The Turquoise Cure (Eren X Reader)

Chapter 6: The Ride Begins

As you strode towards the building that Shadis had said was the girls' dormitory, you felt someone grip your hand from behind you. You spun around quickly, but you were merely met with the concerned gaze of those damned turquoise oceans.
"Hey, are you alright?" Eren began, "I had no idea- i mean- i figured- but- i didn't want to freak you out or make you feel uncomfortable- you did what you had to do back at the plantation." He stammered aimlessly, struggling to make eye contact, and you genuinely felt cornered. You weren't sure if this was the time to be brave and resolute, or if this was the time for you to let yourself fall apart and allow someone to advise you. You chose the first.
"Really, it's nothing," you said, your fingers still tingling with the touch of his hands. "Anybody else would have done it, and the scar- it's really not too bad." Talking about your marring made you feel vulnerable, and your once stoic eye contact faltered and cracked. He seemed to notice, because he said, "Look, if it's hard to talk about, which I'm sure it is, you don't have to talk about it- just whenever you're ready, Armin and Mikasa are here for you- not to mention me, of course.
His confidence was short-lived, and his cheeks blushed to a rosy tone that made you suppress a giggle. You offered a smile and said, "I'll see you at dinner, and tell Armin that I'm sorry about how Shadis yelled at him- I'm still pissed about it." Your fists tightened and clenched automatically, but you pushed your anger down and waved as Eren agreed, then turned towards the boys' dormitories.
You were the last to enter the dormitory, but you felt everyone's eyes on you immediately. Girls were claiming their beds and unraveling the clothing that was set for us at the entrance to the dormitory. We were already equipped with our uniforms at initiation, but we also needed clothes for downtime. You shuffled quickly to the last bed available, but thankfully, it was at the back of the dormitory against a wall with Mikasa on your other side.
"I saved it for you," she said in her airy, peaceful tone. You smiled and walked towards her to continue your conversation, but you were discouraged by the piercing blue eyes that stared you down from the other side of the room, more specifically, from the bed opposite to yours.
The blonde girl, around your height, which was quite short, stalked up to you like an animal ready to pounce of its prey. You had never seen eyes so dull and lifeless before. Nothing could compare to the icy conclaves that glittered in her orbits, and it made you feel uncomfortable, but somewhat alive.
"Annie Leonhart," the girl said, rather militaristically, as she huffed out her hand to shake yours. You obliged, and said, "I'm Y/N L/N," but she already seemed to know. "I know," she said, never taking her eyes away from yours, "mad props for taking down Kenny the Ripper, though." At hearing his name, you felt on-edge, and you had to suppress your habits of flicking your eyes across the room to scan for danger. "He's still out there actually, so i really didn't do much," you said. I didn't do much but watch the closest thing I had to family die in front of me and my plantation burn.
"Eh, it's good enough- at least you got a few licks in, but hey, see you later." And just like that, she returned to her bunk, rearranging her clothes in their boxes. You looked to Mikasa for help, but she seemed just as curious as you. As you were striding outside the buildings to reach the dining hall with Mikasa, she confided that before you had come in, that girl, Annie, hadn't said a word to anyone. Not only that, but the other girls had been whispering, surely about you. It didn't matter that much to you, as Mikasa said that it shouldn't, but you were still frustrated with how poorly your first day had been. And to top it all off, your head had started to pound furiously at your temples the moment you had finished speaking to Annie.
The dining hall was quite dark despite for the torches that illuminated the tables, and you could see that the boys had already gotten there. Eren and Armin were in the back at a smaller table, but there was room for you and Mikasa on either side. You sat next to Armin, while Mikasa sidled next to Eren. "So, how were your dorm-mates?" Armin asked inquisitively as he unspread his napkin.
You and Mikasa exchanged a brief glance before saying at the same time, "They were nice." Truth be told, annie was the only person that you had spoken to, and nobody else had approached neither you nor Mikasa, so you two had kept to yourselves. ""Mikasa, Y/N," Eren whined from across the table, "you've gotta try to open up. I know that with what we've all experienced," he paused, "some experiences different from others, it's hard to make friends, but you guys have to try." "Yeah," Armin pitched in, "We already learned the names of our dorm-mates and tried to introduce ourselves before dinner."
Looking around the dining hall, you realized that you and Mikasa were the only girls not socializing with any new people. The potato girl was absent, as per her punishment for potato stealing, but another short, blonde girl was seated next to a tall, freckled girl, and there were several others flocked together throughout the room. Annie, However, was deserted in the middle of everything, with no one to her left or right.
Mustering yo your friendliness, you stood up from the table and began to push your seat out. "Y/N," Eren asked, "Where are you going?" "Silly, I'm going to make friends," you smirked as you strode towards the middle of the hall. You didn't want to disturb her, because she looked so peaceful, but the idea had already abided in your mind, and you had to fulfill it now. "Hey," you began, watching intently as she turned around, fixing her eyes into yours again. "I noticed that you were alone, and I wondeeed if you'd want to sit with me and some of my frie-," you caught yourself. Do I really have friends? "Companions," you finished.
