown for him. Towards a beautiful life, one he had once believed he didn't deserve, drowning himself in his pain, his guilt. Lost in the pit of his misery. Until he found the sunlight. Sitting like an angel beside him. But also within himself.
Zip up your jacket. I love you. Have a nice day.
I love you.
It's okay, baby. It's going to be okay.