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"Would you… like to, hum,… have dinner with me tonight? I- I'll cook some Marley specialities if you're okay with it of course-"
"Yes!!" Sasha immediately answered.
She felt so happy to try some new dishes, Niccolo already had cooked her lobsters and other sea food but she couldn’t wait to taste more.
"Great!" Niccolo said a bit blushing. "I'll come knock to your room at 8pm then if-"
"Oh can Connie and Jean come too?! I think they would love to taste new food!" she said, completely missing the point.
Niccolo paralyzed. Of course she hadn’t seen it as a date. Why would she be interested in him anyway? He was just a lambda cooker to her.
He looked away, disappointed.
"Yeah they can come…"
"Awesome! Thank you so much Niccolo!"
He looked back at her and her smile was so contagious he couldn't repress smiling too. As long as he could make her happy, it would be enough for him.
When Sasha opened the door, he blinked a few times to believe it was truly her. She had her hair down and was wearing a beautiful white dress and a pretty necklace.
"I… I look ridiculous right?" she said embarrassed. "The thing is that Jean and Connie thought this was like a date and so they told me to dress up and I didn’t believe them but they insisted, so I went to see Mikasa if she had anything for me to wear, because well I don't usually dress up but she told me she didn’t have anything either so I kind of panicked and went in town and found this in a store, I mean it is pretty but maybe too much, is it a date though? No, don't answer! I'm just kidding haha there's no way it-"
"Yes, it is!'' he finally interrupted her. "It's a date, well, I hope it is..."
"That's… cool, hum I'm really glad it is!" she concluded with a shy smile.
"You look very… quite… really good hum… I like it, it's very cute."
"Thank you," she said with a nervous laugh.
They stayed still, glancing at each other from time to time until Sasha had the courage to take his hand and leading them downstairs.
Niccolo's heart couldn’t beat faster, her hand wasn't really soft but he didn’t care a bit. Sasha was still a perfect woman to him.
When they arrived in the kitchen, luckily nobody was there.
"Mmmh it smells good!" she said, sharp-nosed.
"I made something I thought you would enjoy. It's still in the oven. It's a cottage pie."
"What is it?" she asked with sparkling eyes.
"It's mashed potatoes over a meat pie."
Her jaw dropped and it made Niccolo laugh. She was such an open book.
"I think it's time to take it out," he said, opening the oven. "Oh god."
"What is it?"
"It's… burnt…"
He took out the dish and put it on the table. The top was black from overcooking.
"I'm sure it's still good!" Sasha tried to comfort him.
But Niccolo felt so ashamed. He had been too nervous about seeing her again, he had completely forgotten to take out the cottage pie before going to her room.
He kept his eyes on this failure until a fork appeared and took a bit of it.
"Wait! Don't! It's too hot!"
But Sasha was already eating. He was stupefied how she could chew it without burning her tongue.
"Oh my god Niccolo… you're a genius!"
She took another bite of it and then another and another.
"Wait, wait! Maybe we should go eat in the dining room, you know with plates and…"
He watched her eating the food with more and more enthusiasm and found himself unable to stop her. It was quite relieving to see how much she enjoyed his cooking but he wondered if she would even leave him some.
"Sasha, you should eat slower," he finally said with a smile.
It didn't matter if she was about to eat all of it, on the contrary, he found her endearing.
But Sasha stopped and looked at him. Her eyes went round and she turned red.
"I'm so sorry Niccolo! I shouldn't have- Oh god what- I'm such a mess! I must disgust you, Captain Levi hates it when I do that, he thinks I'm a pig! Please don't hate me too! I'll behave, I swear! Oh no I ruined everything!"
"It's okay Sasha!" he said, taking her hands off her head. "It's okay, I'm glad you like what I cooked, it makes me happy, really happy."
She looked at him with sweet eyes and she seemed about to cry. Niccolo had no idea what to do. So he leaned in and his heart stopped beating when their faces were so close.
They both froze the second someone opened the door.
"Oh hey there do you-" Hange started before taking in the scene. "Ooooh excuse me lovebirds! Please continue!"
Naturally the two youngs stepped away from each other and started blushing up to their ears. But Hange stood there with a big smile on their face.
"Hange-san, hum… is there something you needed?" nervously asked Sasha.
"I was looking for the tea for Levi but I guess he can wait."
"He can but," said Sasha, opening a kitchen cabinet, "I know that Captain Levi isn't very patient so you probably shouldn’t make him wait long."
She gave them the tea box with a shaking hand.
"I see…" said Hange. "Well, it was a pleasure to see you two being so intimate and I guess you're waiting for me to leave to get back to it but may I say I can be really quiet and discreet so maybe I could stay?"
Sasha's and Niccolo's eyes widened in horror.
"Or not," Hange said. "Alright, I'll leave you alone! And I'm definitely not talking about this to Levi!"
They left with a smile on their face.
"They're so gonna tell everyone," Sasha sighed.
"Yeah… Would you mind if they did though?"
Sasha looked at him, surprised by the question. She took a chair and sat. Niccolo did the same next to her.
"I wouldn’t but nothing really happened anyway…" she murmured.
