AN:

Pairing: Eremika

Ft. Eremin Brotp as per usual

This AU prompt was begging to be written, I literally could not stop myself from writing this. Also gonna tag eremikasas because I volunteered as tribute to write this for Eremika and lo and behold!

This is also on tumblr, FYI (transferring it from there to here)

Hope you like :)

The mumbling brunette went rigid under her comforter when the deafening alarm went off.

BWAHHH. BWAHHH. BWAHHH -

"GIVE ME BACK MY POTATO!" Sasha screamed as she bolted upright in bed, the corners of her mouth dotted with drool. Still in a dreamlike trance, she smacked her hands onto her ears and groaned, "God damn, I just want my potato back, stop screeching like a banshee..."

A loud bang finally jarred her awake. "Eh?" Sasha's eyes darted right - a familiar dark-haired girl had slammed the bedroom door open, extending a hand to her roommate.

"Sasha. The fire alarm went off. We have to leave the apartment," Mikasa said brusquely, pulling her friend up and roughly dragging her to the front door. "Hurry up and put on your shoes."

"Ughhh... couldn't the fire have waited till morning?" Sasha moaned but obliged, slipping her feet into leather sandals. "Hey can I grab a loaf of bread before we go - "

"No." Mikasa shoved her out the front door before she could protest.

"Aw, man..."

Mikasa turned and tugged Sasha to the nearest stairwell, and they quickly began descending the steps when Sasha asked drowsily, "Wait, why are we not using the elevator? You seriously need a workout this early in the morning?"

Mikasa gave her a look as they reached the fourth floor. "You're not supposed to use elevators when there's a fire."

They skipped down to the last floor and exited the building, followed by others from their floor as Sasha mused, "Oh yeah..."

Mikasa instantly regretted not bringing a sweater, reflexively crossing her arms from the cold. It was dark out, but even with only a half moon for light, Mikasa's eyes were razor sharp, and she spotted a familiar boy with a buzz cut a bit further down the road and gestured towards him. "Sasha, there's Connie. You can go talk to him if you'd like - "

"Connie!" Sasha cried out, jogging towards her best friend while waving her arms. Connie began to grin as she approached, but his eyes widened in fear when she bared her teeth and shrieked, "YOU BASTARD! YOU STOLE MY POTATO!"

"SASHA WHAT THE HELL - " he didn't get the chance to finish his sentence - she tackled him into the grass. The solid, muscular blonde and tall, lanky boy next to them began clutching their stomachs from laughter. "Reiner! Bertolt! HELP SHE'S GONNA - "

Mikasa chuckled and shook her head, scanning the building for the supposed fire when she spotted a ring of smoke near the front of the complex.

She quickly darted to the scene and saw a couple of other residents, and stood next to the nearest one, who seemed to be about her age.

Mikasa peered up to see the orange flames licking the windows on the sixth floor, staring in awe at the aura of fiery color that surrounded the building. She was close enough to smell the smoke, and she sniffed the air curiously. She hoped whoever lived in that apartment had evacuated in time. It occurred to her for a split second that the burning apartment seemed to be pretty close to her own, but she pushed the ominous thought away.

Meanwhile, an impetuous German boy could not keep his eyes off the mysterious Asian girl who had materialized next to him out of nowhere.

I don't think I've ever seen that girl before. Does she live here? She just wiggled her nose in the cutest way... I wonder who she is. Her black eyes are gorgeous but almost intimidating -

She sensed the smallest of movements to her right and knew the boy standing next to her had fidgeted slightly. Mikasa turned towards him, only to blush profusely when she got a good look at him.

He was a couple of inches taller than her - maybe five eleven - and sported a disheveled but adorable set of chestnut-colored hair.

But what made her blush was his state of undress - all he wore was a pair of loose checkered boxers, along with a red scarf that looked out of place resting on his well-defined but naked chest.

