A/N: Written for the snkartists big bang challenge on tumblr. Where a writer and artist get paired up and collaborate.

You can see the art to go with this fic here: artist- - in- -training/ image/131006687636 (just remove the spaces. it's so adorable. Please go and check out her art, she worked hard)

In this the cartoon they end up watching is Steven Universe. (I have a headcanon where Mikasa likes SU and Adventure Time) So there are slight SU spoilers in this.

Flu Season

The rain pelted against Mikasa's skin as she walked up the pathway to her front door. The bright blue raincoat she was wearing did little to keep the rain off, she was already drenched to the skin. Her hair had plastered itself, sopping wet, against her forehead and neck, while her socks squelched under her feet, unable to hold any more water.

"Of all the days, why do I pick today to forget my umbrella at home?" she grumbled, cold fingers fumbling in her handbag for her keys. Grumbling to herself when she didn't find them fast enough.

"Oh, come on!"

Some fumbling and searching around in her bag later, she pulled out her house keys and slipped the correct one into the lock, turning it. She pushed the door open and stepped inside, letting out a small sigh of relief. Warmth. Dryness. Finally.

Her hand pushed the door shut behind her, shutting and locking out the cold and rainy day. She pushed her sopping wet hair off her face and let her eyes wander down to the corner where her brightly patterned umbrella rested against the wall. Right by the door. She'd put it there so she'd remember to take it with her this morning when she left for the vet school. She frowned at it. If only she'd remembered to pick it up she wouldn't have had to walk all the way home from the college in the pouring rain.

Oh well, she sighed. It can't be helped now.

She slipped off her soaking raincoat and hung it on one of the pegs by the front door. She also took off her black work shoes and set them on the wooden shoe rack opposite the door. After two steps into the house proper, her socks still squelching every time she took a step, Mikasa finally peeled off her socks. She smiled and wiggled her toes when her bare feet touched the carpet. If there was anything she hated, it was having to walk with wet socks, with the cold water squishing under the toes in its unpleasant way. She was glad to be free of those awful wet and cold socks.

She balled them into her hand and walked through into the living room. "Hey everybody." she called out. "I'm home."

Her mother, Carla, answered her from the kitchen. "Oh! Mikasa! You're back late. I was starting to worry where you were. I was about to send Eren to the school to look for you."

Mikasa smiled and shook her head as she walked through to the kitchen. Her mother was making dinner, standing by the stove stirring a large saucepan of some stew.

"You mean the college, mum." she said gently. "I don't go to the school anymore."

Carla turned to Mikasa and smiled. "Oh, yes. Sorry. I meant the vet college." she said playfully. "I guess I'm still getting used to you going to college instead of school."

"It's been a year already, mother." Mikasa laughed gently. "You think you'd be used to it by now."

"Oh hush you." Carla gently chided. "You'll understand when you have children. You'll have a hard time adjusting to them not being little kids anymore, too."

Mikasa nodded, not entirely convinced. "Uh-huh. Sure I will."

"You wait and see." Carla added, continuing to stir the stew she was making. "Now go on, get upstairs and go dry off. You're dripping all over the floor. Get a hot shower and change out of those wet clothes. Dinner will be ready soon."

"Mm." Mikasa nodded. "Okay. What are we having, anyway?"

"Beef stew." Carla smiled. "I just need to add the dumplings. Now go on, go shower. I'll make sure Eren doesn't eat it all."

Mikasa smirked. "That'll be a task in itself." she joked. "He eats everything."

Once Mikasa had showered and changed, the three of them sat down at the table to have some of the stew for dinner. Eren was there first, sniffing the large pan of stew in the middle of the table, set on a wooden chopping board to protect the wood.

"It smells so good!" he exclaimed, ladling some into his bowl just as Carla came in with a plate of bread rolls.

"You just save some for the rest of us, Eren."she warned.

Eren nodded. "Yeah, yeah. I will."

"You better." Carla countered.

