the (he)art of a titan || Eremika || ✔️

Part III

Glaring at the back and forth motion of the tree branch in his hand, Mikasa reached out to the branch and put her hand on it causing Eren to immediately still his motion.

"Eren, please," she said, her head bowed so her face was slightly covered by her dark hair. "Don't overwork yourself." Slowly, her hand moved from the thick branch, moving down lower and lower until her small hand rested on the knuckle of Titan Eren's pointer finger.

Eren let the branch fall and it landed with a loud thud beside Mikasa. Now that his hand was free, he opened his palm further, allowing Mikasa to trace the lines of his large hands, feeling the rough calluses and small scratches from the many, many branches he had held.

Watching with curiosity as Mikasa continued to explore his hands, Eren let out a breath and scooped her up, so she fell lightly into the middle of his palm. He lifted his hand up slowly with Mikasa sprawled out in the middle and brought her up to eye level, so her face was right up to his.

Using her hands to push herself up, she stared him down while he held her in the middle of his palm, and then without a warning, Mikasa reached out and gave him a small pat on his nose.

In his attempt to look at her, his large Titan pupils went cross-eyed and he let out another grunt. This action caused Mikasa to giggle and she couldn't help the little, "Cute," that came out of her.

Titan Eren made a noise that almost sounded like a "Huh?" which Mikasa surely imagined as Eren refuting her statement since his Titan form was anything but cute.

"Yes, you are cute, Eren," Mikasa teased, feeling more comfortable around the Titan since he couldn't necessarily talk back. "And I love your hair. It looks nice, all long and grown out."

Titan Eren huffed, turning his head away from her and looking down. She could probably blame the heat of the setting sun for the light blush that scattered across Titan Eren's sharp face.

"I'm very proud of you, you know," Mikasa stated off-handedly. She took a seat in his hand, planting herself crisscrossed on his palm. She rested her own palms on his skin and leaned back to look at him. "I always knew you would be the greatest soldier. Ever since we were kids." She let out a long breath and Eren tilted his head curiously, as if asking what she was thinking. "Thank you, Eren," she said honestly, "for letting me stay by your side."

Another grunt. This time, Mikasa interpreted it as Eren scoffing at her. "Of course you stay by my side, Mikasa. Where else would you go?"

"I just want this to be over though, Eren. I want to see the ocean with you and Armin, and I want to go back home and rebuild it all. I want to stop fighting and just... live."

There was silence. And stillness.

Nothingness, until a small movement. Eren brought his other hand that had been resting on the forest floor up to Mikasa. With the gentle precision that he had yet to master, he used his index finger to brush the short hairs away from her face and then folded his finger to use his knuckle to rub tenderly on the side of her face. Almost as if he was petting her, assuring her of his presence. A promise.

Mikasa loosened her posture and closed her eyes, leaning her body against his large finger and relaxing under his ministration. She never had this much of Eren's attention before... at least not in a long time, so she intended to savor this feeling for as long as she could.

I love you, Eren, she thought to herself. My most beloved, my dear.

Even while Eren remained in his Titan form, she could still not bear to say the words out loud.

He already knows, she convinced herself. He already knows, so there is no point in saying out loud.

"I know what you're doing, Eren," Mikasa said in a teasing tone, opening just one eye to look him up and down. "You think you can distract me and get me to take a nap, while you get back to practicing your kanji? Not gonna happen, Mr. Yeager!"

In response to her accusation, Eren growled affectionately and leaned forward to nuzzle his nose against the side of her face.

She laughed loudly in a way that she hadn't done in years, squeezing her eyes shut and tossing her head back as she felt the laughter bubbling out of her chest. "EREH!" she exclaimed in the way she did when she's overcome with emotion.

Eren seemed to like the sound of her laughter and continued to tickle her with his nose, until she was gasping for breath.

When he finally stopped, she fell back and caught her breath, her chest heaving up and down while she released the last of her giggles. She wiped at her face, clearing it from any stray tears that had fallen while she was laughing. "I know you all too well, Eren."

Eren let out a short grunt, his humanoid face stretching in an attempt at a smile. His already open mouth stretched wider, curling upwards, and his eyes widened, lifting his eyebrows up as well.

"Cute," Mikasa mumbled again, sitting up and tilting her head to the side to smile warmly at him.

She imagined that Eren in his human form may have rolled his eyes at her, but she doubted that Titan Eren had that capability. Instead, he lifted the hand that held her higher and placed it near his broad shoulder, which she took as a sign that he wanted her to step off.

With a little jump, she landed gracefully on his shoulder and sat down, swinging her legs aimlessly. After a moment, she leaned sideways to rest her head against his neck before turning her head fully into it. She let out a warm breath and placed a small kiss on his neck, believing the action was so small and delicate that Eren probably wouldn't even have noticed. Aside from a small jolt, one that was not large enough to throw her off, Eren made no indication of acknowledging the kiss. Instead, he seemed more relaxed than the raging Titan she had witnessed with Jean and Hange not that long ago.