You watched as the idea settled over her narrow, pale face, and saw her chew it up with her chapped, thin lips. She pondered for a moment before saying, "Maybe another time; I'm not much of a group kind of person." You paused, then continued, "Well, if you ever want to join us, we can scrounge up some room." "Thanks," the girl said dryly. Damn. I wonder if she hates me or is intrigued by me. Neither would surprise me, but I wish that I knew which it was so that I could stop looking like a fumbling idiot.
Back at the table, your attempts were laughed at by Eren and Armin. "Why do you have to pick friends who are so scary?" Eren chortled between his hysteric laughter. "I don't know," you started, wondering yourself, "I guess I like to have friends that I don't have to worry about." The conversation ended more abruptly than you had intended. Just like that, you had killed the mood, darkened the room, and made everyone around you uncomfortable. "So, that wild ass potato girl," Mikasa began, saving your table.
Before dinner was over, there was a conflict. Eren nearly clashed with a tall, horse-faced brunet who reminded you quite eerily of a cart mule. The mike boy had dissed the survey corps when Eren had been enchanting a group of recruits about his encounters with the titans. He became choked up, and you had almost grabbed his hand when he regained composure and continued his speech. The mule boy, named Jean, got a kick out of Eren's dreams, which were a vast juxtaposition from his own. He was the one who had been head-butted at initiation for his wishes of joining the miniature police to keep himself alive and pampered. Thankfully, the two had resolved their argument with the ring of the return bell, and all was well as you began to depart for your respective dormitories. Mikasa scolded Eren for his behavior, and he seemed to consider her before returning to his thoughts. After telling her that she should cut her hair, he turned to you flicked your now-loosening braids off of your shoulders. You giggled and asked, "Maybe I'll cut mine too?" Immediately, his fluster was noticeable, and he squeaked, "Uh- no- no- not at all- you don't have to cut your hair if you don't want to; i was just messing around. I'm really sorry!" You laughed at Mikasa chuckled as he rambled on. You punched him playfully in the arm (which he seemed rather pained by) and wished him a good night. As the distance between you and Mikasa and Eren increased, she crooned, "that brat has such a crush on you," you blushed, now fiddling with your fingernails as you always did when you were nervous. The headache that had thronged at you at dinner now began to ebb away.
That night, a girl named Krista had asked all of the girls in the dorm, very politely in fact, to please all sit in a circle and say their names and where they were from. You seated yourself next to Mikasa when you felt a presence like a ghost drop next to you. When you turned, Annie was to your right. You smiled in reassurance, but she merely quirked up the side of her lip in exchange. I'll take that as a "We're friends now."
You listened intently to each girl as they rambled on about their names, their families, their hometowns, and what led them to become soldiers. Even the potato girl was back, but she swayed so dizzily that it made you nauseous. It felt as though you had only been listening for a few moments when Mikasa had finished her brief and curt explanation, leaving only you and Annie remaining in the circle. All of the eyes of all sorts of colors gazed at you, imploring into your very soul, practically begging to hear details about what happened at the plantation.
"Uh-," you fumbled. Fuck. Collecting yourself, you looked down and said, "I'm Y/N L/N, and i'm from Shiganshina District." If the attention could have been any more divided into you, it was. "As I'm sure you all know, I was the lone survivor of plantation 9, which was raided and burned to the ground by Kenny the Ripper and his goons. I fought them as best as I could, but I lost way more than I would have ever imagined. I'm here to do something useful with my life. If I can kill titans to make up for my sins, then I'll kill as many as there are walking to atone." The room was quiet for several seconds while your introduction was processed. Then, a sharp voice made you nearly flinch at its precision and naturalness. "So you've killed people." You almost didn't recognize the voice at first, but when you turned, you saw that it came from Annie. "Annie!" Krista jumped up, clearly frustrated. This was supposed to be a close gathering to meet and respect each othe-," but she was cut off. "I wasn't being disrespectful," Annie matter-of-factly stated. "I was making a clarification. I just wanted to know what kind of baggage I'd have to deal with for my first friend at this shit show." Funnily enough, you almost took it as a compliment. "Thanks," you murmured through twitching lips. You almost didn't even hear Annie's introduction; your mind was so far away that you felt that it could be leaping over the moon and you wouldn't notice. That headache had returned, throbbing worse than ever. Just what I need: to get sick before the second day.
Climbing into your bunk that night had never been a more troublesome task. You massages your temples with your left hand as you climbed up, where you would lie under the blankets for several hours, tossing and turning, trying to ease your anxieties. They already feel afraid of me here. If you weren't so afraid of yourself, you would've been upset, but instead, you understood.

Author's Note
I'm really sorry if the progression of this story is slow. I'm just trying to cover everything that I can to make the character feel real and establish relationships with other characters. I know that it's a really slow buildup to even most of season 1, but i'm really trying to make this a good, detailed story. Once again, I'm so sorry, and I understand if you don't want to read my blathering soliloquies. Happy New Years, and have a great 2020!