Mikasa just sat quietly, picking up a bread roll from the plate, taking a bite out of it as she waited her turn to serve herself some of the stew. After a few mouthfuls of bread, she could feel a tickling in her nose. She tried to ignore it, but it was persistent. Eventually it led to her letting out a rather large sneeze. Fortunately she'd covered her mouth in time, so the spray was contained in her palm.

"Ugh." she wrinkled her nose at the spittle on her hand as she wiped it clean with her napkin. "Excuse me."

"Oh dear." Carla commented. "Mikasa, are you sick?"

"No." Mikasa shook her head. "I'm fine. I must still feel a little cold from earlier."

Carla studied Mikasa's clothes, not quite believing her story about being cold. Mikasa had on a pair of jeans, her fluffy white boot slippers, a long sleeved top and a very warm looking short sleeved knitted jumper on. A navy blue and white striped one Carla had made for her last year as a christmas present.

"Mother, I'm fine, really." Mikasa protested. Although she then ruined her own argument by sneezing again.

"I think you're coming down with something." Carla said, walking over and handing her the box of tissues from the kitchen. Eren just smiled at her.

"Hey, that's what you get when you leave your umbrella at home and have to walk backin the rain." he teased.

"Eren, be quiet." Carla shushed him. "Eat some hot dinner, Mikasa, maybe you'll feel better when you have something warm inside you."

Mikasa nodded and helped herself to a big bowlful of the stew. Eren was right, it certainly did smell good. But better than that, it was full of healthy vegetables; leek, carrot, potatoes, swede. And soft, tender beef chunks from the local butcher. The whole thing seasoned with the parsley from Carla's own little kitchen herb garden she and eren had brought her for mother's day earlier in the year.

"This is delicious." Mikasa told Carla, who smiled warmly at the compliment.

"Thankyou, Mikasa. I finally got that new recipe book I was waiting for and I wanted to try something a little different."

"Well it was certainly a success." Mikasa replied. "If the speed Eren is eating it is anything to go by."

She looked over to Eren, who was speedily shovelling the hot stew into his mouth with a spoon. He stopped suddenly when he noticed the others were watching him.

"What?" he said, "It's good."

"I don't doubt it." Mikasa said, delicately lifting a spoonful to her mouth and taking a careful bite. "I was just telling mother that she can tell it's a good meal because you're eating it so quickly."

Eren scowled at her across the table. "Hey. I'm a growing boy, I need all the nutrition I can get." he said, finishing his bowlfuland helping himself to seconds.

"If you say so." Mikasa answered.

"What does that mean?" Eren scowled. Fortunately Carla stopped the fight before it could start.

"Stop it you two." she scolded. "Just eat your dinner."

The two of them fell silent and they all ate their stew in relative peace. Once the table was cleared and Eren lost the rock paper scissors game with Mikasa to decide who would do the dishes, Mikasa headed up to her room to get a start on her homework for the week. She sat down at the little desk and took out her notebook. She'd been scribbling a little while, making notes for a report, when she sneezed again, spraying her notebook pages.

"Oh, that's gross." she muttered, pulling a tissue from the box she kept on her desk to wipe the pages. "Why do I keep sneezing everywhere?" She asked, growing annoyed now. She liked to keep things clean. Especially her notebooks.

She wiped her nose and face with another tissue and then threw them in the bin under her desk by her feet.

Maybe I caught something on the bus or somewhere. It is that time of year...

She set her pen down on the desk and got up, thinking some hot tea might drive the chill from her body. And even if it didn't, a hot cup of tea always made her feel better.

Maybe I should leave the homework til tomorrow. I still have a few weeks to work on the report. I'll just sit in bed with some tea and read that John Green book I got from the library last week.

She made her way to the kitchen and turned the kettle on. Picking out her favourite mug from the cupboard, she set it on the side and put the teabag in. Waiting for the water to boil.

"Mikasa?"

She turned to find Eren in the doorway. "Hi Eren. Did you want something?"

"I just wanted to see how you were feeling." He said. "Mum's worried about you."

Mikasa blinked. "Oh."

"Are you making tea?"

"Yeah. Then I think I'll go to bed. I don't feel too great."

