Nest & Wings (Annie Leonhardt x Male Reader)

Chapter 28: Matter of Trust

Having claimed the HQ to yourselves, you head inside and check the storage room for something to eat. Most of the rations were spoiled as expected, but there were a few boxes of canned food that were still edible— edible being generously optimistic.

"This tastes like horse-shit mixed with the fodder it ate to excrete it." Annie complains as she tested out a can of ground beef.

Before the fall of Wall Maria, meat was pretty common in the soldiers' diet, but due to the lack of enough land to grow cattle since then, it's become something that only the rich nobles in the inner walls get to eat.

"There goes my appetite..." You sigh. "I was actually excited to try meat for the first time you know. I didn't expect such a vivid description from you of all people."

"Huh? Sorry... but it was the truth though. Besides, if you wanted to try meat that badly, you should've just joined the Military Police." Annie responds.

"Wait... you got to eat meat in the Military Police? Just how pampered are those goons? Anyway, I can't disagree with your complains, but this'll have to do for now." You point out.

Annie exclaims, "No way I'm eating this... actually, neither are you!" She says, grabbing a bunch of different cans and heads to the kitchen.

A few minutes later,

Annie comes back with a plate of food that actually looked rather decent. You were pleasantly shocked at how she was able to turn those awful looking canned food into a relatively appetizing meal.

"What? Go ahead, it's not poisoned or anything." She says noting how you were staring at it instead of digging in.

"N-no, I was just admiring it. I mean... this looks like it came out of a restaurant. What sorcery did you pull off?" You ask her.

Annie explains, "Nothing much, I just mixed and matched a few ingredients from a couple of different cans, that's all. It probably won't taste much better, but at the very least, it should be a little more appetizing."

"Hmm... now that I think about it, you've always been a pretty good cook, haven't you?" You point out.

She responds, "Huh? I mean... I helped out with the cooking at camp, but you could hardly say that I'm a good cook."

You retaliate, "Why not? You and Armin helped Jean win a cook-off against Sasha that one time, remember? Considering how Sasha's the local authority on food, it should definitely mean something to actually beat her."

Annie says, "No... if anything, it was Jean's mom who actually won it for us... it was her recipe after all. All I did was follow the instructions—"

"Woah, I was right! This has got to be the best thing I've ever eaten in my life." You cut in and comment on her dish after taking a bite.

"Is that supposed to be a compliment? I mean... I was going for something maybe a little less shitty. But to call it the best thing you've ever eaten... it's actually insulting when you say it out of pity like that." Annie points out.

"No, I really meant it! Like before this, the best thing I've had was probably an omelet that Jean's mom made. But the thing is, she made it for Jean, not me. Call me biased, but this tastes so much better just because you made it for me." You elaborate.

"Huh...?" Annie says before abruptly turning away.

It came out naturally, but looking back now, you realize that it was a pretty awkward thing to say. Especially for someone like Annie. You were worried you might've offended her again. "Was that insulting as well? Sorry... my bad."