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valeav31 · 2 years

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Painful Heart (Zeke x Reader x Levi)

Don’t hate me for doing this pairing. I’ve just heads this idea stuck on my head for forever.

Plot: Aa you find yourself in enemy territory, would the blonde man do anything to bring you back or would the cold hearted captain win you over ?

Set in season 3. I plan to make a whole serie out of it, following the main plot. Enjoy

As a soft ray of sun landed on your eyes, you rubbed the sleep out of them. Sitting up, you tried to make sense of your surrenders: it wasn´t the usual battlefield with the deaths corpses around you. Instead, you laid in a comfortable, warm bed, back pressed against a soft chest, better to sya, Zeke's chest.

You sighed as the events from the night flashed through your memories: how Zeke suggested it would be a great idea to check on the warriors sent years ago to the island of devil, and of course, how Magadth thought it had been his idea and accepted. You hated the mand for accepting such idea, especially since Zeke would be riding alone Pieck. Something about that woman set you off, even more, when it was involved with Zeke.

��Couldn’t get much sleep?” Zeke asked, interrupting your thoughts.

You only nodded, turning around to face him. “I’m going with you and there no buts,” you said firmly.

He just arched an eyebrow and stood up, going towards the closet.

“Zeke, I mean it,” you repeat yourself. “I don’t want anything to happen to you. I’ll protect you.”

He just continued to get dressed, so you did the same, and ignored his questioning glance as you stood ready in the door. Truth to be told, you weren’t a Warrior yet you were the best shot Marley had, being able to kill enemies from miles away with your hand designed sniper.

“Don’t,” he said as he reached for the door knob. “You’re too valuable for me. I won’t risk you.”

“Come on, Zeke, we’re always a great team,” you tell him. Of course, you were. Ever since Marley discovered your ability they had pair you with him, as you would ride on his shoulder or closeby to protect him from enemies, as if he needed it. However, that had given you the perfect opportunity to meet him and create a two year relationship.

Sighning, he knew he couldn’t get you off his case, especially when you were so persisting. So he nodded, grabbed your hand, and took you towards the ship that was to carry you to the island of devils.

****

When you found them, you were quite stunned to see how different and mature Berthold and Reiner looked, yet they were hollow and tired.

They explained everything to you: Marcel’s death, the carrier of the Attack and Founder Titan and the way the island devils dwelled, even showing you the equipment they used to fight.

You took everything, but one thing quickly remained in your head: You need to be careful of Captain Leve.

***

And so, as you stood on Zeke's titan shoulder, staring at your enemy and their horses, you trained your vision to recognize the so famous Captain Levi. He was a small, black haired man with white skin, or so Reiner described him like that.

“Let’s get this started,” said Zeke as he crushed a boulder in his hand, shattering it into many pieces. You hated doing this but you knew there wasn't another option. If you didn't, Marley would hunt you down and kill you while Zeke would have been fed to Colt.

You gulped as you heard the cries of pain when the stones landed in the enemies. There was quiet a moment of silence as Zeke got another boulder ready. Suddenly, you noticed the horses running towards you with the soldiers on them.

“They can’t do better,” chuckled Zeke as he scratched his ear. You glared at him, getting ready to shoot as you strapped yourself and gear into Zeke’s shoulder, leave it to Marley to discover a way to get you attached to him.

“I’ll take out as many as possible,” you whispered, pointing to your victim and hitting them straight on the head. The man fell to the floor being dragged by the horse. It still sent you chills through your body. Then you killed three, four, five more before you had to refill again.

The men tried to shoot a green type of fog which really annoyed you, making it hard to focus on their heads. You liked clean shots, the ones were they suffered the least. Zeke was getting angrier by the moment, feeling defied by the enemy and throwing boulders faster than ever. So, as you tried to fight the nausea and refill the bullets. you noticed from the corner of your eye a certain man approaching you, forehead stained in blood.

“Y/N, love, we did it,” said Zeke in happiness as he pointed at the defeated enemy, laying dead in the blood-stained floor. You ignored him, noticing how the man approached faster by the second and the titans fell to the floor.

“Zeke, quicky, look to your left,” you shouted as you got the weapon ready. However, it was too late as the man cut through Zeke’s arm, passing right beside you. In despair, Zeke tried to move around to protect you, yet Levi had already come back and cut the straps holding you onto the Beast Titan’s shoulder. Even if it had happened countless times before, it still felt funny falling from so high, as if your body still wanted to react to fight and survive.

And you wanted to do it as you reached forward to grab your weapon in midair, however, you couldn’t react, horror struck and Levi cut the Beast Titan’s eyes and ankles. No one had brought Zeke down…

As you fell, you grabbed onto the beat titan’s hand, falling down on top of it and protecting your life. before you knew it, you were resting on the floor, gun pointed towards levi as he held a sword against Zeke’s mouth.

“Let him go, or I’ll shoot,” you yelled. Levi ignored you, commenting how he would feed Zeke to another titan converted soldier. In despair, you shot, making the bullet graze his ear. Levi turned to look at you, thrusting his blade harder onto Zeke’s mouth adn making him cry out in pain.

“Let him go,” you hissed. “This time I won’t be merciful”

“So you’re the disgusting pet who helped him kill my comrades,” he said. “So you care about him, don’t you?”

You didn’t answer, but held the gun firmly towards Levi. The man just hurt Zeke, noticing how your eyes flinched with every scream of pain and the slight temblor on your hands. So you did have feelings towards this man.

As he trusted the blade deeper into Zeke, he noticed your finger press slightly on the trigger. You were going to kill him and from what he had seen you were a pretty decent shot. Suddenly, the hairs on his back prickled as he turned around and noticed a titan running towards him, as if to eat him. So, he did the best he could.

He jumped away, in your direction, landing behind you and pressing his blade against your neck. You had tried to shoot, but obviously you were slower, which led to your capture.

As the Cart Titan held Zeke in his mouth, he could only stare at you with fear in his eyes, yelling out your name.

“Hand him over, or I’ll kill this thing,” Levi yelled, pressing the blade and making you bleed.

“Don’t do it,” yelled Zeke.

“Take him away,” you yelled at Pieck, closing your eyes as you felt death loom over you.

“I -I promise to come back,” screamed Zeke, as the man was carried away. Levi cussed and looked back and forth, finally hitting you on the neck and you passing out.

When you woke up, you tried to move your limbs, however, your hands and feet were tied and your mouth was gagged. As you looked around, you found the so called Levi with blades in hand and your gun in another.

“Lover boy left you behind,” he said. “And I’ll be the one to watch over you, scum. Don’t try anything funny, or I’ll shot you anytime with your own rifle, which is pretty interesting.”

You fought the tears that threatened to appear, you knew Zeke would come back. He had to, right? He wouldn’t sacrifice you….

Next chapter is about Levi!

#aot x y/n #aot fanfiction #attack on titan zeke #zeke x y/n #zeke x reader #levi x reader #captain levi #levi aot

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smallblip · 3 years

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You asked, I deliver! Part II of Accidental baby acquisition💖 I lost one of the asks 😩 but anon who asked about baby Udo, I named the baby in your honour! Saddle up cowboys! I’m not good with sequels but here we are-

Babygate:

the scandal that implies that a certain boy band member cheated on his partner (another band member) and had a kid even when the mom was never pregnant.

- urban dictionary

—

Reiner thinks things are alright. Life is definitely picking up. Pieck still sends him excerpts of her dirty fanfiction to proofread, Bertholdt is still doing all he can to “retire at 30”, Annie might have eloped with said boyfriend. But he’s seeing Porco on the regular now, he’s really cute, he’s got a nice ass. Reiner can’t complain.

He’s also recently donated his Levi Ackerman standee. Only because it’s getting increasingly hard to reconcile the fact that he has a life sized cutout of his colleague’s boyfriend in his room.

What he can complain about is said colleague (and friend) dropping bombs on him. He’s one of the moderators of one of the bigger No Name servers. Sometimes he wonders if that’s a conflict of interest because, well, he knows the guy on a first name basis. But today he has other concerns. He sees his notifications blowing up and decides to go on the No Name server. And lo and behold. There’s a paparazzi shot of Levi and Hanji with a stroller taking a walk in a new channel called “MYSTERY FAMILY?”.

He cancels his plans with Porco. “Don’t text me for the next few hours, got a fire to fight.” He clicks send, and feels kinda bad, so he sends Porco really dank meme to appease him. (That doesn’t stop Porco from doing exactly what Reiner told him not to do and demanding an explanation every five minutes).

He forces himself to take a deep breath before texting Hanji-

“Hanji… I don’t mean to be rude but…

WHAT THE FUCK?”

—

So here begins babygate. A conspiracy theory that took the Internet by storm.

“Levi Ackerman had a secret marriage! He was keeping this from us from the start!”

“It’s a publicity stunt to keep No Name relevant during their hiatus!”

“It’s an elaborate scheme by the company to punish Levi for announcing the hiatus without their knowledge!”

“Levi’s mystery partner was sent by the lizard people to take control of his mind and produce half-lizard, half-human hybrid babies to take over the world! What a bitch!” (This is Hanji’s favourite).

And the internet’s favourite- this is all an elaborate scheme to cover up the scandalous love affair between Levi and Eren- the band’s guitarist.

“What the fuck?” Levi had said during dinner once, to which Reiner had to swallow his food and pretend he never read or actively looked up ereri content. Yes. Reiner knows the name of their ship.

Levi hadn��t been too worried before, but when pictures of them shopping for baby stuff leaked online, something snaps. Something snaps and Erwin tells him he needs more time to figure out the biggest PR crisis in No Name history.

It’s Levi. Levi is the PR crisis.

So in the meantime, no shock reveals, no more social media, (if possible) no more leaving the house with pregnant girlfriend in tow. “Don’t do ANYTHING.” Erwin had said, “especially not you!” Erwin had directed that at Eren, who suggested he makes an announcement. Erwin shudders. He remembers all the past scandals they got themselves into just because Eren, bless him, didn’t know when to shut up.

“I’m sorry…” Levi says to Hanji when they’re cuddled up on the couch watching a documentary on whale migration.

“Huh?” Hanji says, voice muffled through her incessant sniffling because “whales are delivered tail first, Levi! They wear their mothers like hats!”

He apologises for putting her through the mess that is him and his job. And Hanji smiles at him. He wonders if their kid will look like her. He’s hoping they would.

“Levi…” Hanji sighs, taking his face in her hands, “that night at the bar I thought to myself ‘this man has a face I would risk it all for’… I think this counts within the realms of ‘all’”

Levi scoffs, but a smile is threatening the corners of his lips. Erwin’s nagging over the phone fades a little and he sinks a little lower into the couch. He sighs one more time for good measure before saying-

“So… you wanna know which my favourite babygate theory is?”

