Pairing: Eren/Mikasa & Ymir/Christa

Setting: Slight AU just so everyone could be at the formal but I wanted them to be a little older. So sometime later in the series.

Words: 3465

Rating: K+

Notes: The first part of the Scouting Legion formal ball request from an anon! :D I was gonna make it one story but the first half is long enough so I figure I'd break it up and make it easier to read. This is the half when the boys and girls are separated and getting ready. It switches perspectives from room to room. It feels so incomplete without the ballroom part, but I promise it won't take me too long! I hope you enjoy the opening at least!

Tale as Old as Time

Levi never prided himself with much patience, but even this was too much to ask of him. Give him five 15 meter class titans, he'd be fine. Give him a room full of six teenage boys, he was ready to pull his hair out.

"What is this?" Connie was holding up a piece of fabric that he seemingly couldn't identify.

"It's a bow tie," Jean answered from nearby, looking in a small mirror to adjust his own tie.

"How come it doesn't look like every one elses'?"

"We aren't exactly rolling in money, Springer." Levi looked through the box of clothes he was given. He pulled out a black shirt, trying to see if a shirt even came as long as he needed. Close enough. He tossed it to Bertholdt who was standing shirtless nearby. "Make do with what's given to you."

"I think mine's a little big." Armin tugged at his white button up before trying to tuck the excess into his suit pants.

"At least you got white. Isn't this red kinda bright for a formal event?" Eren had his black tie around his neck, but seemed to be tying it miserably; not that it surprised Levi all that much.

"That one came straight from Hanji so be thankful you have one in your size. Reiner, careful when you move. You look like you're about to bust the buttons off."

Levi would've just left them all here to fend for themselves but unfortunately this ball was a way to get on the good graces of the military and the people who supported it and good graces meant more funding. So here he was.

"Having trouble, Eren?" Jean was pulling on his jacket, clearly mocking Jaeger's feeble attempts.

"Shove it, Jean," Eren growled back.

Jean gave a low whistle. "Someone's on edge. What is it? Nervous to get dressed up for the first time in your life?"

Eren dropped his tie around his neck and probably would have managed to tackle Jean if Armin hadn't jumped in between the two hot heads.

"Hey!" The boys stopped moving instantly. "Cool it, you shitheads. This is important and you will not like it if you act like animals out there. Trust me."

That seemed to do the trick; Jean started to button up his jacket, while Eren went back to fiddling with his tie. Bertholdt stood off to the side tucking in the shirt actually fit him this time, though him and Reiner were the only ones without jackets. Built like monsters those two were.

"I'm not really sure how this works." Armin was holding the tie Connie had given him. "But I'll try."

At least they all looked decent and not like the bunch of slobs they really were. Levi glanced over at one of the mirrors in the room. He managed to find a dark green shirt to wear under his long suit jacket. He wasn't about to get stuck with the yellow one like Springer did.

"Thanks, Armin!" Connie looked over his bow tie in the mirror. "Cool."

Better a real tie too. Levi sighed and looked over the room once more. This night better be over before he knew it. There were more important things at hand than talking to the elite and babysitting these monkeys. Levi at least hoped once they were in the ballroom the women would keep them in line.

"Ow, ow, Hanji, that hurts!" Sasha's hands were already reaching up for the brush that Hanji was using to untangle her thick hair.

"I'm almost done, just relax. The more you twitch away the more it hurts." Hanji had gotten through a lot of it but Sasha had more hair than all the girls combined.

Hanji leaned back a little to give her back some relief from being hunched over the sitting girl. Ymir was nearby, already dressed in her floor length black dress; she had rolled her eyes when Hanji presented her with the dress, saying why the hell would she wear a dress with so much sequence on the halter and the bodice but Ymir quickly changed her mind when she saw the way it formed to her body. Hanji was pretty sure Historia's gushing comments helped a lot too.

Historia was sitting down in front of Ymir, waiting for her to finish gathering some hand me down make up. Mikasa also sat close by waiting for her turn, her eyes locked on her reflection in the mirror.