"Well, let me do that for you." Eren said, "Get an early night. I'll bring your tea up for you."

She smiled at him." Thanks, Eren."

"Hey, no problem."

Mikasa made her way back up to her room, only to find her black and white cat, Hambo, laying sprawled out across her bed.

"Hambo!" she called out sweetly, "What are you doing on my bed? Huh?"

Hambo lifted his head to look at her as she walked over to sit on the bed . Her hand stroking Hambo's head slowly.

"You wanna sit up here with me, buddy?" she asked, listening to Hambo purring. "Alright then. Scooch over so I can get into bed."

Hambo meowed at her in response, and Mikasa quickly changed into her pyjamas before settling into bed with Hambo. Eren brought up her mug of tea a short time later, and the three of them sat together in bed watching a film until Mikasa fell asleep on Eren's shoulder.

The loud beeping of her alarm clock on the bedside table woke her with a start. She was alone in her bed, Eren had left once she was asleep. She groaned as she rolled over in bed and reached over to silence the beeping alarm. Once quiet permeated the room again, she could feel a throbbing in her ears, which made her feel dizzy when she tried to sit up. Her throat was also scratchy and sore, and swallowing the saliva in her mouth was painful. And even though she'd gone to bed quite early, she felt exhausted, her limbs heavy and tired. She slowly lifted her hand to her face, taking deep breaths. There was no question about it. She wasn't well enough to go to work at the practice today.

I've definitely caught something. She thought. Probably the flu. Better give Erwin a call and tell him I'm not coming in today.

She picked up her mobile phone from the bedside table and scrolled through her contacts until she found the number for Erwin's office. Since he was the manager of the veterinary practice it was only fair to let him know if she couldn't go to work so he could organise things accordingly. Dialing the number, she held the phone to her ear and waited for him to answer. After a while with no answer, the call went to answerphone. Miksasa left him a quick message telling him she wasn't well and wouldn't be going to work today, and then lay back down again, hoping her earache and headache would go away sooner rather than later.

She'd only just closed her eyes when Eren's loud knocking on her bedroom door jolted her.

"Mikasa!" he called from the other side of the door, "Are you awake?"

Mikasa groaned, his shouting was doing nothing for her pounding head.

"Yes, Eren." she called back. Her voice was harsh and scratchy, like there was a frog in her throat.

"Well it's eight o clock." he told her. "You need to get up to go to your placement at the vets."

"I'm not going in today." she answered, though her sore throat didn't allow for a very high volume.

"What?" Eren asked, "I can't hear you."

Mikasa frowned and dragged herself out of bed. She walked slowly over to the door, still in her pyjamas, and opened it before answering Eren.

"I' not going today." she told him. "I don't feel well."

Eren looked at her with concern. "Yeah, I can see. You look terrible."

Mikasa thumped his arm for that comment.

"Ow! Jeez! I meant that you don't look well!" he exclaimed, scowling at her and rubbing his arm where she'd thumped him.

"It's strange though." he mused, "You don't usually get sick..." he frowned and placed the back of his hand on her forehead. "You've got a fever." he stated. "Did you call work and tell them you aren't going in?"

She nodded. "Yes. I left Erwin a message."

"Good." he nodded. "Well mum's already left for work, so I'll stay home and look after you."

Now it was her turn to frown. "Eren no." she said, her voice stern, even though it was hoarse and scratchy. "You aren't skipping college. You will fail your classes."

"I only have one lecture today." Eren protested. "So I won't be missing much. Besides, Armin can fill me in on what I miss."

Mikasa folded her arms, determined that Eren go to class. "No. I don't care if I'm sick. You are going to school."

Eren sighed. There was no arguing with her. "Fine. But you better stay in bed and rest while I'm gone. I'll come back and check on you when I get back at eleven."

"Good." Mikasa nodded. Satisfied. "Don't worry, I will still be here when you get back."

"alright." Eren said. Picking up his rucksack from the floor on the landing at the top of the stairs. "Get some sleep. I'll see you after my class."