—

“And you’re really not bothered by all this?” Reiner asks, in an emergency meeting that he had scheduled into her calendar. He hates that he’s packing things into her already busy schedule when she’s about to pop but, he figures it’s better now than when the baby’s actually out. He had booked a meeting room and everything, figuring if he projected some of the crazy shit they’re saying on the fan boards up on screen, Hanji would start taking this seriously. Because if Reiner knows anything, it’s that the fans will do anything to keep their ship afloat.

He scrolls past another post on the lizard people and Hanji gets him to pause.

“I mean… A little?” Hanji pinches her fingers together.

“Hanji…” Reiner sighs, “you and Levi discuss and rate babygate conspiracy theories you find online I don’t think you’re taking this seriously at all…”

Hanji looks at Reiner- an absolute state of panic. And she considers panicking for a moment. She’s read articles dissecting babygate and although they’re absolutely batshit, Hanji appreciates how well-researched they are. Which is a little scary. To be fair to Levi, he’s been trying to get her to worry. “I can’t keep you safe all the time, you have to be careful” like he’s going off to war somewhere. But it’s not in Hanji nature to worry about things like this. She’s a researcher at a lab who lived an ordinary life up until the point the universe hit her with a-

Sike! Levi Ackerman is your baby daddy! What are you gonna do about it?

And now she knows what headcanons and lemons are, and she really doesn’t know what to do with that knowledge. So Hanji decides, she’ll do nothing. She’ll go on indulgently long walks Levi in tow, she’ll talk his ear off about work. And like a good girlfriend, she’ll listen to his demos (and enjoy them) and tell him “are you sure anger rhymes with danger?”.

“I don’t really know how to worry about anything beyond our samples getting contaminated…” Hanji says, sheepish. Reiner sighs. He doesn’t want to be a wet blanket on Hanji’s life. He wants to be fun Reiner. Cool as a cucumber. Reiner who manages to make it through dinner at Hanji’s without having to excuse himself to hyperventilate in her bathroom because Levi is right there. And he’s so afraid that he might just be able to read his mind and find out he had looked up Levi Ackerman x y/n fanfiction once in his foolish youth (youth being approximately four months back)

Reiner shudders.

“Yeah okay… That’s um… That’s cool… Right?” He says.

Hanji shrugs.

—

So Levi Ackerman is your baby daddy. Now what?

You go into labour of course, with a matter of fact- “oh. Look Levi. The water broke.” All while refusing to leave the house until you demolish that amazing sandwich he made for you. You go into labour and you yell and grunt like a beast as you squeeze the life out of your baby daddy because he kinda deserves it. You both kinda deserve this pain. Take it as heavenly punishment for being horny and stupid if you will.

And in the middle of it Hanji thinks huh, this feels like a mix of a reality TV show from MTV and a badly written fanfiction. Except Hanji isn’t a teen mom and she’s too old for self-insert fiction that involves a lead singer of a popular band.

But Levi is here, and he doesn’t complain one bit even though he looks like he’s about to pass out. So as far as drunken one night stands go- this is pretty damn aspirational.

The baby enters the world with a huge cry.

“Kid’s got a huge set of lungs…” Levi says, but his own voice is quivering.

“Just like her dad…” Hanji smiles.

As he watches Hanji fall asleep with their baby on her chest, Levi thinks fuck it. Fuck keeping this under wraps. Fuck the fans and them enjoying how Eren gets on his nerves. Fuck Erwin and his “Levi. You’re giving me a headache. You are the cause of this headache.” Because the baby has Hanji’s nose and his eyes and he loves them more than anything in the world.

He snaps a picture of them and tags bigdaddyzoë-

“Welcome to the world, my love.”

—

Reiner can’t help the tears that well in his eyes after seeing the picture Hanji had sent him of the baby-

“He says hi to his favourite uncle!” Was the caption, and Reiner could only reply with a crying cat meme and an incoherent text that Hanji favourites.

He’s on the bus on the way to the hospital when his phone buzzes incessantly. It’s Porco.

“REINER WHAT THE FUCK.”

“LEVI ACKERMAN IS HANJI ZOË’S BABY DADDY?”

“HANJI ZOË MY PHD SUPERVISOR?”

“LEVI ACKERMAN OF NO NAME?”

“REINER WHAT THE FUCK?”

He sends a reply at the entrance of the hospital-

“Welcome to my world”

—

Reiner thinks things are alright. He’s one of the moderator of one of the bigger No Name servers, so he can block and remove people at his discretion. Some days he lets it get to his head. It makes him feel like a king. But today, he’s putting out fires.

Erwin decided their PR strategy was absolutely no strategy, because “they’re zooming in on the pixels Levi. Once they doubt the pixels, they won’t believe anything we’re saying”. With that. Babygate has officially taken on a life of its own. Eren still sends Levi babygate articles to annoy him, and to Hanji because she asked very nicely. Hanji thinks Erwin’s strategy makes sense, Levi thinks it’s just lazy. But Erwin framed a certificate that says “survived a PR crisis (sort of)” that Hanji had insisted be hung up on their wall, so that closes one chapter. Besides, Eren has been spotted going out on dates with a mystery girl. Which has the double effect of diverting attention away from Levi and exacerbating babygate because “see? Told you the company’s doing all they can to prove they’re not together!”

“Can’t you keep it in your pants?” Levi had thrown at Eren, to which he had responded cleverly with a-

“Could’ve said the same for you!”

Touché…

“See? That can’t be Levi! Look at how he’s smiling!”

“That can’t be a baby! Looks like an animatronic to me!”

“Do they even make animatronics that realistic?”

Reiner pins his “no slander” rule- one day they’ll get it. Or at least he would’ve gotten rid of all the people that don’t.

“Who’s this bigdaddyzoë anyway?”

“Maybe she isn’t real? Company probably invented her…”

“Heard she’s a crazy groupie who got knocked up…”

“Heard she’s hot…”

… several people are typing

—

“So… I heard from Reiner you were defending my honour in the server?” Hanji quirks an eyebrow.

Levi shrugs. Whatever goes down in the server stays between Leviackerman173810 (leviackerman and all 173809 permutations of said username had already been taken) and the hundreds of people who haven’t quite figured out he’s the real deal. Besides, Erwin has issued him three warnings so it’s best to lay low for now.

“My hero…” Hanji chuckles, pressing a kiss on Levi’s head. Below them, baby Udo wriggles and yawns against the fabric of Levi’s shirt. Cute.

So Levi Ackerman is your baby daddy. Now what? You look at your son and know he’s going to break hearts like his father of course. And if you’re Levi, you pray to god he never asks about babygate because Hanji has read up enough about it to be considered a connoisseur.

One day the internet will break when they find out the identity of bigdaddyzöe. But for now baby Udo has his parents wrapped around his tiny fingers and he doesn’t quite understand the concept of him being the spawn of every typical band member x y/n fanfiction. Or the centre of a very popular, very absurd, yet strangely believable internet conspiracy theory. Or the canon plot that has sunk one of the biggest No Name ships. And that’s okay.

#babygate was a 1D conspiracy theory #levihan #whoopwhoop!#levi x hange #levi x Hanji #Drabble #inbox #anon #mine #again Pieck is me #un beta-Ed I’m sure it’s full of mistakes #shingeki no kyojin #Levi Ackerman #hange Zoë #celebrity au

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belchyra · 3 years

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Chapter 119 is just so heartbreaking:

The Galliards are my favourite brothers: We didn't get to see much of them unfortunately but their relationship is so beautiful yet so heartbreaking.

We have no family backstory, why Porco and Marcel both wanted to become warriors even though they would have been a honorary marleyans no matter who was chosen: my guess is that Porco is the one who originally wanted to be a warrior and Marcel merely joined to protect him, Marcel wasn't interested.

We all know how Porco acts towards Reiner because he wasn't the one chosen as the Armored titan, claiming that if he was chosen instead they'd have taken the founder and Marcel wouldn't have died. Since his introduction, Porco looked for something/someone to tell him he's a good warrior which causes him to lash out on Reiner on pretty much every occasion.

in Chapter 119:

Reiner, trying to reach out to Porco so he could help him stop Eren, makes contact with him and some memories are sent. Porco finally finds what he was seeking, validation, and it was his own dead brother who gave it to him.

Porco's expression in this panel always gets me

Older siblings all want one thing in aot: Marcel wanted to protect Porco from the dangers of Paradis, Colt wanted to protect his family from being shipped to Paradis and transformed into titans and Zeke was willing to do the impossible to save Eren from being killed, he wanted his brother and himself to save Eldia together.

Colt begged Zeke not to get Falco involved into this, he didn't care about the rest, he just wanted his little brother to be safe.

Remember when Eren said to Falco that he was glad he wouldn't become a titan shifter? Because he wants him to live a long life? Yeah, I can't believe I'm saying this but Eren maybe did mean it, he made sure Falco was still alive during the slaughter in Liberio, and you can notice the look in his eyes when Colt screamed that Falco drank Zeke's spinal fluid even though he knew.

Zeke obviously was disturbed by that, he honestly and genuinely doesn't want to bring kids into this but his love for his brother is too powerful and he will do anything to make sure Eren is safe.

Porco was obviously listening to all of this, the look on his face is telling, he many times stayed silent when a relationship between brothers is mentioned.

(Aka when Falco won against Gabi in a race: Colt said that no matter what he does, Falco will never surpass Gabi, Zeke intervenes and shares the fact that no older brother would like his younger sibling to become a shifter. Pieck then asks Porco what's wrong since he's obviously disturbed and the latter does not respond).

Colt's death:

One of the most heartbreaking moments in aot imo. Colt believed that this was it, this was the last moment he'd see his brother before he becomes a titan, yet he stayed and hugged Falco knowing that the transformation will kill him because Colt will always be with him.

He wasn't mentioned by anyone but Falco after his death, sadly :(

Porco's sacrifice:

I've seen a lot of people say that Porco sacrificed himself instead of Reiner because he wanted save him, but I don't think it's the case.

As I said, Porco was looking for validation and he got it, he listened to Zeke's and Colt's conversation and Colt's words definitely hit him, especially since he just got Marcel's memories.

"I'm not dying without a fight" -> apart from being unable to heal all his wounds, Porco simply refuses to die a meaningless death, so he sacrifices himself, saving both Reiner and Falco and fulfilling Colt's wishe to save Falco.

A little brother saving a little brother.

Porco died with a smile on his face, knowing that he is the better man to the end. And he proved that saving his comrade and a kid. His character arc was over.

Still, I was a little bit upset he wasn't mentioned by anyone but Pieck and Falco in the following chapters. Obviously Falco would feel guilty, since Porco's death was the key to his survival, and Pieck during the battle with the ancient shifters.

