Another Story: After Autumn (Attack on Titan AU)

Point of no return

The whistle of a kettle was what woke Isanna from her thoughts.

Flinching, it took her a few moments to remember where she was and what she was doing, and

when it finally clicked, quickly moved to turn the stove off with a soft clack.

A trickling silence followed her motion, so quiet that she thought she'd gone deaf. She leaned against the kitchen counter and craned her neck upward, ruminating while gazing at the ceiling. One quick glance outside the window told her it was already 6 PM, the house lights across the street glowing bright amidst the dark-growing skies and the distant honking of cars penetrating the neighborhood every once in a while.

Isanna opted to bring her attention back and continue preparing dinner. It was a task that served two purpose for her: for dinner (obviously), and a means of distraction from her thoughts. The methodical manner of moving ingredients and mixing them together was an effective way of avoiding addressing the elephant in the room—the elephant being her own thoughts.

As the scent of fresh curry wafted throughout the apartment, Isanna was just thinking of contacting Zeke and asking when he'll come home when she heard keys rattling against the doorknob, answering her question.

She heard the door in the living room creak open. "I'm home."

"Welcome home," Isanna called back without much thought just as she grabbed the casserole pan off the stove and walked over to the dining table. She turned around and headed to the sink, stacking and arranging the used utensils just so that washing them later would be easier.

The sound of gushing water was about the only noise in the kitchens when she heard Zeke's footsteps enter through the doorway, followed by the legs of a chair squeaking.

"Any news about Zacharias?"

Isanna almost dropped the knife, flashes of the said blond—both the real and the dream one, popped to mind. She was quick to recover.

"Not yet." There was clinking of utensils.

"You're visiting him when he wakes up, right?"

"Yeah."

Then it was silent, and not the comfortable kind. At least, not for Isanna.

She stayed her attention on the sink and nibbled her lip, some part of her chest sinking into a deep, deep chasm. She always felt like this whenever indefinite stretches of silence occupied her conversations with Zeke, which started not too long ago. She hoped he didn't notice, but knew Zeke Yeager was always too sharp for his own good.

Her only question was why he never brought it up, nor asked her what was wrong.

She heard the legs of the chair scratching the tiles, footsteps padding across the kitchen floor, and Isanna turned around and was about to ask where he was going when suddenly he was right in front of her.

She didn't even get a chance to say a word when his lips caught hers, pushing her slightly so that her back hit the edge of the sink.

The suddenness slightly threw her disoriented, but upon smelling the alcohol that was clearly radiating off Zeke, Isanna placed both hands on his chest and pulled away.

When she examined his face closely, she noticed the mildly glazed hue in his eyes.

"You drank," she pointed out, frowning. When he didn't answer, she added, "Is work okay?"

Zeke blinked the daze out of his eyes, shaking his head as if there was a thought he wanted to erase.

He then offered her a lopsided smile. "Better than ever."