"Bye Eren." she answered, watching him walk down the stairs and out the front door. He would only be a couple of hours, so she decided to climb back into bed and catch up on her sleep. She walked back into her room and settled back into bed again. She crawled back under the duvet, relishing the warmth and comfort of her bed. Her joints were aching from her walk back in the rain yesterday, and it felt good to relax them in the warmth and take the weight off her feet. She sighed and lay her head back down on her pillows again, burying herself under the duvet, feeling all snug and warm. It would be a perfect day if she weren't so tired and achy and full of cold.

She closed her eyes and tried to drift off to sleep again. Her eyes were only shut for a measly five minutes when she felt something heavy land on her. She lifted her head up to see what it was and found Hambo staring at her.

"Ugh, Hambo." She mumbled. "I'm trying to sleep, go chase the birds in the garden or something."

Hambo just meowed at her in protest. So she sighed and sat up. She lifted the cat up into her arms and set him down beside her. She lay back down next to him.

"There." she said. "Lay down there if you want to be next to me. Now let me sleep."

Hambo quietly did as he was told and lay down, curling up beside her. He let his head rest on her forearm, with his head poking out from under the duvet. He sighed softly and very soon both he and Mikasa drifted off to sleep.

When she woke up again, it was coming to eleven o clock, around the time Eren was due back home after his lecture at the college. She sat up and blew her nose with a fresh tissue and looked up at the clock, thinking about getting up and doing something. She couldn't spend the entire day in bed, after all. She needed to get up, get dressed, wash her face and brush her teeth. She got up and made her way to the bathroom, gave her face a quick wash and brushed her teeth. She then went back to her room to change, although the shivering of her body and the cold made her reconsider putting clothes on. So instead she changed into a fresh pair of pyjamas and climbed back into bed, into the warmth of her duvet.

She heard the front door opening and Eren entering the house shortly after. She listened to his loud footsteps coming up the stairs.

"Mikasa."he called, knocking on her door.

"Come in, Eren." she answered, sitting up just as he came into the room carrying a shopping bag.

"Hey." he greeted her, "How are you feeling?"

"Better." she answered. "Though I'm all stuffed up and my throat's really sore."

"That's not better!" Eren exclaimed.

"Hey Eren," she asked, "Can you put the heater on? I'm really cold."

Eren frowned in concern, "The heater's on max." he told her. He sat by her on the bed and felt her forehead with his hand, "You feel really warm."

"But I feel really cold." she protested.

"It must be because you're sick." he told her. "You stay here while I go get you a blanket."

Eren disappeared as quickly as he'd arrived, leaving Mikasa alone with his shopping. Hambo jumped down off the bed and followed Eren.

Jeez, what new video game did Eren buy this time? She wondered. I don't think he will mind if I take a look at it.

She reached down and picked the bag up by the handles, curious to know what it was he'd brought. Eren was always buying new video games to try, some were even multiplayer ones they played together. She looked inside the bag, expecting to see a game, but instead to her surprise she found what appeared to be groceries.

Hm. That's odd. Eren doesn't normally buy groceries... usually I do that.

Eren returned with a large thick throw blanket in his arms. Followed closely by her cat Hambo.

"Oh." Eren said, seeing Mikasa with the shopping bag in her lap. "I hope you don't mind, but I got you a few things on my way home."

"You did?" Mikasa asked. Now she was curious.

Eren lifted the bag up and set it on the floor so he could shake out the blanket and lay it over Mikasa, wrapping it around her shoulders. She gratefully pulled the blanket around her while Eren sat on the bed beside her and pulled out the things he'd brought from the shopping bag.

"I got you some cold medicine, pain killers, some tea – I got you chamomile and peppermint, I know you like those – a hot water bottle, a copy of that Steven Universe cartoon on DVD you like so much... and in case you feel better, I got you a new Adventure Time comic book."

Mikasa was stunned. She took the book gently from Eren's hands, incredulous.

"You got all this for me?" she asked.

"Well, yeah." he answered. "I knew you weren't feeling well, and I wanted to help you feel better." he reached up and stroked her head. "How's your headache? Is it any better?"

