A Loving Remedy

One-Shot

Eren/Annie

It was a training accident. The bulwark went through Eren's hand. He cracked down on his jaw to keep from whimpering. Eren sat, legs curled in the grass. The other recruits would be way ahead of him by now. The skin on his palm had discolored around the spur. Even if the instructors were nearby Eren wouldn't have called for them. He unbuckled the gear on his left leg. Eren gritted his teeth, his steady gaze didn't falter from his hand. He pushed the gear closer to his side so he wouldn't accidentally yank it.

The forest didn't make a sound. It was totally quiet but for some reason, Eren turned his head. He felt someone behind him. He dreaded Mikasa finding out because she would mother him or Armin seeing how spectacularly Eren messed up. It wasn't either of them.

Annie stood from afar. She stared at him for a few moments before she finally approached him. Annie trained alone so nobody else was with her. Her flat gaze traveled up and down him. "What did you do to yourself?" She asked and crouched beside Eren. Her hand hovered over Eren's wound.

His fingers twitched.

Eren felt sweat bead on his forehead but he smiled. "Nothing. Just a stupid accident. It looks worse than it is." He said. Eren tried to keep his outstretched palm from shaking. He kept sneaking glances at Annie. At her exposed neck, her hair pinned up. It was rare to see her close up and so focused.

"It's going to have to come out." Without looking away, Annie pushed her bangs out of her eyes. "For someone so full of himself, you seem to get into these situations a lot."

She guided Eren's hand up ever so slightly to view the damage on the other side. All the pain nerves fired off at once. Eren inhaled sharply through his teeth.

"Want me to get someone?" Annie asked. She sounded almost concerned.

Eren blinked. He shook his head. "No. Do you think you could help me? Or else I can pull it out on my own." He said. Eren's expression hardened with the effort to stay in control. He wanted to scream or pass out, maybe both.

Annie shifted back on her heels. Her gaze didn't stray from Eren's hand. For a second he thought she would refuse. "It's going to hurt." Annie said. Her voice came steady but the undertone was wary. Eren knew it wasn't in Annie's nature to coddle. He grimaced that it was bad enough for her to warn him about the pain.

"Okay." Eren said. He didn't think he could pull the wire out himself. It was getting hard for him to focus. "Thanks." The rocky terrain went on for a quarter mile. Eren hadn't crossed paths with anyone else for a while. He supposed it was practically a miracle that Annie stumbled upon him in the woods.

A clammy pressure against his temple. Eren blinked out of his daze. Annie touched his forehead, her mouth a stern line. His automatic breathing turned to manual. Eren carefully didn't move. She lingered there for a moment as if testing for something. Maybe if he had a fever. Annie frowned.

"Try to think about something else." Annie adjusted herself on his left side. She took his hand and examined it. This time as a surgeon instead of a nurse.

Eren looked at her. He didn't try to disguise it. She was holding his hand—sort of. The pulsing pain in his hand dulled in comparison to her butterfly light touches. He was still distracted by her proximity when, without warning, Annie yanked on the bulwark in his hand.

Eren shouted.

He bit down on his bottom lip. A spasm went through his hand and he would have torn it away if she had anything less than an iron grip. Annie bore down on his fingers. Her blue-grey eyes, unforgiving and striking, narrowed. She rooted the spur out a little at a time, twisting to loosen it from his flesh.

Eren slammed his eyes shut but he still knew the exact moment she tore it free. He writhed from the sting. Eren gritted his teeth. It hurt too much not to react. For a second he even forgot Annie was there with him.

A thud on the ground—Annie dropped the bulwark. She was still crouched beside Eren, her fingers outstretched as if to try to sooth him. Annie's expression wavered. She almost never looked so unguarded. Her eyes wide and unnervingly focused. "Can you move your hand? Any nerve damage?" Annie asked. Her tone was softer than before.

There wasn't much blood, just darkly inflamed skin and a hole in his hand. Eren curled his fingers and clenched a loose fist. He shook his head. "I think I'll be okay." Eren said. His voice sounded normal, if strained. "I can't believe you did that."

Annie blinked. She let her mouth form into a line. Annie didn't seem to know how to take that. Eren smiled at her. He was an expert at reading her facial expressions.

"It was nice of you." Eren said. Annie tensed. "Thanks for not walking away." They were still sitting beside each other. Legs almost brushing. Eren looked at her, eyes wide and bright, and Annie's carefully constructed persona wavered.

Annie curled her arms across her knees. "…It didn't occur to me that's all." She said. Her expression turned stony. "I should have, but you looked so pathetic. Next time I'll know better." Annie said.

"I don't think you would." Eren muttered. He shifted backward on his hand and winced. "It didn't occur to you because you're a nice person. Even if you won't admit it." Eren nursed his left hand with his right. He curled it into his chest. The rest of the training exercise would be impossible to complete. Eren wondered if anyone else was even still in the forest.

Annie stared at him. Her unreadable blue eyes were probing. "Let me see." Annie gestured to Eren's hand.

Without having to think about it, Eren overturned his palm in her direction. Even that hurt. Annie touched his arm and guided it up to her face. Her touch was like livewire. She closed her eyes and kissed the hole in his hand. Eren stiffened once he realized what she was going to do. His heart beat in his throat.

Then Annie let go and looked at him.

"I've heard that helps." Annie's voice was overly loud, distressed. She stood abruptly, giving Eren an excellent view of her knee high boots. "Anyway, I have better things to do. Like getting a grade for this." She stalked away, making a B line through the forest before taking out her bulwarks.

Eren stared after her. A faint blush on his face. He scrambled to stand. The gear he unbuckled earlier dragged on the ground. Eren took a few steps until he had to acknowledge that without equipping his bulwarks first, he had no chance of catching up to her.

Eren strapped his gear back on his thigh. It was awkward without being able to use his left hand. He froze. Eren pried his hand open. It stopped stinging as bad. By the time he fixed his bulwark back in place, there was only a dull ache in his hand. The purplish bruise in the center had healed over. The hole had closed.

"It's gone." Eren turned his hand over. He thought of Annie, her feather light lips on his palm, and stared in wonder.

Annie really was perfect.

A/N—Eren has no idea about his powers at this point.