Disclaimer: I own nothing. Nuuuuuuthing
Author's Note: Whoop whoop! New set of drabbles! This time with a weird focus on eyes (Sometimes it's easier to write a set of connected drabbles when they all follow a similar theme. I hope you agree!).


"Annie, do you know the story of Icarus?"

Torn from her thoughts, the girl frowns at her blond partner on the branch beside her. The boy doesn't look at her as he asks her the question. He stares instead at the faint beams of sunlight streaming through the dark emerald canopy above them.

"It was a story popular in my village," she answers after a pause, "to warn about the danger of arrogance."

The boy is silent for a long while. "I always thought it was about curiosity."

They can't see the sun, but Annie wonders if he still wants to build his wings to reach it after knowing Icarus's fate.

.

Their team wins because of him. He was the one to figure out where Shadis had hid the prize titan and how to fix Reiner's 3DMG when it hit a tree the wrong way. Because of him, the rest of his team has a day off from training for the next day.

The blond gives a startled yelp and then grins widely as Reiner hoists his thin frame into the air and deposits him on the shoulders of an equally startled Bertholdt. His smile is brilliant and Annie mirrors it softly, fighting the urge to conceal the smile with loosely curled fingers. On his lofty perch, the boy is close enough to reach the sun with his fingers splayed in triumphant glee. He is radiant in his joy, beaming brighter than the envious sun. She basks comfortably in his smile, knowing that for the first time, he has achieved something no one else has.

It is his Icarus moment without the fall.

.

On their day off, most of their teammates sleep away their good fortune. He finds her slouching in the shade, doing exactly what she would be doing if they had to participate in hand-to-hand combat. Nothing. He senses her boredom easily, as she can feel it roll off of her in waves.

"Uh, do you want to play a game, Annie?" She regards the boy for a long moment. She can tell he thinks he's going to be rejected.

"What do you have in mind?"

He blinks once in surprise, but a large, eager grin soon spreads across his features. "I was thinking chess!"

Annie shrugs. What's the worst that could happen?

.

She takes his queen. She takes his rook. He has nothing and she corners his king. Victory is inevitable.

She doesn't notice the pawn creeping up the side of the board until it's too late. Nor does she notice her exposed king.

The boy grins wickedly as he exchanges his worthless pawn for a new queen. Checkmate, his eyes laugh. The girl reaches for her king and tips the piece. It bounces as it strikes the cool, checkered surface of the chessboard.

The boy's eyes blaze with a triumphant cerulean. Annie swears to never again play a game of strategy against him.

.

She's a rotten liar.

Somehow, the boy manages to convince her to play another game with him. She is winning throughout the majority of the game; however, when she peeks curiously at his face, she realizes that the boy is only feigning defeat. She can tell by his polite smile that he's intentionally holding back.

"If you want me to keep playing," Annie announces loudly, "then actually play." The boy blinks with a shocked expression, as if he thought she would never have guessed his intentions. That makes two bad liars.

Two turns later, the boy hesitates before adjusting the position of his rook.

"Checkmate," he murmurs ashamedly. Annie's guilt demands a rematch.

.

The insinuating whispers soon reach her ears, though she swallows them down with her trained, blank expression. She ignores them and focuses on the chess board in front of her.

"I bet the only reason they won is because Shadis felt sorry for their pathetic group"

"They're all freaks…"

Annie glances up just to catch the flash of anger flit across the boy's features. His eyes blaze as brightly as before, but the dark shadows in the boy's icy eyes make the hairs on Annie's neck prickle. For the first time, she equates danger with the blond boy.

.

She spares a curious peek in the boy's direction during dinner. He laughs loudly, his lively, blue eyes crinkled in delight at something Connie had said.

Annie nods to herself and looks away, content with what she she sees. His eyes are bright again and it feels as if the world makes sense again. Still, she can't truly eradicate the image of the boy's darkened scowl from her mind. The distorted image frightens her. It finally crosses her mind that they could be more similar than she had ever anticipated.

.

He's talking about the ocean again. His eyes are youthful and wide as he describes the hypothetical tang of salt in the air and the soothing crash of waves against the pristine sand.

The question is out of her mouth before she can pull the twisting, curious words back into her mouth. "What color is the ocean?"

He is so consumed by his fantasy that he doesn't realize who asked the question. "A lot of different shades of blue. When it storms, it's as dark as night," he rambles, "but in the calm, it's so clear that you could probably see all the way to the bottom of the sea."

Annie tilts her head and considers the bright blue glow of the boy's eyes. She has a feeling she already knows what the ocean looks like.

In darkness and in light.

.

One day Mina asks her what her favorite color is. It is an offhanded, curious question that holds no relevance or immediate significance. Annie's response is automatic.

The color of the ocean.

The dark haired girl lifts a bemused eyebrow, wondering just what the blonde means by the cryptic answer. Mina is familiar with the stories that Jaeger's blond friend tells, but she also knows that no one in the recruitment camp has ever actually seen the ocean.

However, things become a bit clearer when Mina catches her friend glancing in the direction of the blue-eyed, blond boy.


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