Mikasa shook her head. "Not really. It feels like someone crashed a pair of cymbals together against my head. Like in those warner brothers cartoons."

Eren stood up. "Don't worry, I'll go get you a glass of water so you can take some painkillers."

He turned to leave the room, unwittingly stumbling and tripping over Hambo. Eren grumbled as he regained his balance.

"You stupid cat!" Eren scolded. He bent down and picked up the creature, holding him at arms length. "I've told you about getting under peoples feet Hambo!"

He put the cat down on Mikasa's bed again. "Here. You look after Mikasa." he ordered, then left to get a glass of water so Mikasa could take her pain meds. Mikasa sighed softly, stroking Hambo's head.

"Are you being a pain again and annoying Eren?"she asked. Hambo just purred at her affection, making her smile softly. "I thought so."

Eren returned a few moments later, carrying a large glass of water. "Here." he said, handing it to her. "Take the medicine with this. Let me know if you want more, you need to drink a lot of fluids to keep hydrated."

"Thanks."

She took the pills out of the box and took two, swallowing them with the water.

"Did you eat anything today?" Eren asked her.

"No. I've just been asleep."

Eren nodded. "Okay. I'll go and fix you something."

Mikasa frowned again. "Eren, I can make it myself."

"No." Eren argued. "You're sick. You need to rest."

Mikasa sighed, too tired to argue. "Alright, fine. I'll stay and rest."

"Good." Eren said, and left for the kitchen again. Mikasa set the box of medicine on her bedside table, along with the book Eren had brought her. She couldn't help but smile at his thoughtfulness.

Maybe I can do something nice for him when I feel better. She thought. Maybe we can go and see a film or something. That would be nice.

Her eyes turned towards the Steven Universe DVD. Her favourite cartoon. Eren really was thoughtful.

Maybe we can watch this together. I know Eren doesn't really watch cartoons anymore, but still... it could be fun to watch together.

She opened the DVD box and got up, walking over to her desk on the other side of the room and picked up her laptop. She turned it on and put the disk in, grateful she'd got a model with a built-in DVD player. Climbing back into bed, she propped herself up on her pillows and set the laptop on the bed, so she could eat and watch at the same time. Eren came in a moment later, carrying a tray with a bowl of soup and some bread on it. Along with a mug of boiling water for her tea.

"Thankyou, Eren." she said, as he set the tray down on her lap. She steadied it with her hands. The soup was chicken and sweetcorn, and the hot water was ready for her to put a teabag of one of her new teas in it.

"It's alright." Eren replied. "Now which tea do you want?" he said, holding up the new boxes of tea he'd brought her. "Peppermint or chamomile?"

"Peppermint, please." She answered. Eren opened the box of peppermint teabags and put it in the mug of water.

"Thanks Eren." she said again. "For the soup and stuff."

Eren looked at her quizzically. "Mikasa, it's really no problem."

"I know that." she answered. "But you didn't have to go out of your way to get this stuff for me. Or make me soup and tea."

Eren sighed quietly as he sat back down on the bed next to her. "Well, duh. Obviously I didn't have to." he said,folding his arms. "I just wanted to look after you for once. Since you're always looking out for me." his eyes were gentle as he looked at her. "I wanted to make sure you were okay, that you had everything you needed to feel better."

She smiled warmly at him for a moment, until her nose tickled again and she had to sneeze into her hands again. She wrinkled her nose in disgust.

"Eugh. Gross."

Eren shook his head and handed her a clean tissue. She took it off him and wiped her hands. She gave her nose a good blow too, to unblock it, and then scrunched up the snotty tissue.

"So gross." she grumbled. Eren just chuckled at her reaction. She glared up at him, annoyed. Why was he laughing at her? She was sick. She couldn't help it if she had a runny nose and kept sneezing everywhere.

"What's so funny?" she snapped, her voice nasal and rough.

"Nothing." Ere answered. "It's just kinda cute how you grumble to yourself when you sneeze everywhere."