He too was staring at her, with a pair of stunning turquoise eyes, and she wasn't sure if he was blushing too or if the fire had reflected rosiness onto his cheeks.

She was momentarily distracted from the handsome stranger when a brisk wind assaulted her, and she tightly crossed her arms again, wrapping her billowing skirt around her bare legs. He noticed, unsure of what to do or say, and stammered, "Um, hey."

Her dark eyes darted towards him again, and he couldn't help but notice how pretty she was, or tear his eyes away from her soft pink lips as they parted when she replied quietly, "Hello."

It was late October, and the weather had begun to get pretty chilly, especially at night. He ignored the physical irritation of the needles of oncoming winter pricking his bare chest but felt a little self-conscious - what guy wants to introduce himself to a pretty girl while half-naked? She was probably laughing at him in her head right now... he hadn't even worked out very much this week... His thoughts were interrupted as he saw her hug herself even more tightly as another cold wind nipped at them.

Eren knew that she was cold. The question was, what could he do about it? He couldn't very well hug her; he was shirtless. Also, he was a stranger. Hell, he could be a serial killer...

They stood in silence for another moment, and Eren could only admire her - how her expression betrayed no discomfort and how she hadn't complained about the weather at all - he had bothered Armin for five minutes about not grabbing his jacket for him - he knew from just this small window of interaction with her that she was an extremely resilient person.

She shivered involuntarily again, catching his eye for a second before diverting her gaze shyly, pretending to be watching the fire again.

Without thinking, his hands began unraveling the cloth around his neck, and he draped the swathe of red onto her: covering her mouth and encasing her dark hair in a cocoon, finishing with a playful flourish by plopping the end of the scarf onto her face.

Her head swiveled towards him, startled by the sudden kindness. She surprised herself, too, when the corners of her eyes became wet.

A genuine smile spread across her usually stoic face, hidden from him under the red cloth. She tugged it down so he could see, as an expression of gratitude, and when he saw he could feel himself melt. He was again mesmerized by the small parting of her pink lips.

"It's warm."

He grinned sheepishly at her, a little embarrassed by his brazenness, and she couldn't help but fawn over how cute he was. "Yeah, I wore it to bed."

Amused, she tucked her arms into her sleeves and asked, "Why did you only wear a scarf to bed and not a shirt?"

"Ah, well, I hate wearing sweaters to bed, and I set the heater on too high and couldn't sleep with a shirt on, so..."

She giggled a bit, and he felt a small tug in his chest at the sound. Her once guarded face had become more animated - because of me, he realized. "You're ridiculous. If it was too hot, why did you wear the scarf?" she chided.

He pouted a bit, and poked her shoulder, "It's tradition. Besides, if I had done that, you would still be cold, wouldn't you?"

She smiled softly and conceded, "Well, I suppose you're right."

Mikasa looked around to realize that they were the only ones who were still standing; the others had sprawled out on the grass and some were playing cards with a deck someone had decided to bring on a whim. A British boy sporting a blonde bowl cut triumphantly lay down a hand, and everyone groaned, Sasha's being the loudest (when had she gotten here?).

Ready to collect the rocks (which they were using as poker chips) he was stopped with a slap as the hook-nosed girl next to him lay down her hand and swiftly grabbed the entire pile. He wailed as the others laughed at his misfortune, patting Annie on the back for besting him.

The Brit decided to abandon the game for a moment and approached the pair, who were standing, he realized, closer than two strangers normally would.

"Hey, Eren, I can hear the sirens, the firetruck is almost here - oh hey, Mikasa," Armin greeted her as he realized who Eren's companion was.

Eren stared at him incredulously and yelped, "What?! You know her?!"

Mikasa tried to stifle a laugh with her scarf but failed. "Wait - this is Eren?"

Eren whirred towards her, his mouth agape. "What do you mean by that - Armin, how does she know my name? How do you know her?!"