Hanji looked back down to Sasha's hair grabbing some of her hair off the top and put a hair tie around it for a half back ponytail as opposed to the normal pony tail Sasha wore; Hanji did leave a few strands to frame Sasha's face. Hanji wasn't entirely sure why she got left in charge of the girls, she wasn't exactly the most feminine person out there, but there weren't many girls here to begin with so she figured she'd try. "Alright, stand up, let's see."

Sasha jumped out of her chair, clearly happy the hair pulling was over. Her cream colored dress swayed as she turned around to face Hanji. She had thought the loose skirt fit Sasha better than a form fitting one; the tighter bodice and single shoulder strap also fit the girl just right. Hanji had already put a little make up on Sasha, much to her distaste, but Hanji thought everything looked just fine. "Beautiful. Just try not to spill anything on yourself okay?"

"Okay," Sasha waved her off before going to find another seat, one where she wouldn't get prodded and poked at Hanji assumed.

Since Ymir was doing just fine taking care of herself and Historia, that left just one girl. "Alright, Mikasa. Your turn."

The red of her long dress might have been a little bright, but Hanji thought if any one Mikasa needed a little brightening up and Hanji couldn't resist giving it to her when she a shirt that just happened to match perfectly.

Mikasa walked over without a word, the thigh high slit in her dress giving her probably more leg when she walked than Mikasa cared for but she sat down in the chair in front of Hanji, Mikasa's expressionless face staring back from the mirror.

Hanji brought the brush up to Mikasa's short hair. There wouldn't be much she could do but comb it out for her, though her hair was already soft and straight. The brush didn't get snagged on any resistance, which was nice relief from trying to untangle Sasha's hair. Mikasa seemed unfazed by anything as her face watched her careful reflection, but Hanji noticed something different about the girl. Her hands wouldn't stop fidgeting in her lap.

"Nervous?" Hanji guessed.

Mikasa didn't answer, though her eyes did flicker up towards Hanji's reflection in the mirror; that seemed to answer her question.

"Nervous someone might notice you?" Hanji tried again.

"Nervous someone won't." Mikasa's voice was soft, and quiet; Hanji almost didn't hear her. She put the brush down on the nearby table, and moved to stand in front of Mikasa. Her dark eyes looked up as Hanji reached over to grab whatever make up Ymir wasn't using.

Hanji kneeled down in front of her. "I don't think even he's that blind not to notice you in that dress. I gave you the red one for a reason."

Mikasa's lips seemed to twitch into a small smile, her cheeks getting a little red. There, that was more like it.

"Okay, look up. I'll make this as painless as I can."

What the hell was wrong with this stupid piece of fabric? All Eren could do was tie it in a knot which looked stupid especially since all the other guys had it in that nice little neat thing. He let out an exasperated sighed as he angrily undid whatever the hell he tied it into.

"Want me to help?" Armin asked from nearby. He was showing Reiner how to tie his but Eren saw Jean looking smug in the corner of Eren's eye.

"No," Eren grunted, looking back to the mirror. If that idiot could do it, then Eren sure as hell was gonna get his.

"Stop being stubborn, Jaeger, and get your ass over here. I'm not staying in this room all night because of you."

Eren cringed at Levi's voice but he dropped the ends of his tie and walked over to where Levi was standing, despite the eyes in the room.

"Stop looking so grumpy." Levi eyed Eren before grabbing onto the ends of the tie. "You especially have to make a good impression and make it seem like you aren't about to kill everyone in the room."

Eren didn't answer. This whole thing was stupid. Why'd they have to dress up just to schmooze some old people? At least it was a night off from training and there would probably be better food than they normally had and he could also just hang out with Armin and Mikasa all night.

Fine. Maybe it wasn't so bad.

He watched Levi's fingers move the tie around till it had that nice knot to it. He left it loose, probably so Eren could adjust it himself.

"And try not to embarrass yourself tonight," Levi grunted stepping back.

"Yeah, I'll try not to embarrass you in front of all the rich old people."

Levi arched an eyebrow at him. "I didn't mean in front of me. Just go and finish getting ready so we can get out of this room."

Eren turned around, waiting till he wasn't facing Levi to roll his eyes and adjusted the tie so it fit where it should before going to look to wherever Eren tossed his jacket. He didn't have to look too far since Armin was holding it up for him.