Mikasa blushed a light pink. Although Eren had the good grace to ignore it.

"Now hurry up and eat your soup before it goes cold." he told her. She glanced down at the soup and willed the pink flush away from her face as she ate.

"This is delicious, Eren." she complimented, taking another spoonful. Anything to distract from her flushed pink cheeks.

"Thanks." he replied. "I added some soy sauce as well, to give it a kick."

Mikasa smiled and took another mouthful. "Oh, Eren,I wanted to ask you something." she said. "I know you don't really watch cartoons, but... do you want to watch this with me?"

Eren smiled. "Sure." he replied.

"Great!" she beamed. "Climb into bed with me and we'll watch!"

Eren did as he was told, but carefully, making sure no soup left the bowl. He sat beside her with his back propped up on the pillow. He clicked the play button on the media player, and the two of them settled down to watch the antics of Steven Universe. Eren thought it was a silly kids show, but Mikasa liked it, so he settled down to watch with her.

Mikasa quietly finished the rest of her soup while the episode played. The Crystal Gems singing their theme song. She glanced across at Eren's face. If he thought it was cheesy, he kept it to himself. She did wonder what he would think of this show, with it's kooky characters and the lovable Steven, who reminded her so much of Eren as a child. What would he think of Lapis and Peridot? She waited eagerly to find out, knowing Eren wouldn't be able to help making a commentary on it.

"They keep saying Crystal Gems a lot." Eren stated. "What are crystal gems?"

"Polymorphic sentient space rocks named after different gemstones who save the earth from troubles." Mikasa told him. "And look after steven."

"Oh." Eren said, pausing a moment. "So basically they are all Steven's superhero moms."

"In a way, yes. They're his mom squad."

"Well the bird mom sure squawks a lot." Eren commented.

"Oh, Pearl?" Mikasa asked. Surprised at how Eren was using a fandom term to describe the gem. "Yes, she does a bit. But she means well."

A few episodes later Eren slowly became engrossed in the show.

"Wait!" he exclaimed, "so the square mom is actually two little moms?!"

"Yes."

"How?!"

"It's called fusion." Mikasa replied. "They explained this already. Just watch the rest of it."

Mikasa set her empty soup bowl and the tray down on the floor by the bed and settled down more comfortably beside Eren. Findinghis shoulder more comfortable than the pillows behind her.

"Jeez the little red mom is angry." Eren said, muttering his thoughts out loud.

Mikasa smirked. "I know. She reminds me a lot of you."

Eren snorted. "Oh, ha ha. Very funny Mikasa." he sassed. "Just shush and drink your tea."

Mikasa just smiled to herself and continued to watch. As time passed, her eyelids grew heavier and heavier, her head resting comfortably on Eren's shoulder as she drifted off to sleep. She was glad she got to spend some time with Eren today. Even if she was sick. Her last thought before she fell asleep was that she hoped Eren wouldn't catch whatever bug she had as she fully relaxed against him, her breathing slow as she closed her eyes.

Eren kept his eyes on the laptop screen, unaware she had fallen asleep. "Oh my gosh the green dorito one is so tiny!" he laughed quietly. "Hey Mikasa, this show is so funn-"

He looked over at her and cut himself short when he saw she was fast asleep. He smiled at her gently, stroking her hair. He would probably catch her illness from such close contact, but he didn't care.

"Couldn't stay awake, huh?" he asked quietly. "don't worry, we can watch the rest later."

He stopped the video and shut down her laptop, setting it under her bed on the floor so she could sleep. Then he gently extricated himself from the bed, holding onto her and gently lowering her down so she lay flat with her head on the pillow.

"Get some rest, Mikasa." he told her, pulling the duvet up over her, tucking her in. Something he hadn't done for her since she was five. "I'll be here if you need me."

"Thanks Eren." she murmured. Not quite yet asleep.

Eren smiled at her, warmth spreading through his chest. "Hey, no problem. Now go to sleep. I'll wake you up with some more medicine later."

"Okay." she replied, "Goodnight, Eren."

"Goodnight, Mikasa."