I hated Zeke for those two deaths, I seriously did, but he ended up betrayed by his younger brother, he was once again used because of his royal blood. You can't blame him for choosing euthanasia, he lived a shitty life and the only time he was happy was when Mr. Ksaver was still alive, he thought he was doing the right thing by stopping Eldians from being born into this world since they're suffering so much. I'm glad he at least got a little bit of happiness in chapter 137.

This post made me dislike Eren even more

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ghost-party · 3 years

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hi! i love your writing and would like to request season 4 reiner & fake dating w/ a female reader, if that’s ok. 🥺👉👈 maybe porco’s her ex & she wants to make him jealous?? thanks!

Thank you so much, anon! ❤️ I haven’t been able to stop thinking about this request, which is probably why this oneshot ended up being 2.8K... 😂

Warnings: alcohol, swearing, physical affection, bed-sharing, mention of depression and parental neglect, slight angst, brief recollection of coercive behavior (not Reiner) A/N: This story takes place in a modern AU.

And thank you to @clovertitan, @wasabito, @bricktheprettiestsiren, @darkcloakedinfinitevoid, and @bundleofyarrow for encouraging this. I love you all! 🤗

• • •

Reiner + Fake Dating

Every summer, you and your high school friends spend a weekend at a cabin on the lake close to where you grew up. With all of you now living in different cities, it’s an opportunity to get together, catch up, and relax. You’ve always looked forward to it... until now.

“Is it too late to say I can’t go?” You’re sitting on the couch with Reiner, trying to ignore your suitcase, already packed and sitting beside the front door.

“Yes,” he replies, draining the last of his beer. “Come on, it won’t be that bad.”

“Porco’s going to be there. With his new girlfriend. You know he’s going to be a little shit about it.”

You’re not sure if you can handle teasing jabs from your ex-boyfriend and watching him shove his tongue down a stranger’s throat. It’s not because you still have feelings for him. That ship sailed months ago. The idea of it just feels somewhat nauseating.

Reiner frowns. “Yeah, I know. But I’ll be there with you. Just do what I do and ignore him.”

It might be the alcohol, or something in his words, that inspires the idea. But regardless, you turn and look at him. “This is crazy, but... what if you... pretend to be my boyfriend?” When Reiner’s eyes widen, you quickly assure him, “Just for the weekend! I know, it’s stupid, I know. But I...”

“You want to make him jealous?”

“Maybe? Or prove that I’m not still single and pathetic, almost a year after breaking up...” You groan and flop back onto the pillows. “I’m horrible, aren’t I?”

“You’re not pathetic, and you’re not horrible.” He hesitates. “But I’m not sure it’s a good idea.”

“It’s definitely not,” you admit. “Pieck would probably believe it. She’s been wanting us to date for years now. Same with Bert and Annie.” You miss the slight flush in Reiner’s cheeks as he stands, heading to the kitchen for another drink.

“Zeke would know,” he counters. “He’s like a human lie detector.”

“Yeah, but I don’t think he’d say anything.” You sit up and lean over the back of the couch, resting your head on your arms. “If you really don’t want to, it’s okay. But it might be fun.”

You watch as Reiner walks back in, seeming deep in thought. He’s been your closest friend for as long as you can remember. But some small part of you is curious to know what it might be like, to be something more than that, even just for a few days...

He sits down beside you, and you give him a pleading look. “One weekend. I promise. Then everyone will go home, and things will go back to normal.”

Reiner sighs but then offers you a half-smile. “Alright, you win. One weekend. Let’s do it.”

• • •

When you and Reiner arrive at the lake the next morning, you enter what you call “Couple Mode.” But you very quickly come to a startling realization: Even as your fake boyfriend, he’s acting pretty much the same as he always has.

He rubs your shoulders when you grumble about the long drive, carries your luggage without asking, and holds the cabin door open for you, placing a hand at the small of your back when he joins you inside.

Pieck immediately notices your increased closeness and smiles warmly, asking how you’ve both been — and how long “this” has been going on. Bertholdt seems excited, in his own quiet way, and even Annie eyes the two of you, her lips curled up at the corners.

As Reiner suspected, Zeke seems to know better, shooting you a smirk as he walks past, carrying bottles of whiskey and vodka to the kitchen.

And then there’s Porco, sprawled on the sofa with his new girlfriend, staring at you so hard, you’re surprised his gaze hasn’t punched a hole straight through you.

You’re distracted when Zeke walks back in and says, “Your room’s at the end of the hall upstairs.”

“Our room? One room?” You blink at him. Neither you nor Reiner had told any of them ahead of time that you were now a couple. There should have been enough rooms for both of you to have one to yourselves.

“Eren and his friends decided to tag along, do some hiking, boring teenager shit.” Zeke grins. “What’s the problem? Don’t want to share a bed with your boyfriend?”

Before you can respond, Reiner interjects. “Sounds great. Come on, Y/N.” You trail behind him up the stairs, mouthing “I hate you” at Zeke as you walk past. He merely winks.

“He did that on purpose,” you hiss, walking down the hall. “If things were different, he probably would’ve had me share a room with Pieck.”

“You still can, if you want.”

Reiner sounds strangely distant, and you notice his grip tighten on the handles of your bags.

“No,” you say, touching his shoulder gently. “It’ll be like our sleepovers when we were kids. Remember?”

He huffs out a laugh. “Yeah... Just like that...”

• • •

The rest of the day passes quickly. Zeke rents a pontoon boat at the nearby docks, and you all pile onto it, carrying beach towels, a radio, snacks, and several coolers full of water and contraband booze poured into plastic juice bottles.

After cruising around the lake, you pick a spot to stop for a while. Porco makes a show of stripping off his shirt and then tossing his shrieking, bikini-clad girlfriend into the water. The way he shoots you a look over his shoulder — somehow both cocky and pouting — causes Reiner’s arm to tighten around your waist.

Bertholdt and Annie join them, keeping their distance from the excited splashing, and Pieck lies on one of the padded benches, stretched out in the sun like a lazy cat. Zeke reclines at the wheel, a worn-out paperback held open in one hand.

And you and Reiner sit together at the front of the boat, gazing out at the lake. He seems more relaxed now, leaning back, his face tipped up towards the sky. He’s wearing dark green swim trunks and an unbuttoned shirt, revealing lean, sculpted muscles.

Sometimes you think he hasn’t changed all that much since high school. But looking at him now, you know he has. He’s taller, his softer edges more finely honed, and he always has a bit of scruff on his cheeks, unlike the clean-shaven boy you remember.

As if sensing your eyes on him, he turns to you and smiles. “You okay? Want to get in the water?”

“Not really.” You snuggle into the warmth of his shoulder, seeking out that slip of bare skin between his collar and neck. “I’m fine right here.”

He kisses the top of your head, the softest brush of lips against hair. “Me, too.”

It’s been less than a day, and already, the lines between you are starting to blur. Maybe it’s because it all feels so familiar. There’s very little exaggeration in his actions, his boyfriend persona almost entirely overlapping with the real Reiner Braun. It’s unexpected and terrifying and exciting all at once, and you have to remind yourself that this isn’t real. One weekend. I promise.

• • •

That evening, you step away from the bonfire, where Pieck is reminiscing about a senior prank gone horribly wrong — something involving spray paint, super glue, and Principal Magath’s portrait that hung in the school library. Closing the patio door behind you, you quietly pad through the living room, heading for the kitchen. But then you hear two voices.

You peer around the corner to find Reiner and Porco standing in front of the fridge. It’s clear that this isn’t a pleasant conversation, but before you can do anything, Reiner says, “You’re here with someone else, Pock. Why do you even care?”

Porco bristles at the nickname. “Because of course it’s you. I always knew it would be, what with the sappy way you look at her.”

Reiner ignores his taunt. “If I remember correctly, you broke up with her. She’s free to date whoever she wants.”

“Yeah, well...” Porco scoffs. You can tell from his posture, and the way he jabs a finger into Reiner’s chest, that he’s drunk. “If you want my sloppy seconds, she’s all yours, buddy.”

It happens so fast, you have to stifle a gasp. One minute, Reiner’s standing there, and the next, he has Porco shoved against the wall. His face is contorted with anger as he warns, voice low, “Watch your fucking mouth.”

Porco blinks up at him, mouth agape. When Reiner pulls back, he stumbles out of his reach, running a shaky hand through his hair. Without a word, he turns on his heel, headed straight toward you. But you manage to duck into the nearby bathroom just in time, watching as he walks past. He looks upset, dazed, and more than a little embarrassed. You hear the patio door open and close, and then Reiner, someplace close by, heaves a sigh. “Shit...”

He exits the cabin a few minutes later, and you lean against the bathroom wall, trying to process what the hell just happened.

• • •

It’s two in the morning by the time you brush your teeth and change into pajamas. When you walk into your shared bedroom, you find Reiner, wearing boxers and an old football t-shirt, retrieving some blankets from the tiny closet.

“What are you doing?”

“I’ll sleep on the floor. You take the bed.”

“Reiner, no.” You reach out and still his hands. “We can both sleep in the bed. It’s fine. It’ll be warmer, too.”

He gives you a strange look, seeming almost nervous. “I don’t want you to be uncomfortable.”

You offer him a reassuring smile. “With you? Never. Besides, is it really that different from when we fall asleep on your couch while watching a movie?”

His laugh sounds strained. “I guess not...”

But when you’re both lying beneath the covers, you realize it is different — especially when it’s a twin-sized bed rather than a large, comfy sectional.

Reiner is lying on his side, as close to the edge as possible. It’s almost comical, watching him try to find a position that accommodates his large frame and still gives you space.

“This is weird, isn’t it?” you ask, breaking the silence.

“Sorry,” he mumbles, half-sitting up. “I’ll —”

“No, stop.” You reach out and grab his shoulder. It’s warm and firm beneath your hand, and you feel a jolt of something in the pit of your stomach. “Just... come over here.”

You pat the bed next to you, and he lies down, posture still stiff. With a huff, you grab his arm and pull it around you, hesitating once to ask, “Is this okay?” He nods, and you tug him closer, until his chest is pressed against your back.

“Now I don’t have to worry about you falling out of bed and cracking your skull open,” you mutter, trying to ignore the heat spreading across your face.

When he chuckles, you can feel it, and the sensation is both comforting and thrilling. “Like I said, just like a sleepover...” you say. At this point, you’re mostly trying to convince yourself.

“We’re not kids anymore,” Reiner replies softly, making your insides feel as if they’re doing a somersault.

You lightly kick back against his leg. “I know that. This does feel... different.”

He hums, and his head inches forward, tucking yours beneath his chin.

His steady breathing begins to lull you to sleep. He’s big and warm and safe, and he feels like home, more than anything or anyone ever has. The realization is fuzzy amidst your growing exhaustion, but it fills you with a peculiar kind of joy.

You almost miss his words as you drift off. They’re quiet and soft, like an exhale of breath.