"Thanks," Eren said as Armin helped him get it on. Eren pulled at it so it sat right before working on the few buttons. It was strange seeing his and Armin's reflections in the mirror; they looked so much older, like a class of people they really weren't at all. Eren supposed for a night it would be nice to pretend. He just hoped the girls didn't take forever to get ready. Eren wanted to get out there, have something to eat and sit down with Armin and Mikasa.

Mikasa's eyes looked darker now as she looked in the mirror, her lips a slightly different shade. Hanji said she didn't put on too much but it was much more than Mikasa ever had. It was strange; she didn't think it looked bad, just different. Mixed with the bright red dress she figured she probably was going to stand out more than she was used to.

She said no when Hanji handed her the dress but Hanji insisted Mikasa at least try it on. She still didn't like it when she tried it on; the thin red halter wasn't so bad but the top pushed her boobs up more than she was used to and the slit on the side came right up to her thigh, showing her legs every time she took a step. Not to mention the completely open back, the fabric not coming back together until it was at the base of her spine, and the way the fabric cling to her sides, her hips. No it wasn't her at all; which is why she agreed to wear it but it didn't mean she felt all that comfortable. Mikasa knew she was going to feel even more uncomfortable in the actual ballroom because that's when eyes would be on them, on her.

Her hands twitched in her lap again. It really wasn't so much the eyes on her like Hanji had suggested; it was the eyes she was afraid wouldn't be on her. She always knew Eren to not really be the observant type, but if she couldn't even get his attention in this she didn't think she'd ever be able to.

That's what scared her more than anything.

"It's a ball, Ackerman, not a funeral. At least try to smile," Ymir said as she looked over from Historia.

Easy for her to say. Ymir had been trying not to fawn over Historia all afternoon. It wasn't working too well. Mikasa knew she was being immature, she was being petty by focusing so much on the attention of one person but what else did she have? She shook her head to shake away her thoughts. She was stuck at this thing all night regardless so might as well expect the worst and not get her hopes up.

Mikasa looked across the room at Sasha helping Hanji into her dress. It was strange seeing the woman normally buried in books and experiments dressed in a dark green dress that had a line of rhinestones along the high waist and up the halter. Hanji's top was like Mikasa's but she thought the older woman pulled it off much better. Hanji was piling her long hair up on her head while Sasha zipped her up in the back.

Judging how everyone was almost ready Mikasa knew it wouldn't be much longer till they entered the ballroom. She couldn't keep her heart from racing.

Any moment now Armin was pretty sure they'd get called away into the main area. Everyone was just kinda sitting there talking as they waited; it wasn't like it took them nearly as long as the girls. Reiner was leaning back in his chair talking to Bertholdt about something the taller boy didn't seem that interested in. Jean was going on to Connie about how there would be plenty of girls at the ball to go around, but Connie just wanted to ask what kinda food they would have. Levi wasn't saying anything, arms crossed as he sat near the door.

Eren was sitting next to him, also not saying a word, which was a little bit unusual.

"Something on your mind?"

"Heh?" Eren turned to glance over at Armin. "No, just bored waiting to get outta here."

"Not excited for the ball?" Armin was admittedly bored himself. When you were used to training and working all day, sitting around got dull real fast but Armin was also rather curious when it came to what Eren thought on this whole ball matter.

"Yeah, excited to eat. I'm starving."

Armin rolled his eyes. He probably should have expected that. "That's not what I meant."

"Then what the hell did you mean?"

"Aren't you excited to see the girls? To see Mikasa?"

Eren eyed him strangely. "I see them and her every day. In fact I saw her a few hours ago. Why would I be excited now?"

"Because it's a formal, and they are probably as dressed up as we are." Eren still didn't seem too interested but Armin thought maybe he could catch him off guard a little bit. "I bet Hanji got Mikasa a real nice dress; one that makes her look beautiful."

Eren snorted. "Mikasa doesn't need a dress to look beautiful, she always is."

Armin would never get sick of doing that to his friend.

