eren jaeger made his way around the large ball room with a mask covering the top half of his face. he was firmly dressed in the nicest all-black suit that scout money could buy. his hair was tied back, with the exception of a few stray strands framing his face and jutting out at the back of his neck.
it was an island-wide celebration for the scouts, who had managed to finally drive the forces of marley off their shores, while also capturing multiple titans, giving them a fantastic advantage in later fights.
of course, it being all thanks to the scouting regiment, they had become the center of attention. whether people agreed or disagreed with the regiment's methods, nobody could deny the wine and dining that the military promised. and still, the military found it to be safer if the party took reference from a masquerade ball to keep the angry opinions at bay. nobody could be mad at you if they don't know who you are, right?
either way, when eren was invited as a guest of honor to said celebration, he couldn't have been more unbothered. some of his friends, like jean, conny, and sasha, all were over the moon and beaming about it for a week. then there was armin and mikasa, who were majorly indifferent to it, thinking it was nice that people wanted to thank them, but they really found it bothersome that it had to be in the form of a night-long gala.
mikasa stayed stuck at eren's side, annoying the twenty year old more and more as the night went on. of course, she looked gorgeous that night, but he was really only there for the food. he had no interest in mingling and slow dancing and useless thank you speeches.
on the other side of the extravagantly large and golden room, past the large orchestra who expertly played their magical symphonies, there was a twenty year old woman in a similar, if not the same predicament.
y/n was a very... independent scout. independent in the fact that she ran her own one-man team composed of herself. she also preferred to house herself in a small unit in wall sina, rarely ever showing to scout functions unless it had to do with a mission out of the walls or an attack of some sort.
there wasn't much to know about her, other than that she was greatly discomforted by captain levi, she hated the taste of meat, and her best friend was hange zoe.
y/n entered the room on her own in a tan silk dress that ended just under her knees. unlike most people, she kept her gear close to her, keeping a medium sized hand held knife strapped against her thigh and concealed away under her dress. she wore dark brown flats and a pearly white and gold mask, similarly covering the top half of her face.
a few minutes past, and y/n awkwardly stood at the foot of the dance floor, sending glance after glance at the spruce grandfather clock that decorated the room.
she saw a man much taller than her with longer brown hair and tan skin, and a face hidden behind a black mask.
"eren jaeger."
eren glanced away from mikasa for a moment, feeling an unfamiliar set of eyes on him.
eren and y/n's eyes met for a split second before y/n turned away from the dance floor, shifting to mix in with the crowd and hide away from eren's turquoise gaze.
eren quickly found interest in the mystery woman. he wanted to go find her, but he realized that his arm was still painfully locked in mikasa's grasp.
"mikasa, i need to use the restroom," eren whispered.
"alright," she shortly replied, not releasing his arm.
"i meant alone," eren clarified, nearly rolling his eyes at her persistence. mikasa hesitated, so eren smiled to reassure her. "i'll be okay."