A silence filled the room. Niccolo really wanted them to be a couple, he wanted to tell her his feelings and kiss her. But he just didn’t have the courage. He had used it all earlier and Commander Hange had appeared and ruined it all.
"How about you tell me more about you?" Sasha suggested. "I only know you're a very good cook and have really pretty hair."
"Well it's because there's not much to say."
She smiled and waited for him to open up. Only now he realized she had complimented his hair and it made him blush.
"What about your family?" she said.
"Well, I have a little sister. We were raised by our mom. She was really strict. But when I became a soldier she was so proud. My sister not so much. I think now she didn’t want me to leave the house."
He made a pause to grab the fork and take a bit of the cottage pie, wondering what to say next. But the taste of it made him immediately sick. There were way too much spices. He remembered now having been so scared it would be tasteless that he had been adding more and more spices. What a mistake.
"How… How did you eat this?" he asked, on the verge of throwing up.
"It's really good! You don’t like it?" Sasha said.
She seemed sincere. She truly liked any kind of food.
"Not quite," he mumbled. "Anyway, what about you? Do you have any siblings?"
She shook her head.
"I wish I had… but I consider Connie like my brother or even my twin so I guess I'm happy like that."
"I see…"
They glanced at each other, kind of enjoying the company but also clearly nervous.
"I must confess I have never dated someone," Niccolo said, looking away.
"Me neither," Sasha replied with a little laugh.
"Really?! But you're so pretty and funny and…"
His genuine words made them both turn red once again.
"I did have a thing with a boy once," Sasha said, "but it was nothing serious. And I was so scared his sister would kill me."
"How's so?"
"Well, the boy was Eren."
"Eren… You mean Eren Jaeger?!"
"Yes," she said, hiding her face in her hands. "He was very different back in the days."
"Why are you hiding?"
"I'm embarrassed. I've only told this to Connie."
Damn, she was adorable. Niccolo wanted to see all of her emotions expressed.
Seeing her opening to him like that, he found it fair to do the same.
"Back in my village, my neighbor was a really close friend of mine," he said. "We used to make dares to each other all the time. One day, I complained again about my mother and told him as a joke I would join the army to get away from her. He dared me. So I did."
Sasha slowly removed her face from her hands.
"You joined the army on a dare?" she said, dumbfounded.
"Yes. You're the first person I've told this to."
Sasha stared at him with a strange expression.
"You're allowed to laugh."
"I'm not gonna laugh," she assured with a grin.
"It looks like you will."
"Will you dare me to?"
Her own joke made her burst out laughing and Niccolo joined her. It felt so good to have told this to someone and to laugh about it.
When they finally both calmed down, they stared at each other with sympathy.
"Anyway, if you're not gonna eat this cottage pie, I will," Sasha said.
"Be my guest."
She took the fork and quickly enough she had finished the dish. He was still not believing she could eat this. It truly tasted the worst for Niccolo.
"What's your favorite meal?" he asked.
"Humm I never really figured that out. I really like meat. But also potatoes. And fruits also. And I loved the sea food you cooked for me. But I also love-"
She kept on listing endless dishes and it made Niccolo smile. He had never met someone enjoying eating so much. Someone that truly loved life. He had seen her many times cheering her friends up and he was very admirative. She could see the best in people. That was probably why she was speaking to him, a Marleyan.
Sasha finally ended her list and they talked about the best meals they've ever had. For both of them, it was mostly before they entered the army, because the military food tasted bad in both of their countries.
Then they talked about some funny stories and laughed a lot. It felt so good they didn’t realize how late it was until someone entered the kitchen.
"Oh you're still here?" Jean asked, in his pyjamas.
Niccolo and Sasha looked at him and then at the clock.
"Damn it's already this late," the girl said. "I should go to bed."
"I'll escort you," Niccolo declared.
"Gentleman," murmured Jean.
Niccolo felt a bit embarrassed and hoped Sasha was okay for him to accompany her.
"Let's go then!" she said with a smile.
She took his hand and they left the kitchen. They didn’t really talk on the way back, but holding hands was enough for them. The bedrooms weren’t far away, so they quickly arrived in front of Sasha's door.
"So…" she started, putting a strand behind her ear. "Thank you for tonight. I had a good time. We should do this again. For real. I know some people use this line to say they don't actually want to do this again but I do. I'm not rejecting you! I just don't know what to say and oh god I should just stop talking, I'm just embarrassing myself, it happens when I'm nervous and-"
Niccolo stopped her with a kiss. It was an innocent, soft and tender kiss. It didn't last long, he wasn’t confident enough for it. So he pulled back and looked at her reaction.
Sasha smiled and his heart started beating again. She leaned in to give him a deeper and longer kiss. He put his hand behind her head and his fingers met her soft hair. He doubted he was moving his lips correctly, this being his first kiss, but it still felt nice and Sasha seemed to be enjoying it.
When they finally pulled apart, they both shyly smiled and pressed their forehead together.
"Good night Niccolo," she whispered.
"Good night Sasha."
She dropped a quick kiss on his lips before turning around and entering her room. Niccolo tried not to scream with all of the serotonin in his brain.
Only when he turned around did he notice Eren standing at the end of the corridor. They exchanged a look before the titan shifter silently walked away.