Eren seemed to realize what he said the moment it left his mouth but it was too late to deny it, Armin already couldn't hold his laughter in. Eren's was too priceless, and turning a little red. "Shut up." Eren grunted reaching out to try and push Armin off his chair.

"What's so funny?" Jean glanced over at them.

Armin started to say "Well, Eren-" about the same time Eren said, "Nothing." It left Jean with his usual expression when it came to Eren. Armin chuckled and leaned back in his chair; he had been looking forward to a nice night away from titans, and training, and 3D Gear, and so far it had been without even getting to the ballroom yet. Now he knew he'd have all the entertainment he'd need.

Levi stood up from his spot on the chair as the door to their dressing room cracked open. Erwin stood in the doorway, dressed in a suit that was more like Levi's than theirs.

"Ah, you all look wonderful. Come on, everything is all set for you to come in," he said with a slight smile. "Everyone is looking forward to meeting our newest members."

Armin stood up to his feet as everyone else seemed to do the same. He had a good feeling about this night; it helped that Eren was still sulking. Armin wasn't about to let him live that down.

Ymir would never describe herself as a lady but apparently she was one of the few in the room who could actually put on a shade of makeup. Not very well, but better than Sasha who nearly poked her eye out before Hanji came to do it for her. Granted Hanji had done Sasha's, Mikasa's and was now working on her own while Ymir had done her own make up but was still working on Historia's; yhat was mainly because it was hard to stare at her face and not get a little bit distracted.

Of course Hanji had to give Historia that dress; the blue halter with the neckline that practically dipped to Historia's stomach, the one where the skirt in the front fell at her thighs but flowed down to her ankles in the back. Yeah, Hanji, not at all distracting.

"Ymir?" Historia's voice snapped her out of her thoughts. Historia's eyes gazing right into hers as Ymir leaned over her, eye shadow in hand. "Is something wrong?"

"No, close your eyes so I can finish this already."

Historia did as she was told and in time not to see the heat that had risen to Ymir's cheeks at getting caught staring. Again.

She brushed some light color against Historia's eyes. She didn't think she needed any but Hanji insisted they all did just for the night. Ymir wanted to complain that all this was pretty stupid. Why they'd have to be here when only the actual important members would be of use, but looking at Historia sitting in front of her, waiting for Ymir finish the layer of makeup, it really wasn't so bad. She supposed she could put up for it for one night as long as she got to see Historia in that dress for a little bit longer.

"Okay, done." Ymir tossed the remaining makeup on the table while Historia leaned forward to look at her face.

"Oh wow, thank you, Ymir. That looks really nice."

"I still don't think you need it, but whatever Squad Leader over there wants." Ymir didn't miss the way Historia's cheeks turned a little pink at her words.

"It's not what I want," Hanji said standing up from doing her own makeup. "It's what the people who're gonna give us money want and that's what's important."

Ymir crossed her arms with a scoff. Well, whatever, as long as she didn't have to talk to them.

"Is it time yet?" Sasha asked as she reclined back on her chair.

"Almost I assume, just have to wait for-"

A knock on the door interrupted Hanji's words. The door cracked open revealing another member of the Legion but Ymir didn't know their name.

"Okay, ladies," Hanji clasped her hands together. "Let's get out there."

Sasha jumped up to her feet, with Mikasa following a little too far behind. Historia stood up too, as Ymir took the spot next to her, one hand reached out to press against her bare back to help guide her the door. Even when they were out the door and into the long hallway, Ymir decided it was better to keep her hand there; in case something happened of course. She glanced down at the much shorter girl. She was the only reason Ymir didn't put up a fight over this dumb thing, and it was certainly worth the view.

The ballroom doors were just at the end of the hallway. Two guards opened the double doors for them, the lights from the torches on the wall and the chandeliers glowing as Ymir followed Hanji in. There were a lot more people here than she expected, all dressed up much like they were. Except that group of awkward looking ones…oh that would make sense; it was those goons.

"I see a table off to the corner that is calling my name," Ymir leaned down to Historia, not really up for talking to old rich people until she actually was forced to. She started to walk away from the others, but heard footsteps behind her that only meant one person. Yeah, it wasn't gonna be so bad of a night at all.