“I love you.”

• • •

When you wake up the next morning, you’re alone. You push away your disappointment and get dressed, following the smell of pancakes downstairs to the kitchen. Bertholdt turns from the stove, and you can’t help but smile, noticing the “Hot Stuff Coming Through” apron he’s wearing.

“Pancakes?” he asks, and you nod. As you busy yourself with pouring a cup of coffee, Annie comes up beside you, leaning in to murmur, “Porco and Hanna left an hour ago.”

“What?” You look up at her, surprised. “They’re not coming back?”

“He said she had a work thing that came up.” Annie tucks a strand of hair behind her ear. “But I think he and Reiner got into it last night, and he was feeling weird about it.”

“You know how he gets,” Bertholdt says, holding up a bag of chocolate chips. You nod, and he sprinkles some into the batter. “He’d rather run away than apologize.”

You nod absently, sipping your coffee. When you sit down at the dining room table a few minutes later, Zeke nods at you over his book, Pieck waves cheerfully, and Reiner looks up at you, concern etched across his face. “Everything okay?”

“Yeah.” You sit down beside him and poke at your food. “Annie told me Porco left.”

“Oh... Yeah, he did.”

You’re quiet all the way through breakfast, listening to the others talk about going kayaking or playing beach volleyball. When the time comes to clean up, you offer to handle the dishes, and Reiner silently joins you, washing while you dry.

You’re sure there’s a better way to bring it up, but you’re so preoccupied, those three little words running on repeat through your head, that you simply blurt out, “Did you mean it?”

Reiner glances at you, his brow furrowed. “What?”

Your grip on the mug you’re drying tightens. “What you said last night.”

Instantly, his expression shifts to one of shock. He nearly drops the sponge in his hand and stammers, “Uh, I... I thought you were asleep...”

“Is that why you said it?”

He stares at you for a long moment. “Yeah... It sort of... slipped out. After yesterday. Being so close to you, it felt...” A dark flush colors his cheeks. “I’m sorry.”

“Why?”

“Because you didn’t want something real.” He grabs a nearby towel and dries his hands, leaning against the sink. “But I did — I do. It’s why I tried to say no, at first, to doing this. I didn’t think I’d be able to fake what’s already real for me, and then just... pretend like it never happened. I have a hard time saying no to you, though, so...”

You set the mug down and realize you’re trembling, your heart beating a mile a minute. “Why didn’t you say anything?”

He shrugs, and the sadness in his face pierces right through you. “I thought you deserved someone better than me.”

You know he’s talking about his struggles with depression and self-confidence, the lingering pain of his childhood, growing up with a mother who never made him feel like he was enough and a father who never wanted him.

Without thinking, you reach up, hands gently cradling his face. “Hey... Look at me.” He does, and you murmur, “There’s no one better than you.”

Your thumb strokes along his cheek, and he leans into your touch, eyes fluttering shut. It’s so sweet and endearing — so perfectly him.

Even in high school, beneath his wise-cracking, popular jock façade, he was soft and kind. He was the one who cried with you when your grandmother died, never letting go of your hand throughout the whole funeral. He was the one who made mix CDs of songs you both loved and belted in the car on the way home from movie nights at Bertholdt’s house. He was the one who punched your prom date when he tried to force you into the backseat of his car, knocking out two of his teeth. He was the one who wrote you notes in college, tucking them into your jacket pocket or bag whenever you met up for coffee at the campus library.

He’s always been there for you — always. The realization feels stupidly simple and long overdue. How could what you feel for him, what you’ve felt for him since high school, be anything other than love?

“You’re more than enough. And I don’t want to pretend.” He opens his eyes, and you smile up at him. “Say it again?”

His arms slide around you, pulling you close. “Say what?” he asks quietly, kissing your forehead. “You’ll have to be more specific...”

You rest your hands on his chest, tracing the faint letters on his t-shirt. “Mm... I think it went a little something like this.” Standing on your tiptoes, you angle your lips toward his ear, brushing against his stubble. “I love you.”

He squeezes you so tight, you gasp, and as he buries his face in the crook of your neck, he whispers back, “I love you, too.”

#200 followers event #attack on titan #aot #reiner braun #reiner x reader #reiner braun x reader

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bella-donna418 · 3 years

Text

Everyone watching their own trailer

A/N: So I've been thinking of actors AU for SnK because... anti-depressant purposes (a something before she goes back to angst writing)

And this timeline is when the trailer was released, and BEFORE the premiering of the first episode for the final season (and idk why I'm making this just now WHEN THERE'S LITERALLY 7 EPISODES FOR SEASON 4 NOW-)

@shytomatomato also made a light bulb light up in my head bcs she used that hot Ereh gif (srsly I can't stop laughing of the caption I love you for it <3)

~~~

Ok here you go LOL

~~~

So they're all actors and stuff (like what I mentioned earlier)

And since they can't go home until 8 or 9 (I think this is the regular time actors go home, but might be later or smth)

They all just finished with their shooting/tapings and decided to rest in the lounge when Sasha thought of an idea.

She was like, "Let's watch TV!"

Everybody thought of it as something to pass time by—they can't really sleep too due to how much coffee they drank earlier to keep them from looking like they're exhausted or smth.

Everybody went to the lounge (idk if studios have lounges, but let's assume) and all sat their a$*es on the couches lazily (their obviously tired and relieved they finished)

Connie turns the TV on and went to YouTube (smart TVs ofc)

And the very first video that popped was the trailer they made.

"Y'all wanna watch this?" He asked.

Everyone nodded in agreement since they haven't watched it yet, and only saw a glimpse of their scenes being edited, but not the whole deal

Also, they're caught up with the manga and as usual... Connie and Sasha would laugh at the memes they're making (these 2 never looked tired at all)

The lounge had food, most of them spend their free time their or while they're on break (or they go to restaurants when they feel like it)

So they're now watching the trailer

And then when the first scene popped up, they were just "woaaaahhh" and then they looked at Falco—ended up laughing as he curled up from embarrassment

Then the music suddenly intensified—all of them watching in awe as their mouths fell agape

And when Zofia, Udo, and Gabi's scene showed up they were now curling up and Falco just joined the laughter.

Also Sasha is recording these moments (for her vlogs)

"OMFG ZEKE AND REINER!" Ymir pointed out and everyone started laughing.

Their reactions are just them smiling and looking so tired (HAHAHAHAHA)

"Wow!! Gabi looking so great there." Pieck beamed and took a glance at Falco who seems to be frozen and blushing.

"Porco and Pieck!" Sasha and Connie laughed—earning a small glare from Levi since he's too annoyed of their noises and screaming.

"#Falco and Gabi moment" Zofia smugly said when the headbutt scene showed up earning a glare from the two.

Then guess their reaction to the Reiner going down the stairs scene.

Yup, all are literally teasing Reiner and laughing at him—Sasha and Connie, the meme masters, are literally making so many memes about it.

"The gun was disgusting!" He hissed.

"wHy cAn'T yOU jUsT LeT mE diE?" Jean finally joined the teasing of the two bakas who can't take anything seriously (Connie and Sasha usually laugh during tapings and they had to take so many tries)

"The airship scene took us like 50 tries because these two won't stop laughing." Mikasa retorted—earning a pout from the two.

"LMAOOO JEAN!" Connie joked and Jean just went ultra glare mode, but Connie laughed it off.

"The Sasha and Mikasa scene, though-" Annie smiled as she drank her iced coffee she didn't finish earlier.

"Stop-" Mikasa curled up and hid herself from everyone while Eren looked at her and decided to poke her out of her trance—works all the time.

"Annie, look! It's Armin!" Historia laughed at the two who were now looking away from each other, everyone joining in.

"Levi!" Hanji looked at the shorty beside her who seems to be hiding on her arm—making everyone laugh.

And then... this scene.

The scene we all went crazy for.

THE EREN FLEXIN THOSE ABS- (we're getting off topic, ahem.)

They all looked at Mikasa while she was just a blushing mess, trying to conceal herself from all humanity. The image of the scene still in her mind—Connie pausing the TV to troll her.

Sasha smirked and called to Mikasa.

"Mikasa! The scene is over now!" And Mikasa did what she wasn't supposed to do. Believing her.

So when she broke out of her position, the first thing to greet her, was that image from the scene.

Before she could hide again, Eren unexpectedly pulled her close to him—the poor girl blushing even harder and them earning "oooohhs.." (The ones with the most ooohhss were Zeke and Armin)

"JUST PLAY THE GODDAMN THING!" She shouted while hiding herself on Eren's chest making Sasha laugh and do what she said.

"Yelena be praising the airships." Annie said earning a smirk from Yelena.

"It's my new religion." She remarked making everyone laugh.

"The trailer is so badass especially Eren who was staring at the green screen." Jean laughed earning a glare from him.

"Also Eren can't even take the "I hate you" part seriously." Zeke grinned at his brother who seems to be comforting Mikasa who's just a blushing mess, and muffled screaming.

"Now I wonder for the first episode" Pieck suggested and looked at the clock.

"We still do have time for 1 or 2 episodes." Zeke said and relaxed himself on the couch and wiggling his eyebrows at Eren.

