A.N: Valentine's Day special, as promised! Hopefully no one's tired of NikoSasha yet!

Chocolate Hearts

Jean's presence was starting to unnerve Nikolo. Normally, he wouldn't mind having the man in his kitchen, but this time was different. He clearly wanted something, but every time he opened his mouth, all that came out was meaningless small talk. Whatever the man wanted he should just say it already.

With a sigh, Nikolo put the dishes down and turned to face Jean.

"Alright, I think you've dragged this on long enough. What do you want?" he asked, crossing his arms as Jean automatically denied wanting anything "Bullshit. Now out with it or stop bothering me."

Jean regretted coming over in the first place, but since he was already here, he might just as well go through with it.

"I need your help with something"

"I figured as much" Nikolo deadpanned "And that is?"

"Well, you helped Mikasa make chocolate around this time last year, right?" Jean said "So I was just wondering… well, if you'd teach me too?"

Ah, so that's what it was. He should've figured; Valentine's Day was tomorrow after all. But who did Jean want to make chocolate for? Mikasa? From what Sasha had said, it seemed the soldier had had a thing for the black-haired woman for years, but to Nikolo, it was obvious she only had eyes for Eren. Surely Jean saw it too, right?

"It's not Sasha, is it?" he wondered, but quickly shook his head. Even if it was, it was none of his business.

"No can do?" Jean asked, having noticed the cook shaking his head.

"What? No, no, I'll give you a hand" he said "I was just thinking of something for a moment, is all."

With a smirk, Jean asked: "Something or someone?"

With a rare smirk on his face, Nikolo asked back: "And who do you want to make chocolate for?"

Jean looked away with a slight blush.

"Thought so" Nikolo said as they reached an unspoken agreement to not throw jabs at each other.

XXXXX

In Nikolo's opinion, heart shaped chocolates were a little tacky. Not that he told Jean that; he just let the guy do as he pleased. And it turned out to not have been a bad decision; the man was surprisingly artistic. That's something the cook learned as he looked at the perfectly cut chocolates, half of them already decorated by the still focused scout.

"I didn't know you had an artistic streak in you" Nikolo commented, jealously realizing that when it came to decorating, Jean was definitely better than him. Good thing Sasha appreciated taste over how her food looked… "Whoa no, I'm not going there!"

"There are lots of things you don't know about me or the rest of us" Jean smirked "Though maybe you would if you actually showed some interest instead of always just focusing on Sasha."

Nikolo blushed, unable to come up with a witty comeback right on the spot like he hoped he would. Damn it.

"…So, who is it that you focus on?" he tried to change the subject, making Jean immediately avert his eyes. Nikolo however, would have none of that "Hey, I helped you! The last thing you could do is to tell me what for!"

"That's private" the soldier said, focusing on his work again. Nikolo stared at him, unable to hold the words in: "Just… tell me one thing."

"What?"

"It's not Sasha, is it?"

"No" Jean said with a chuckle "It's not Sasha."

He burst out in laughter when the cook sighed in relief. Needless to say, Nikolo didn't appreciate that.

XXXXX

"Nikolo, are you here?" Sasha called out as she entered the kitchen, only to be met with silence. Seems like the cook wasn't present… but he might have left something tasty lying around.

Sasha grinned, ready to look for some snacks. Preferably something Nikolo wouldn't give her so easily if he was here…

"He's left something to cool down on the table" she realized, seeing the cloths that covered something. Had they been sitting there overnight? Or had he just taken them out and covered them so no bugs or anything would get to them? Either way, Sasha was happy to play the role of a bit bigger bug that a cloth wouldn't stop.

Lifting the fabric, she was delighted to find what she recognized as chocolate.

"Yay!" she cheered, taking one of the heart shaped treats, biting it happily. As she munched on the treat, Sasha observed the remaining chocolates. All were heart shaped and beautifully decorated, even more so than the stuff Nikolo usually baked.

