Mikasa x Annie; romantic; very slight angst; kissing
Annie heard footsteps approaching and looked up.
“Ackerman.”
She wasn’t surprised to see her. Not after she’d seen Annie beat up her precious little friend earlier that day. She’d figured that Mikasa would come to restate her claim on Jaeger or some shit like that.
Annie returned her attention to the straps on her 3D maneuver gear. “I’m not going to mess with your lover boy, if that’s what you’re worried about. But I’m not going to apologize, either.” Her gaze flicked up to meet Mikasa’s for a second. “He was asking for it.”
Mikasa stood in the doorway, fingering the material of her scarf. If Annie recalled correctly, it had been a gift from Jaeger or something. She always had it on, Annie noted with some annoyance.
“I know,” Mikasa said slowly. “He’s my family. I know how…frustrating he can be.”
Annie looked up in surprise before hurriedly lowering her gaze once more. She hadn’t expected her to be understanding about it. “R-right.”
Mikasa took a few tentative steps into the room. “Leonhardt,” she said. Annie didn’t respond; it had seemed more like Mikasa was weighing the name on her tongue rather than actually addressing her. “Annie,” she said after a moment’s hesitation.
Annie felt her pulse speed up ever-so-slightly, but she continued working on the broken buckle of her gear as though nothing had happened. “What is it?”
Mikasa’s gaze was pointed at the ground as she spoke. “I don’t think you’re a bad person.”
Annie swallowed the lump that had suddenly appeared in her throat. “Did you used to think I was a bad person?”
“No.” Mikasa’s fingers tightened around her scarf. “But it seemed like you thought you were.” Her voice lowered. “And like you still think you are.”
“Oh, so you think you know me? Is that it?” Annie’s throat was constricting. She wasn’t even fixing the buckle anymore. Her fingers were pointlessly running over the same parts over and over again. “Ackerman, if you came here to preach to me about friendship and loving yourself and what being a good soldier is all about—”
“That’s not why I’m here,” Mikasa cut her off sharply.
“Then why are you here?” Annie questioned, finally meeting Mikasa’s eyes. “If you’re not here to warn me away from your boyfriend and you’re not here to preach to me, then why are you here?”
Mikasa stared her down, not saying anything for a while.
“I don’t know.”
Annie exhaled through her nose and resumed fruitlessly fiddling with the straps of her gear. It felt like she’d been trying to fix it for an eternity now.
“Do you want some help?”
Annie didn’t look up.
“Can you fix it?”
Mikasa walked forward, eyes on Annie.
“I can try.”
Annie stood and propped her leg up on the bench she’d just been sitting on, giving Mikasa full access to the broken piece.
Mikasa’s fingers brushed lightly against Annie’s leg as she inspected the broken buckle. She bent to get a closer look and Annie could feel the ends of her hair tickling her inner thigh.
“Sit down,” Mikasa said. It wasn’t harsh or demanding; just a simple request. Annie complied, sitting herself back down on the bench. Her stomach flipped over when Mikasa knelt between her legs. “I think I see the problem,” Mikasa said.
Annie made a noise of acknowledgment. Her attention was mainly on Mikasa’s fingers. They were so quick as she worked at the straps, but she didn’t handle her roughly at all.
She loosened the strap and unhooked the buckle before readjusting it. It clicked into place.
“There.”
Annie examined the buckle. “You fixed it.”
Mikasa nodded and looked up to meet her gaze. Annie wasn’t sure if she should look away. She didn’t want to.
They stayed like that for a few moments. Then, for some reason, Annie’s hand moved up and pulled the red scarf down to uncover Mikasa’s face.
“You look better without it,” she justified. A slight smile pulled at Mikasa’s lips.
“Thank you. You look better without that scowl you always wear.”
Annie frowned, but couldn’t get sufficiently angry. Mikasa was too close for her to function properly.
It was as though Mikasa knew she was unnerving Annie, because her demeanor got more assertive. She straightened so that even though she was on her knees, she was at Annie’s eye level. She placed her hands on either side of Annie’s legs and leaned forward until Annie could feel her breath on her face. And she remained there, waiting in that little moment before lips meet.
Then Annie placed her hands on Mikasa’s cheeks and pulled her that last inch, pressing a soft kiss to her lips. She felt Mikasa’s tongue trace her lips and she parted them for her. Annie slid to the edge of the bench. She felt a slight whimper in her throat as Mikasa pushed forward as well, her hands wrapping around Annie’s waist and hugging her tightly against her own body.
Annie pulled her lips away from Mikasa’s and tried to catch her breath. A thread of saliva still connected their lips and she quickly wiped it away, embarrassed.
“Annie,” Mikasa said, still a little breathless.
Annie licked her lips. “Yeah?”
“I…I don’t want you to be alone anymore.” She found Annie’s hand and intertwined their fingers. “I wasn’t lying before when I said that you always look as though you think of yourself as a bad person.” Her fingers tightened around hers. “I don’t want you to look like that anymore.”
Annie’s jaw clenched. “Don’t try to play the saint, Mikasa—”
“I’m not,” Mikasa said. “I’m telling you that…that I care about you. And…I want to be there for you. Always.”
Annie’s throat felt tight. Although she knew Mikasa would never be able to accept the truth behind why she felt like the bad guy, why she’d never be able to be a hero like the rest of the soldiers, she wanted to believe what she said. She really really wanted to.
So she squeezed her fingers and whispered, “Okay.”
Mikasa smiled and kissed her again.
“You can always rely on me, Annie. Always.”