Bonus: They watched the first episode with Sasha and Connie laughing at the people involved in it (srsly these two are the noisy friends you have when smth great happens)

~~~

A/N: I'd say this HC is soo bad and not well planned. Sorry for a disappointing HC. (Just me bluntly putting what their reactions would be ahahahaha)

Anyway I'd say I was Mikasa alone in my room when the Eren scene showed up.

Personally, I think Zeke and Armin are the founders of the EreMika fan club OwO (the brother ships it probably mfg)

Like I said, my crass and blunt way of speaking are all included in every HC I make.

And these are what my mind all said HAHAHAHA-

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jujubean90 · 2 years

Text

II- Drinking Game

Word Count: 5548

Genre: AoT AU! Modern Foreign Exchange Students x OC, Slow Burn Romance (My OC Adelaide x Reiner Braun and @sparklekitteh x Jean Kirstein).

Warnings: Characters are appropriately aged up for NSFW situations. Do not repost, copy, or duplicate. Sorry for typos. I try. Remember I’m hella dyslexic. NSFW Minors DNI mentions of boners and sexual lewd dirty talk from Reiner. Please if you are going to criticize my attempts to use another language, be gentle. I did the best research I could and I'm using Google translate soooo. Constructive criticism is welcomed concerning the German and French language and cultural stuff mentioned. Also, when I say football, I mean actual football, not the American version.

Featured Characters and ships in this series:

AOT: Ymir x Historia Reiss, Eren Yeager X Mikasa Ackerman, Connie Springer x Sasha Braus, Bertholdt Hoover x Annie Leonhart, Marcel Galliard, Porco Galliard, Marco Bodt, Erwin Smith, Levi Ackerman, Armin Arlert, Pieck Finger, Mina Carolina (Will be updated over time) My OC: Adelaide Drust, Dresen Zalargin, Kaleo and Nerao Caldera, Catorce Oreic, Teresan Molnier

Previous chapter here!

Synopsis: It's drinking fun time at the Frat party! Reiner and Adelaide versus Porco and Marcel and two of her friends. Who will win? Conversation gets steamy between Reiner and Adelaide.

“DRINK OFF!” Eren yelled from across the yard. “The Galliard’s versus Germany’s strongest, Reiner Braun! Iron arms and iron stomach!”

Adelaide and the other hockey players looked up from the game they were invested in on her phone. Ymir almost choked on her drink when Reiner’s name was called out.

“Addie! It’s him!” she said as Historia patted her back. “The guy!”

“Who?” the dark-haired Captain of the Ice Titans, Dresen asked as he looked up between her and Adelaide. “What guy?”

“The guy she met last night,” Ymir huffed.

“You met someone?” Kaleo questioned with a raised brow.

“We met at the gym and worked out together,” Adelaide confirmed. “And we kinda hit it off.”

Teresan exchanged glances with the rest of their friends. “Really? And what’s so special about him? You’ve never been interested in anyone.”

Adelaide blushed and it caused everyone to quiet down and stare at her like she had three heads. “I just…thought he was attractive and funny.”

Dresen huffed for a minute and averted his eyes. The other boys sifted uneasily.

“Don’t tell me you’re all jealous,” Ymir sneered. “Really? Especially you? Mr. Fucks anything with legs?”

“I’m not jealous,” Dresen snapped back. “I just don’t like change is all. We’ve been this tight nit dysfunctional family for a long time and Adelaide is the leader of our stupid group. I like our dynamic and…I don’t want it to change is all.”

Everyone else chimed up in agreeance.

“But…this guy is someone you actually like?” Teresan motioned to Reiner who was standing on the opposite side of table being filled with glasses of beer. “For real? I mean…if that’s the case you always have our support.”

Dresen folded his arms and sighed. “Damn, you think he’s gonna hate that you have a bunch of guy friends? Well, we’re kinda beyond that. I mean we’ve all dog piled in your bed since we were kids so…”

“Wait really?” Ymir questioned. “Addie, I didn’t think you care much for sexual conquests.”

“Oh, our relationship with Adelaide has always been something different,” Nerao answered.

“That’s correct,” Adelaide nodded. “Nothing sexual involved.”

“Yeah, I’ve never wanted that sort of relationship with her,” Dresen explained. “It's like, a deeper level of friendship without the bullshit of a romantic relationship. It’s stronger.”

“Ah, a purely platonic,” Historia reasoned.

“Yeah,” the three men answered.

“With cuddles,” Catorce, the fourth male of the group piped up.

“Though, I was never one to dog pile with the rest of them,” Teresan revealed. “I don’t’ like physical contact.”

“You play a contact sport though,” Ymir laughed.

Teresan sighed and rolled his eyes. “Alright, I don’t like intimate contact, how’s that? Gotta anything else to add, smart ass?”

“I’m going to see what’s happening,” Adelaide said as she rose from her seat. While Ymir and Teresan taunted one another playfully.

“But…but the game,” Nerao whined as she took her phone.

“Use yours or Dresen’s,” Adelaide suggested. “You have my account information.”

Ymir gave Historia a shit-eating grin as the boys began murmuring amongst themselves about whether or not they actually liked this idea of her finding someone. Adelaide made her way across the yard to the crowd of people surrounding the drinking challenge.

“What’s going on?” she questioned a freckled face dark-haired student.

“The Galliard Brothers are facing off against Reiner in a timed drinking match.”

“It’s a two vs one competition, that’s not fair,” Adelaide muttered.

“Reiner will be just fine by himself,” the dark-haired boy confirmed. “I’m Marco by the way. Marco Bodt, I’m from Italy and I’m on the swim team.”

“I’m Adelaide, Captain of the women’s hockey team and I’m from Canada,” she said as she extended her hand for him. He gently took it and squeezed a little endearingly. “Now, if you’ll excuse me, I need to even out this situation.”

Marco tilted his head to the side as Adelaide pushed her way to through the crowd of students to the front. The Galliards were taunting Reiner and for a moment, he indulged them until he saw Adelaide. His breath hitched as he laid eyes on her. He didn’t get a chance to see her clearly when she arrived, but now, holy shit. His dick jumped so quick. Her cleavage and midriff were exposed. He saw her abs and how lovely her tits sat pushed together in that fucking crop top. And then there was her skirt, just barely going to her knee. Her legs were so strong and beautiful.

Everything Porco said from that point forward fell on deaf ears. Their eyes met and he wanted to go to her. He wanted to stop this and just take her in his arms. He wanted to sit her on his thigh and have her ride it while he pleasured her. Oh, the things they could do together! Fuck the Galliards and fuck their competition.

“Is there room for one more?” she asked, and he could barely hear it over the imaginary sound of her moaning in his ear as he overstimulated her.

The area fell silent. Porco and Marcel turned around and suddenly realized why Reiner was so quiet. She looked beyond them to him. But it was Eren who spoke up to answer her.

“Erem…that is up to them,” he said. “It is their challenge.”

“Sure,” Reiner quietly said. He wasn’t about to let them deny her. Not that they would considering they crushed on her so hard.

“Good, I wanted to make this an even competition,” Adelaide said as she strolled over and took a spot by Reiner. “It wasn’t right having two against one. So, what are the rules?”

Porco and Marcel were gapping like fish struggling trying to breathe air as she stood next to Reiner. Reiner’s heart pounded in his chest. She didn’t just come to participate. She came for him! She came to help him against the Galliards. He didn’t need it. He could outdrink them easily, but the fact remained, she was stepping up to partner specifically with him.

“Long time no see,” she said, meeting his now flustered gaze. And suddenly, the Galliard brothers were glaring at Reiner and holy fuck was he savoring their envy. It brought his confidence out and he gave her a charming smile.

“Coming to my rescue?” he asked.

“Something like that,” she replied. “Just wanted to thank you for last night so I thought I’d champion your cause.”

Reiner’s eyes met Porco and Marcel’s and he could not stop the shit-eating grin from spreading across his face. It was as if he stood across two pissed off bulls with their nostrils flared, ready to charge and gore him to death. They had no idea what the true context of her comment meant. Adelaide worked out with him and that was it. Granted, if she hadn’t been interrupted, they probably would have ended up fucking like animals in a secluded area off camera.

His eyes grew heavy at the thought of her gripping a barbell with her ankles near her head while he braced himself on the same barbell and fucked her brains out on the bench. He bit his lip as that scenario played out in his mind. He hadn’t had sex in a while despite being pumped full of natural testosterone from working out. He just…hadn’t found someone he wanted. But her? Holy shit, he wanted her.

“Are we placing a wager?” Adelaide questioned.

“We are now,” Porco stated as he looked from Reiner to her. “How about this…if we beat you and Reiner, you go on a date with me.”

“Us,” Marcel interjected quickly. “We’re brothers.”

Reiner set his jaw. They looked so fucking proud of themselves and it disgusted him.

“No,” Adelaide bluntly said. “I’m a fucking person and I refuse to be something won based on a wager determined by a drinking game. You can go fuck yourselves.”

Ymir whistled loudly and began cackling as her and the other hockey players approached. “Take that, you fucking male pigs!”

“The fuck sort of wager is that anyway?” Dresen questioned as he glared at the Galliards with his arms crossed. “How about I get involved and if I win, you two dumbasses go on a date with me?”

Marcel and Porco looked horrified, and they quieted down immediately. People were laughing while the five men from the Ice Titan's hockey team stood and waited to see if they would respond with any sort of banter. They were ready and Adelaide looked equally amused as she and the Assistant Captain, Nerao Caldera exchanged knowing smirks.

“Yeah, you don’t like it when the tables are turned do yah?” Dresen pressed as he walked forward. “Women aren’t objects to be won, fuck head.”

Everyone except Reiner and Adelaide’s friends shifted uncomfortably. He wasn’t dumb enough to suggest something so desperate. Especially since he was sure she was into him. She clearly had a large group of friends ready to throw down right along with her. He loved their combined loyalty.

"What is going on here?" Jean questioned as he and Juli emerged from the frat house flailing his arms wildly. "All this tension and for what? Hm? Hmmm!?"

"I say no wager and it all just boils down to bragging rights," Eren suggested.

"I second that," Reiner announced.

"Oh, is that what this is? Another pissing match between Reiner and Porco? And it's gone too far again, hum? Why can't you all just enjoy a get together without being so childish?"

Adelaide fought back the smile threatening to spread across her face. Jean kept going off until finally he threw his hands up.

"You know what? Go ahead, drink yourselves stupid cause you won't put a dent in Reiner, but I guess I'll just soak up the entertainment. Come on, let's get the grill going Juli. Gotta have someone actually cooking. That was the whole fucking point of this get together!"

He just muttered obscenities as he took Julianna's hand and led her back up to the deck. She looked back to Adelaide and honestly it was adorable. Adelaide just gave her a nod expressing that everything was fine followed by a wink and a thumbs up.

"Anyway, let's get this shit show started," Eren said as clapped his hands together. "Before the beer gets too warm and gross or you piss the Frenchman off more. Now, are the other two players participating?"

Dresen and Teresan both met Adelaide's cocky grin with a huff. "You know what? Yeah. Just like old times back home. Let's fucking go."

Adelaide cheered and clasped her hand on Dresen's shoulder. "That's the spirit lads. I'm still gonna squash you though."

"Not a fucking chance Addie," Teresan laughed. "Gonna curb stomp you hard, Ghost!"

"Oh yeah? Wanna head over later and try me on the ice too while we're at it? You think I won't drag you bare ass across the rink kicking and screaming? Boys, please. You both know I can out skate and outshoot you. I'll be happy to remind you that the only reason I'm not playing in the men's league is for the sake of your fragile pride."

Adelaide stared defiantly up at both Dresen and Teresan as they continued taunting one another. The crowd gathering around them and hyped up the whole situation.