"But why would he make them heart shaped?" she wondered as she finished the chocolate, licking her fingers before taking another one. Nikolo had scolded her for the habit plenty of times and she'd mostly stopped by now… when he was present, that is.

"Heart shaped… is he planning a love confession?" she wondered, feeling happy and sad about the idea at the same time. If it really was the case, then she'd be glad because he would've clearly found something, or someone in this case, that made him happy even though he was a prisoner. And since the only non-Eldian woman she could think of was Yelena, it made it highly likely that the woman was an Eldian, which would mean that Nikolo's attitude problem towards her kind had gotten a major turnaround. As for the part that made her sad, Sasha knew that if Nikolo confessed to someone, he'd have less time to spend with her, unless he got rejected of course. Not that Sasha hoped that; she didn't want to see him sad, even if it would mean that she could see him as often as she had so far. Even if she had first stuck around for the food and to soften up the pair of Marleyans working in the restaurant (but mostly for the food), she had ended up genuinely liking Nikolo and would want to spend time with him even if he refused to cook anymore.

"Or could the woman be… me?" Sasha wondered, blushing at the idea, yet not minding it in the slightest. Still, she shook her head, telling herself to not get carried away. Nikolo clearly saw her as an annoyance; there was no way he had that kind of feelings for her "Probably because I keep snatching his food."

Of course, knowing that didn't stop her from snatching a third piece of chocolate. And when she was halfway done with it, the door opened. Just her luck.

"Sasha?" Nikolo was shocked to see her, but since this was a usual occurrence, the shock was gone in a flash, replaced by irritation "Those aren't for you!"

Yeah, she'd figured as much. And she wanted to know who they were actually for.

"Then who are they for?" she asked, expecting Nikolo to turn in to a stuttering mess, but instead he said: "I don't know and it's not any of my business anyway."

Walking over, he took the chocolates away from the confused woman.

"I helped Jean make these, but he wouldn't tell me who they were for" Nikolo admitted. He wasn't sure if it was okay to tell on the guy like this, but it's not like he had told Nikolo to keep it a secret, either.

"Oh!" Sasha let out, feeling both happy and guilty of her happiness at the same time as she realized that the chocolates weren't Nikolo's "So these are for Armin? Then I'm sure he won't mind if I take a few!"

Nikolo stared at her blankly.

"…Armin? You think they're for Armin?"

"Definitely; he's so smitten!" Sasha said with a snigger. Eyebrows raising in disbelief, Nikolo said: "I thought he had a thing for Mikasa?"

"Sure, when we were kids" Sasha said with a snort "He still cares for her a lot, but his heart belongs to Armin."

"…Right" Sasha liked to pull pranks, so Nikolo wasn't sure if he believed her… but then again, Armin and Jean were pretty close as far as he could tell, so maybe it was true after all?

"So~" Nikolo didn't like that tone "Where's my chocolate?"

Nikolo scoffed.

"What makes you think I've made you any, you greedy little pig?"

"…" Sasha pouted, and Nikolo couldn't keep himself from thinking that it was cute.

"…Chocolate takes a while to set, so I'll bake chocolate cookies for you instead, okay?"

"Okay!" Sasha cheered, hugging Nikolo "Thanks!"

Blushing hard, Nikolo yelled: "Careful or I might drop the chocolates!"

Sasha laughed, but let go of the cook anyway. She eyed the remaining chocolates, wondering if she'd still be able to snatch one.

As if reading her mind, Nikolo said: "Steal any more of these and you won't be getting any cookies."

Sasha pouted, but took his warning seriously. She'd learned it the hard way that he meant what he said. She didn't want to take the risk of missing on any of his cooking. Sitting down in a chair at the corner of the room, she knew better than to get in to Nikolo's way, Sasha watched the Marleyan get to work with a small smile on her face. It didn't take long for them to start chatting, mostly Sasha though as Nikolo worked, but she didn't mind. She was more talkative by nature, and she knew he was listening. He always did.

Maybe he would make chocolate specifically for her one day instead of just cookies.