Work Text:
Fuck this weather. Annie shivered as she clutched her knees into an upright fetal position, trying her best to contain as much body heat as possible. If there was one thing she hated more than morning role calls and Connie’s snot on her sweater, it was the winters in training at the 104th. She had helped set up the tent and now hid behind a few stray crates inside its thick green fabric, hoping that Pixis wouldn’t catch her avoiding her duties. There was no way she was going to help lift heavy crates back and forth for six hours when she could sit here on this nice, comfy…patch of cold dirt. Great.
Annie still thought it’d be better than crate duty, so she settled down as best she could and made use of a stray corner of the tent that hadn’t been tied down properly as a blanket. Unbeknownst to her, pulling up the corner of fabric to her chest had left the tips of her boots exposed to the outside. And who else to catch sight of her little feet sticking out from beneath the tarp, none other than a certain tall brunette.
Bertholdt rounded the tent and entered through the large gashed opening, making his way through the dark space. It was fairly large, seeing as it was meant to hold the entire 104th during their camping lessons. The wind blew harshly outside, and the tent gave a harsh whirrr as it snapped its cloth strings in the cold.
It didn’t take long for him to find his target, blonde hair poking up from behind a stack of crates. Bertholdt sighed to himself, knowing it was not going to be easy to get the stubborn girl out of her spot. He never understood why she regarded winter as her favorite season, yet despised the cold with everything inside of her. Then again, there were a lot of things he had never understood about Annie, like why she always puts on the left sock before the right, or why she hated sugar in her coffee but still proceeded to drown the black liquid in creamer. But that just added to the mystery that was Annie, and he loved her and figuring out all her little quirks and kinks over the years.
Bertholdt leaned over a few of the crates, taking an opportunity to just stare at her beauty for a few seconds; that is, before he accidentally knocked down a crate full of metal spoons and let it hit the ground with an audible ‘clang.’ So much for the element of surprise. Annie immediately shot a glare at the intruder for discovering her secret hiding place, but her features softened when she realized it was only Bert and not Pixis.
"Annie, what are you doing here? We’re not done unloading and we could really use the man- er, woman power…" Bertholdt managed to let out, trying to calm the redness of his face from the embarrassment he just endured. Annie only shot him a straight look before another gust of wind blew and shook the foundations of the tent once again.
"Cold." she deadpanned, shivering as she drew herself nearer. Bertholdt looked down at her shaking form, racked with sympathy for the girl. It wasn’t easy being so small in such temperatures. He didn’t dare call her defenseless, though. Annie wasn’t defenseless, she was uncomfortable. Big difference.
Bertholdt gave out another long sigh before bending down and sitting at her side, the cold ground sending a chill up his spine. He figured if he couldn’t get her up, he might as well go down. Annie mustered up all the will she had just to leave her cozy tent blanket and climb the few inches into Bertholdt’s awaiting arms with no hesitation. She clung to his unzipped jacket as he pulled the zipper up, enveloping both of them inside the standard winter uniform.
Annie laid her head on Bertholdt’s chest, soaking in the warmth from his body. He smelled of cinnamon and bread, with just a hint of musk. Annie never got tired of that smell, the smell of home. Of course, Reiner carried the same smell, more or less, but there was something about the way it just fit Bertholdt that made it more appealing to her. The furry tufts from the jacket lining ticking her nose, she let her breathing match Bert’s, and listened to his heart beat under his broad rib cage.
Bertholdt laid his nose on the girl’s messy blonde hair, taking in her own scent of mint and earth, relishing in the way it complimented her so well. He enveloped the both of them inside the layers of clothing. At that moment, the world could have been freezing over and he’d still be just as content with her in his arms.
"Oi, having a little break here, are we?" A husky old voice came from behind the crates. Shit.
_______________________________
Annie and Bertholdt entered the tent and collpased on the nearest empty mattress. Pixis had made them go on environmental recon duty, which basically meant they had to cut down trees and taste every plant to see if it was poisonous for the past eight hours. Usually Connie and Sasha were more than happy to take the job, but Pixis had insisted it would do the criminals justice.
It was pitch black outside by the time they had finished, and everyone else had already eaten dinner and were now talking amongst themselves while they set up their beds. Bertholdt had asked if she wanted to sneak in to the dinner tent to get something, but she denied. Besides, both their stomachs were full of tree bark and ominous plantlife, which may or may not had the potential to paralyze them.
Before either of them even budged from their exhaustion, lights out was called and the tent had ceased its chatter, which was replaced by the sound of wind and crunching snow. Annie woke up from her dozed state before Bert did, and she begrudgingly heaved herself up to a sitting position and removed her boots. Looking back at her partner in crime, Bertholdt was fast asleep, a pool of drool forming on the matress by his mouth. What a dork. Still, Annie went ahead and tugged his boots off before curling up beside him under the thick wool blankets once again.
Bertholdt awoke from his drowzy nap at her movement, and when he tried to question her, she gave him a hushed warning and pecked him on the corner of the mouth before retiring into his chest for the night. For the second time that day, Bertholdt thought that if the world were sent into another ice age right then, he’d be no less happy.