"Hey, you idiots, just don't overdo it," Narao warned as he stood between the electrifying trio. "Don't want to carry you fucks outta here. That means you two, not Adelaide."

"Wow! It's the Captain of the Ice Witches versus the Captain of the Ice Titans!" Someone yelled off to the side. And suddenly, people were pulling out their phones and getting more excited about the drinking competition. Eren was soaking it all in because this was his party and his idea. This type of campus publicity would be so good for their little frat

"Alright, alright," Eren began. "The rules are simple. Drink more than your opponent in the time limit. If you puke or step away, you are out. If both members are down, well it’s kinda obvious, but you’ve lost."

"Sounds good," Adelaide said and Reiner caught that competitive glimmer in her eye. She wanted to win and now, it wasn't just about getting the Galliards shit faced so he could have her to himself without their interference. This was suddenly so much more because of Adelaide and her rivalry with her friends. It was innocent compared to him and Porco.

"We've got to win," Adelaide said to Reiner as she clasped his shoulder. "I'm counting on you, ok?"

Reiner felt such a strong sense of pride when she spoke. She believed in him. He could hear it in her voice, and he didn't want to let her down. "We've got this. You and me."

She grinned up at him and he melted on the spot. He imagined the Galliards were fuming at the sight of the two of them standing so close to together.

More glasses were placed for the additional challengers. Reiner leaned down to whisper to Adelaide as they conversed off to the side while they waited to start.

"Got any info on your friends? Like what are their tactics for something like this?"

"We haven't had a drinking competition for a minute but," Adelaide revealed. "but despite my size, I can out drink them. Or rather, I use to be able to do it."

"Just pace yourself if you feel your stomach get tight. I can keep the momentum. You can count on me, Addie."

"Worried about me, big guy? Honestly, surprised you agree to do something so stupidly stereotypical.”

"This is what the Galliards chose. Trust me, a stein holding competition or anything else would automatically land me a victory. As for you, my little warrior, I can nurse a hangover better than anyone, so I'll make sure you're okay after consuming this piss they call beer. Win or lose, you're in good hands with me."

"Is that so? Well, I think I picked the best person to partner with. But Reiner, I prefer to win so be a good boy and let’s do our best."

Reiner blushed and he drew his mouth a little closer to her ear. His breath was hot against her flesh, and it caused her skin to prickle as he spoke. His tone dropped an entire octave too. "I think you just joined in to get close to me."

"Maybe I did, and what of it? You seemed excited about it, or am I wrong?"

"It's my accent, isn't it?" He questioned, clicking his tongue lightly. "Or is there something else that's got you drawn to me? Something you want me to do for you? Something...that'll make you feel good? I promise I'll be good for you."

"Why don't you win this for us, and we'll talk about your victory reward from me after the fact, hum?"

His eyes relaxed and he drew himself closer to her. The tip of his prominent nose brushed against her cheek. "You wanna know what I said to you last night in my language before you left?"

"Did it have to do with that stiff cock of yours?"

Reiner's face flushed a darker shade of red and he swallowed hard. He broke away from her and cleared his throat because he wasn't expecting to be called out. "You...saw that I was hard for you?"

"You aren’t exactly small, babe," Adelaide giggled. "Yeah, I saw it. You were packing something good in those sweats, and you might have piqued my interest."

After gathering his nerve and confidence again he leaned back down to speak in her ear. "Can I... can I tell you something else in my language? While I'm here with you now?"

"I'm not going to stop you."

"Ich bin heiß auf dich," he whispered while his bottom lip grazed her ear lobe. "Ich will so gern mit dir vögeln."

"Mmm, wanna tell what it means?"

"Can I show you instead? After we kick their asses?"

"Wanna get my consent now?"

"That depends. Do you want to have sex with me?" He boldly asked. He was tired of dancing around what he needed. The moment was getting too hot, and he need clarity. Reiner reached out and gently placed his hands on her hips, pulling her into his strong frame. "Because I've been thinking about you since last night. I couldn't get you out my mind."

"Be honest with me. Did you cum to thought of fucking me last night?"

Reiner shifted a bit. His dick was so hard, and he need some form of contact and settling in between her plump ass just felt right. His eyes traveled down her beautiful, exposed cleavage. He wanted to fuck her tits. He wanted her to ride him. He wanted to take her back into his room and claim her because she wanted to be his. He wanted the entire Frat to know that he was fucking her. He wanted them all to hear him when she sucked him off. He wanted to drown her beautiful cunt in his thick, sticky cum.

"A-A few times," he admitted letting his lips sink lower to her neck. His staggered breath made her instinctively clench her thighs, but she kept her stoic expression as she entertained his thoughts.

"Wanna make those imaginary thoughts real?" she asked as she tilted her head to the side, inviting him to indulge in front of everyone. God, he wanted to. He could feel the Galliards watching and seething because he was the one leaned down, sweettalking her while her backside rested against his throbbing, curved dick and not theirs.

"Is it too late to withdraw from the challenge? Because I would much rather be making you feel good. Du verdienst es, mien Prinzessin."

Her hand stealthily slid behind her to reach out and grab his clothed length. Reiner sucked air through his teeth as she palmed him and felt him up. He thrusted his hips forward, urging her to get a better grip. And he did it all while softly grunting in her ear.

"Ah, ah, uuh...ohhh, you're gonna tease me, huh? Gonna get me worked up? That's dangerous...ahh, ahhh. Y-you got any German in your family?"

"No, is that a problem?"

"Ah uh, because you're about to have a whole lot of German in you tonight. Gonna fuck my whole ancestry into your pretty cunt. If you ever take one of those stupid tests to determine your heritage, you can thank me for whatever percent shows up from my country. Fuck sweetheart, I need to be buried between your thighs."

"I'm looking forward to celebrating our inevitable win," Adelaide cooed as she turned to speak in his ear while withdrawing her hand. “Because I want to hear you say more stupid shit like that when I’m riding your dick.”

"Ich will nicht, dass du aufhörst," he groaned. “I- I do not want you to stop.”

"You sound so desperate to fuck me.”

"Yes, yes, yes, mmmm," Reiner sighed.

"Prove it then," she challenged. "Win for me."

“Für dich, meine Prinzessin.”

Jean raised his brow because he saw some of what was transpiring between Adelaide and Reiner. He saw the big man hovering over her, whispering to her and it suddenly click. “Oof, so that’s why Reiner and the Galliards are at one another. Adelaide likes Reiner. Oh, darling, this is going to be so interesting! I think I might be too distracted to cook! Reiner’s like a puppy and the Galliards are MAD. Look, looklooklook!”

“Jeanbo, we’re trying to cook,” Juli gently reminded him.

“But…but the tension! The fight for her attention! Those idiot men are battling it out for her affection and bragging rights! It’s like American reality TV but in the flesh! Except there's this big German guy and the Americans can't compete!”

“I erm, think Adelaide’s already picked who she wants.”

“Eh? Why do you say this?”

Juli cleared her throat. “Because Reiner’s hand is all over her ass.”

Jean didn’t turn around to see for himself. He just frowned in utter disappointment and muttered under his breath. Then he dramatically shrugged and smiled as he continued about his grill master duties while humming something. Juli broke out into a giggling fit because he had this habit of puffing up only to deflate just as quickly and move on to something else.

He was preparing the rotisseries while the grill got to the right temperature. “Once we get the meat on, to the kitchen we go, ma chérie. Lyonnaise potatoes for everyone with these chickens, I think.”

While Jean and Juli prepared the chickens and the grill, the drinking competition was about to get underway. All participants were lined up at the tables. Phones were out recording.

“Gonna put you to shame, Braun,” Porco swore. “Then she can see what a real winner looks like.”

Reiner just smiled at him. Adelaide made it clear she wanted to spend an evening with him. She paid no mind to the Galliards as they tried to talk themselves up. Her attention was on her friends Dresen and Teresan. They taunted one another just like the Galliards teased Reiner, though it was much friendlier compared to the shit spouting off between them. Then Dresen turned to Reiner and smirked.

“Alright, we’ve got the table full, and the kegs are on standby,” Eren announced. “Once half the cups are gone, we’ll start to replace. Everyone get into positions!”

Jean became fixated on the competition again. “Juli, look, look!”

“Jeanbo…finish getting the chickens on the rotisserie, love.”

“But! AH, the look on everyone’s faces! The Galliard have a point to prove. Reiner is smirking because he knows he’s got this. Adelaide has this shit-eating grin all over her face and the two other boys...I dunno who they are but, Adelaide must know them. Anyway, they’re so sure they’re going to win too. It’s just! So. Much. DELICIOUS rivalry!”

Eren took a deep breath and he pressed down on his air horn app button on his phone. The noise broke the tense silence around them, and the competition began. Everyone took two solo cups and automatically tilted their heads back to guzzle down their drinks. Shouting erupted around the yard. “Chug! Chug!” they said and it was Reiner who reached for his third and fourth cups followed by Dresen and Teresan moments afterward. Adelaide tossed her cups aside and grab two more at the same time as the Galliards.

“Start filling a few up!” Eren ordered Connie and he got to work. Marco hurried over to assist and found himself laughing at all the merriment. Annie Leonhart shook her head as she watched her team Captain battle it out with the boys.

“Go Addie! Go! Fuck those boys up!” Ymir cheered as she and Historia hung on one another while drinking happily right along with everyone else. Of course, they didn't rush through their drinks like the challengers.

At the grill, Juli patiently called attention to Jean from time to time as they got the chickens going and the rest of the meat laid out too. “Alright, all set here. Gotta cut the potatoes and toss them in the pan. I think Reiner’s Obatzda just needs to be garnished with onion, but the Laugenbrezeln need to be warmed. He made them last night before heading to the gym. Might as well get that going so folks have appetizers. Marco brought a big antipasto platter too.”

He sighed as he patted his brow dry and looked up to see how the competition was transpiring. Connie and Marco were rushing cups of beer out to replace what was already consumed. He had no idea who was ahead. Armin Arlert seemed to be keeping score somehow. Reiner was a machine and seemed like Dresen was keeping a righteous pace right along him. Adelaide was still going strong too.

“For a tiny woman, she can consume a lot of drink,” Jean pointed out. “I think I count…6 cups at her feet? And they were all stupidly full. Who do you think is gonna give out first?”

“Marcel,” Juli said. “He looks a little overwhelmed.”

“Ah, yes I see that now. Dunno what Adelaide’s face is like since her back is to us.”

Sure enough, Marcel began to slow down. Porco eyed him and almost panicked because everyone else was still going strong. Then, Teresan suddenly coughed and had to stop for a bit because his beer went down the wrong pipe. Marcel kept on going, even picking up the pace.

“Oh man, this is way too intense indeed,” Jean sighed as he set his timer on his phone. “Come along Juli. We need to continue working in the kitchen. This is the saddest. I won't see when they all fall a part.”

Adelaide’s vision started to get a little hazy, but her cheeks weren’t flushed like Dresen or Porco. Marcel’s second wind began to falter completely. Teresan recovered and began guzzling down as much as he could. Reiner paced himself now while Dresen paused just for a moment.

“Reiner and Adelaide are in the lead!” Armin called and both Dresen and Porco glared.

“Pick it up Marcel!” he snapped. “Come on big bro! I know you can do it.”