Armin grinned and placed a friendly hand on Mikasa's shoulder. "This is Mikasa! She's the Japanese friend I told you about! She's in some of my classes - oh, and she's the girl Jean has a huge crush on."

Eren made a mental note to beat Jean up later as he turned to Mikasa. "But wait, how do you know my name?"

Mikasa, though she didn't appear as giddy as Armin, was highly amused. "Armin told me about you. His messy, crazy roommate with anger management issues."

"Armin!" Armin shrugged guiltily, but thought to himself, hey, if the shoe fits.

Mikasa took Eren's hand to comfort him, and Eren felt his heart skip a beat. "He also talked about how you were brave, kind, and selfless. Also that you were his best friend."

Eren felt his anger dissolve and gave his friend a toothy grin, and Armin added, "Don't worry Eren; I love you more than I hate you."

Eren threw an arm around his shoulder and chuckled, "The feeling is mutual."

Mikasa seemed to be enjoying this, and the trio was aware of but mostly ignored the firefighters who had arrived and finally begun spraying the building with water. Mikasa looked between the two of them and cracked her knuckles playfully. "Looks like I have some competition."

"Eh?" Armin said, and Eren felt his face heat up.

Armin realized what was going on and smirked, pulling Eren closer to him. "Well, Mikasa, you're going to have to work pretty hard to win Eren's affections. But, he accepts your challenge."

"Armin, what the fu - "

Mikasa laughed, a real, throaty laugh, and Eren's insides turned to mush at what he thought to be the sweetest sound he'd had the pleasure of hearing. "I look forward to getting to know you, Eren," she quipped, and he nodded slowly, still in a lovestruck daze. "But I think I should be getting back to my apartment now. It's late."

Eren fumbled a bit before answering. Armin felt his smirk growing wider, examining the chemistry between the two. Who would've known that quiet, studious Mikasa would be drawn to the chaotic but lovable Eren?

"Ah - okay, Mikasa. See you around," Eren waved her goodbye stiffly, and Armin suppressed a giggle at his best friend's antics.

Mikasa waved back and turned to leave before saying, "Oh no, wait - your scarf."

She began to unwrap it when Eren rushed forward, holding her shoulder and reorienting it on her neck. "Keep it," he said huskily, his hot breath tickling her face. She craned her neck upward to look into his turquoise eyes again and blushed, realizing how close their faces were. Close enough to ki -

Eren staggered backwards and coughed awkwardly, and Armin could barely keep himself from snickering at him. "Ah well, anyway, see you around, Mikasa."

Mikasa nodded, and made her way over to Sasha, who had just thrown her cards up in a flourish of frustration. Sasha was notoriously bad at poker. "Sasha, let's go back to bed. The fire's been put out."

Sasha swatted her friend's hand and replied, "What are you talking about, Mikasa? Our apartment was directly below where the fire started. The firefighter told us to stay with friends for the night until our room gets repaired." Her signature hungry grin spread across her face as she continued, "Connie said I could sleep on the futon. He bought a ham last week, and I'm going to devour it..."

Mikasa had heard enough, and left Sasha to ramble on about how delectable her midnight snack was going to be. Armin had heard the conversation, and approached her. "Mikasa, you can stay with us overnight!"

Eren made a small choking noise, and Mikasa paused. "Really? Would that be all right?"

Armin smiled graciously, taking his friend's sleeve and tugging it towards the building. "Of course. It's almost four and we both have eight AM class tomorrow. Eren's lucky, his first class is at twelve. Let's go!"

Mikasa turned towards Eren and said quietly, "Is it all right with you, Eren?" He liked the way his name rolled off her tongue.

Eren nodded on reflex. "Of course it is, Mikasa," he replied, trying out her name - it was a novel sensation.

"I'm tired as hell, guys," Armin interjected, taking the wrists of both of his friends, "let's go."

Eren felt a little faint as he toyed with the thought of Mikasa staying the night...