Marcel was doing his best, drinking back everything while concentrating on keeping his throat open so it just went down with ease. Teresan shook his head and grabbed another, but about half way through the cup, he slammed it down and huffed.

“I can’t,” he said. “I can’t hold it in. I gotta pee so bad.”

“Don’t you dare!” Dresen hollered. “We’ll fall behind.”

Teresan didn’t care. He had plenty of water and everything else beforehand and he needed to go. He excused himself while Dresen tried to keep the momentum. Marcel was next to drop out. His stomach became so tight that he was afraid he was going to puke. Adelaide slowed herself down for tactical reasons. Reiner was carrying the flame like a champion.

“Porco and Dresen are neck and neck!” Armin shouted.

“How far are they behind Reiner and Addie?” Eren called.

“Three beers,” Armin confirmed.

And with that knowledge, everyone remaining kicked it up a notch. Marco and Connie were joined by Bertholdt and Ymir to help keep the beer cups filled. Ymir and Connie were whooping and hollering while the crowd of students cheered.

Reiner stilled for a moment, crinkling his brow. “Ack, whatever this brew is now…disgusting! Tastes industrial.”

Adelaide groaned and paused too. “Absolute trash.”

“Two beers ahead of Porco,” Armin revealed. “Dresen is last. Three behind Porco.”

“Fuck I can’t,” Dresen sighed, and he lowered his cup unable to continue. “This taste is terrible. I’m out!“

“Dresen’s team forfeits!” Armin announced.

Porco laughed as he consumed the brew without a problem. “We brought three different kegs. This one was a favorite of mine. Guess you all cant handle it. Lucky me. Now to take the two of you down.”

“Reiner…we’ve gotta stomach it,” Adelaide persisted.

He took a deep breath. “Right. After this…if you aren’t absolutely put off by beer, I want to take you to taste real German beer. Not this trash. Erm, another day I mean.”

“Sounds like a date,” she replied as she took her cups. “If you win, that is.”

That’s all he needed to hear to get him going again. He wanted to win this for the sake of his pride and because she chose to do this stupid game with him. Soon, they were making these awful faces while drinking down whatever piss water Porco thought constituted as good beer.

Adelaide sighed and sat her unfinished cup down. “This is it,” she said wearily, smiling up to Reiner. “It’s all on you.”

“One minute remaining!” Eren announced.

Reiner growled and pushed himself further, guzzling down what had gone from piss to literal liquid ass. He had no idea where he was in comparison to Porco. He was finishing his last cup when he suddenly heard Armin shout, “Time!”

Porco steadied himself and stared up at Reiner with a drunken smirk, but Reiner didn’t care. His attention went immediately to Adelaide.

“Are you okay?”

She nodded and sighed. “Yeah, gonna go sit down though. I need some water or something.”

“I’ll get for you,” he promised as he took her arm. Before he could escort her to sit down Armin stood up to deliver the results.

“And the winner is Reiner and Adelaide!” shouted Armin and everyone cheered, for the exception of the participants. Dresen was laying down, trying to soothe his full belly while Teresan and Nerao discussed what to do with him. The other two hockey players were hurrying over to see to him. Porco just bitterly shrunk away while his brother sat still, also trying to deal with the fact he drank way too much.

“Yes! Addie brought the female heat,” Ymir shouted. “Fuck you stupid boys!”

“Reiner carried it though,” countered one student.

“Adelaide still put up a good fight,” Armin stated. “She out drank Marcel and Teresan. So, in terms of team support, she was superior!”

Jean busted out of the house with two platters of food while people discussed the competition. “Who wants appetizers!?”

“Gods, please anything to soak up this beer,” Adelaide groaned as she watched Jean and Juli set food on a serving table atop the deck.

“Oh, split a pretzel with me,” Reiner suggested. “Sit and I’ll bring you one and some fresh water. I made the pretzels from scratch. It’s the big fluffy kind.”

“I’ll come with you.”

He immediately looked concerned, but her expression made him dismiss any sort of suggestion he might have had about her sitting down. She was stubborn and he imagined she had a few smart-ass replies for him if he advised that she should go wait for him. So he just sighed and smiled fondly down at her when he placed his arm around her waist to lead her to up to the deck. He saw she was pleased by his cooperation and it made him pull her closer.

“I’m going to be in trouble with you, huh?”

“You seem like the kind of guy who likes a little trouble,” she commented with a playful wink. “But if you can’t handle it Rhino, I understand.”

“You think I can’t handle you? Cute. Just wait until I get you alone. I’ve got plenty of things I’d like to see you handle…if you can, that is.”

“You’re disgustingly lewd…I think I like it.”

Jean hummed away, setting brats on the grill that Reiner bought from the European Grocery Market in town. Juli was in and out, setting the table bit by bit, until Jean turned and saw what she was doing. “No, no! Wait for me. I need to help you.”

“I can do it, promise.”

Jean shook his head. “Not without me, my love. It isn’t right. I know you are capable…I just want to help you. I am just standing here doing nothing.”

“You aren’t just doing nothing though,” Juli giggled and as booped his nose. And it was funny how Jean just melted on the spot. He took her in his arms immediately.

“Have I told you how I’m madly in love with you?” he asked. “Like, clinically I should be locked away because that is just how bad it is. I am crazy for you. My one and only. Ah, I swear you are just the most beautiful woman to ever grace this ball of mud. And I am so lucky to have you.”

Reiner split his pretzel and handed it to Adelaide while they watched Jean profess his feelings for Juli. They were both undoubtedly amused by his swooning and lovesick compliments.

“You know, he’s super poetic,” Adelaide pointed out as she munched away. “Definitely has a way with words. Kinda reminds me of a peacock always dancing and displaying his feathers.”

Reiner blew air through his nose in amusement. “Ah, just makes the zoo a little more complete. Don't you think? I'm the rhino and he is the peacock. Kinda curious what you come up with for the others. but, I gotta know do you like that sort of poetic, romancing stuff? I am…not much for words and poetry."

“I’m not either,” she admitted. “But these pretzels are fucking amazing and if you cook a lot, well, that’s one of my favorite unspoken love languages. Besides, your verbal poetry seems to be dirty talk.”

“Ha, normally I’m not like that, but you kind stir me up.”

“Want me to keep doing it?” Adelaide questioned.

“Fuel my desire and I’ll have you calling my name before tomorrow morning,” he promised. “But to bring the conversation back to actual food, I have plenty of things I can make. Honestly, cooking for you would be grand. Sharing anything from my country with you would make me happy. So, these pretzels are called Laugenbrezeln and they go great with Obatzda, which is a beer cheese spread. Maybe try a little if you can?”

Reiner tore of a piece of fresh pretzel and spread a thin layer of the golden yellow spread on the end. He handed it off to her and waited with anticipation.

“You made this too?”

“I did. Family recipe. All of it.”

She bit off the covered piece and raised her brows. “Rich and good. I like it a lot.”

Reiner’s eyes lit up and he looked so filled with glee. “You really like it? Ah, I am so glad! There are so many things I can share with you. Desserts, actual good German beer, so many sausages too. I just…I am excited.”

“I think I want to go rest for a bit,” Adelaide sighed. “The drink is getting to me, and I feel a bit dizzy. I want to recover before the rave tonight.”

“Oh? A rave? You like electronic music too?”

“Yeah, it’s all I listen to. Keeps me in a good head space and helps with working out.”

“Can I come and dance with you tonight?”

“I’d be insulted if you didn’t,” she said.

“Come lay down with me then. Erm, unless that is too bold of me to suggest, then forget I said anything.”

“Dunno if there will be much resting if I go with you into the house,” she laughed. “But, sure why not. Lead the way.”

Tag List: @sparklekitteh @verratensduo @ackerbratt @recipeforselfdestruction13 @icantcumbecauseitakelexapro@thanks-for-the-emsomnia

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chili-aux · 3 years

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Im honestly so done with aot fandom wars really. I now let people spew whatever shit they want. It gets toxic in the end. I started hating so many characters because of this irritating fandom till I realized that a bunch of teenagers dont have the right to steal my love for this story away from me. Theyre so ridiculous really it looks like a bunch of kids decided to watch AOT and miss the point entirely. Yams wrote a beautiful story that gets more interesting when you reread it. I wasnt even aware of shipping wars till I finished the manga only to realize its hellfire here. I just assumed oh Erwin loved Marry but chose the corps how sad. Shadis had a thing for Carla. Bittersweet. Oh Ymir and Historia loved each other. Tragic. Reiner is a historia simp great. Oh Levi and Hanji are closeted lovers who just cant accept they're into each other. And thats it. But I went online just to see wow manga discussions yaaay and I ran into middle school children shipping Levi with Eren/Mikasa I mean are you ok? Are you not unhinged? Do you need therapy? Seriously guys wtf? Levi/Erwin? WTF? They're literally brothers wtf? Hange/Moblit, WTF? Are you even aware of the concept of friendship and loyalty that runs in the army? Do you think everyone in the army is in love with each other wtf is this logic Im sorry Im so done with this fandom. AOT deserved better fans who'd appreciate the story and its depth. Apart from a few plotholes that made no sense. (Especially hanji's useless fking death, dude she could've lived ok its so unfair. Anyways) I also can't stand it when people start making Yuri and Yaoi ships of two clearly straight characters. I don't mind if you ship characters within a show that have some sort of legitimacy FROM THE SOURCE MATERIAL. But literally changing everything about characters just so they can fit your idea of a stupid ship is pathetic. A character is so much more than someone you ship with someone. Grow tf really.

hi anon, thank you for sharing! i am tired too. i honestly cannot wait for the time i will get over this anime, but if that time comes, i will still ship levihan and probably continue making fanfics about them. at this moment though, I still hyper-fixate on this ship.

I agreed with some of your points, like that with a bunch of kiddos ruining our experience cuz damn, I've seen it a lot after I joined the fandom but I just stayed on my place and blocked a lot of them for peace of mind. And really, at first, I don't have any ship in aot not until i rewatched it for the 2nd time, that's when I have noticed levihan's bond then boom, I'm riding this ship forever. But when I dove through aottwt, I discovered that eren-levi and those ships that involved a veteran and a 104th member exist, damn I just wanna cringe so hard (or i did cringe hard) cuz why? that's fukcing illegal, my brain can't even comprehend why some people ship those characters who obviously treat each other in canon in a parental-child way.

and hange's death? so true! it's just useless when falco will have the ability to turn into a titan and fly by the later chapters -_- they're just one day away from the end of the rumbling but... fck I'm sad again.

however, i do not agree with some of your points.

disclaimer: I'm not mad anon!

eruri and mobuhan aren't illegal. people can ship them cuz of the exact reason that you said - the concept of friendship and loyalty that runs in the army. i admit I cannot see levi/erwin and hange/moblit in a romantic relationship too like how you perceived it, they're just more like superior-subordinate for me that I can't affiliate their relationship to bud in something that will surpass that. but the loyalty and friendship between those characters, i think, are enough for other people to ship them. why? because there aren't any spoken rules in shipping so we don't have the right to dictate what they ship (proshippers aren't included. stop.)

and babe, what's wrong with yuri and yaoi ships?? aot characters' genders aren't mentioned in the source material (though i see hange as nonbinary cuz of the searches that i made before when i kept on seeing gender wars that always involved hange.)

the case is, there's this term called 'projecting'. people are often doing this in the fictional characters that they love - projecting their identity or what they headcanon about this certain character that, whether we like it or not, often diverge away from the source material. i believed that there's no harm in doing so. they see erwin as gay? let them. they see nanaba as nonbinary? let them. they see levi as pansexual? let them. they ship mikasasha? let them. they ship ererei(erenxreiner)? let them.

it's pride month babe. and even if it's not pride month, people can ship yaoi and yuri. people can project their identities that they cannot express in real life to their favorite characters. and you can't stop them from doing so no matter what. that is their decision and we don't have a say on that. it's not pathetic nor dumb.

but yes, do not reduce any character to ship material. that's downright stupid. and as anon said, grow the fuck up.

thank you for sharing still. and as I've said, I'm not mad! i just want to clear some things that i don't share the same sentiment with you.

#ask #anonymous #levihan #snk #eruri #mobuhan #aot #attack on titan #shingeki no kyoujin #fandom problems

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aspoonofsugar · 3 years

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How do our four romantic couples--Aruani, Eremika, Yumihisu, and Galco--foil each other?

Hello anon!

In general, I would say that all four ships explore in different ways two main topics.

1) Selfishness and selflessness

2) How war shapes relationships

1) In all the ships, there is a person who is too selfish, in the sense of self-centered, and one who is too selfless. Here, selflessness means a lack of self and the character who is too selfless usually hates him/herself, is too passive or too dependent.

This opposition creates unbalanced dynamics and conflicts the characters must overcome to end up together.

In Eremika, Mikasa is too selfless and focused on Eren to the point that she has tied her sense of self to him. Eren is instead too self-centered. He is the one who will destroy the titans. He is humanity’s hope. If they fail it is all his fault. He must be special in order to have value as a person. Until he arrogates the right to end humanity by himself in the current arc.

In their dynamic, Eren is the one who is always running ahead, while Mikasa is the one running after him. She wants for him to stop and to stay close to her, but he never does.

In Aruani, Annie is too selfish, while Armin is so selfless that he despises himself and always tries to sacrifice for others. This is why even if they love each other, Annie has chosen not to go with Armin to fight Eren, while Armin is currently hating on himself for having failed. Moreover, he has tried to sacrifice himself many times by this point and one even after having confessed Annie his feelings.

In order for their relationship to work, Annie must be more selfless and be ready to fight for others, while Armin needs to start valuing his life more.

In Yumikuri’s case, the lines are more blurried because they dynamic was about exploring and deconstructing what it means to be selfless and to be selfish. Anyway, when it comes to their dynamic, I would say that Historia is the selfish one since she is initially assorbed by her own idea of dying as a martyr. Ymir is instead always there for her and acts selflessly in order to protect Historia.

Finally, when it comes to Galco, Gabi is selfish, while Falco acts selflessly to protect her. This has been highlighted many times throughout the series. Falco ends up as a prisoner and as a titan because every time he tries to protect Gabi. Gabi runs in the battle selfishly without thinking about how she is affecting others, both enemies and allies.

In short, in all four ships either too much selfishness or too much selflessness or both are an obstacle.

In particular, Ymir died out of her selflessness. She felt responsible for Bertholdt and Reiner and sacrificed herself for them, leaving Historia behind in the process.

Eren will instead probably die because of his inability to escape a self-centered vision of the world.

Moreover, both when it comes to Eremika and to Aruani we are seeing Annie and Mikasa slowly moving toward respectively developing a sense of self and acting more selflessly.

Mikasa is becoming more and more independent from Eren to the point that she is fighting against him. Annis has instead accepted to fight for the world even if her home is already destroyed.

Armin and Eren are instead stalling. I think Armin will overcome his flaw in the end though, while Eren, even if he might won’t get the chance to live.

In Gabi and Falco’s case they have been developing in each other’s direction. Falco has become more proactive and more ready to fight for what he wants. Gabi has become more empathic and less iimpulsive.

The trajectory of their arcs reminds me a little of Yumikuri too. After all, Yumikuri started with Ymir trying to protect Historia, while Historia tried finding heroic ways to die. This is similar to the initial dynamic between Gabi and Falci. When she attacks the SC, Gabi is ready to die as a martyr and has suicidal tendencies. She even tells Falco to stop following her because she does not really want him to die. Falco, however, just like Ymir, is able to see through Gabi’s pain and does his best to protect her.

This leads to him becoming a titan (the same titan Ymir had), just like Ymir revealed hers to save Historia. Moreover, after their transformation both Falco and Ymir are kidnapped and respectively Gabi and Historia run after them in an inversion of their usual dynamic. It is important that both Gabi and Historia do so just after they have faced their flaw and have made steps to overcome it.

In short, in both ships the characters move toward each other. However, in the end Ymir dies. Why is that so? This is tied to the second point of this analysis.

2) All four ships have been shaped by the major conflict the characters are in. If the unbalance between selfishness and selflessness has fueled the most individual aspect of the couples’ conflict, the war between Eldian and Marleyans has ifnluenced the dynamics as well.

This is especially obvious when it comes to Yumikuri and Aruani. As a matter of fact in both ships the two people come from opposite countries.

Annie and Armin care about each other, but they face each other as enemies because their loyalty is for their homes.

Ymir and Historia are both victims of their respective countries, but in the end they both choose not to switch side. Ymir in the end goes back to Marley and dies because of this, while Historia becomes Queen of Paradis.

Gabi and Falco and Mikasa and Eren are instead on the same side. However, both Gabi and Eren are too focused and involved in war to notice the person beside them. Moreover, they both exhibit a white and black vision of the world.

Gabi and Eren both divide people in bad and good. They are either humans or monsters. Both their arcs deal with this dychotomy and challenge it.

It is not by chance that Gabi’s response to Falco’s confession is to take away his armband, just like he did to hers.

Falco took away Gabi’s armband and challenged her black and white vision. Symbolically he was telling her that dividing humans in devils and good people was wrong. And the moment he does, Kaya appears and the Braus’s subplot kicks in.

Gabi takes away Falco’s armband to refuse his death. She is telling Falco he will survive and that his life is important. Moreover, it is meaningful that Falco is finally able to confess the moment Gabi admits there were no devils, but only people. She has finally overcome her flaw and is finally ready to listen to Falco. She sees the world not in black and white anymore and can finally listen to others and understand their feelings. She realizes both Reiner and Falco’s feelings when she finally empathizes with her enemies (hence she becomes less self-centered).

Eren has so far refused to do so. He clearly feels for the people he is killing, but he is refusing said feelings. He is not letting go of the monsters/humans dychotomy. It is just that this time he has decided to be the monster and monsters do not really have feelings nor relationships. This is why he has been trying to push away his closest connections.

When it comes to this, Eren’s mentality is the opposite of Armin’s:

Armin has always known that there are no “good people” and this is why he could keep loving Annie despite her betrayal.

In a sense, Aruani is a mirror and an inversion of Eremika. Mikasa’s problem is her dependence on Eren, while Annie’s one is her closing off to others. Moreover, Eremika started as family and are currently fighting each other. Aruani started as enemies, but are currently fighting on the same side. Annie started her arc by sparing Armin’s life, while Mikasa will probably end hers by killing Eren.

In conclusion, all these four relationships are interesting because they are conflictual. The characters are all each other’s opposite and the war has influenced their dynamics in different ways. They must both overcome the major conflict and develop in their partner’s direction if they want to survive and to end up together. Yumikuri could not, I personally think Galco and probably Aruani will, but Eremika won’t (apparently).

Thank you for the ask!

#snk #eremika #aruani #yumihisu #galco #anonymous #asksfullofsugar #snk meta

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haliyam · 3 years

Text

interim (ii)

zeke x reader/oc

summary: You return to Liberio not long after the Warriors arrive home from their failed mission in Paradis and discover that things have changed. (Or they will, and maybe a little more with Zeke than you expect.) [Season 4 and manga spoilers ahead]

AO3 link | Ch 1 | Ch 3

Hi again! I forgot to note in the first chapter that Reader here is 19 years old, while Zeke is 25. (Clearly, before the developments of this story, there was nothing but friendship there.) For the other Warriors, I put Pieck at 19 as well, while Porco is Reiner's age (around 17/18 that year). Marcel would have been the same age as Pieck and Reader in my headcanon. If you're not comfortable with the age difference, I understand.

Also, about university here so you don't get confused this chapter - I lifted the medical school system for Marley from Germany's current system where after a competitive state exam post-high school, students are able to head straight for medical school for a 6-year track followed by specialization.

Reminder that the Reader/OC, default name Lucy, is a cis-female Eldian character with a set background, but please feel free to set the substitution for the Reader to your chosen First Name using the InteractiveFics browser extension if you’re reading through the browser! So that would be: Lucy = Your or your character's First Name. Because reader will have a set background, you'll have a set surname as well.

Chapter 2

You don’t even get a moment to breathe. General List launches into a speech about the nerve of other so-called nations almost as soon as you sit down. Apparently, those in the Mid East peninsula have grown considerably bold over the last few months, with several navy ships withdrawing from the port of Ichakar and transferring, presumably, to Qali - which gives them a better angle from which to attack the mainland if they so wish it. They’ve also fortified their borders—ground troops distributed across the land close to Marley’s newly acquired cities—which is of course the sovereign right of those nations, but it’s blasphemy to the regime’s unending ambition.

You wish they had given you a brief with all this information before the meeting, the kind you have seen Willy and father poring over in their office in the past, but you get the feeling that the general is unloading information on you with the intent to overwhelm.

“On the diplomatic front,” he continues with a hint of mockery, because of course he thinks of such things as futile, “they have been making demands. Asking that we keep to our waters when it is they who have encroached upon ours! The audacity—the delineation clearly states—” He continues to ramble until he is red in the face, but your neutral expression must slip into a wide-eyed look at some point, because he regains his composure with a visible wrinkle of his nose. “This arrogance can only mean one thing.”

He stares at you, and you realize he is expecting you to answer. You feel all eyes at the table on you, the Commander’s especially, and clear your throat. “...Weapons research, Sir?”

“Weapons development, Miss Tybur,” he corrects you. “Advanced and more prolific than we may have considered.”

He pauses, and you can’t help but speak. You can tell Magath knows it because he sits up straighter somehow, and in a moment of rebellion, you refuse to recognize the caution in his posture. “With all due respect, Sir, the… armaments race among the other nations is no secret, and on Eldian labor, no less.”

A fist slamming on the desk causes everyone around it to jump in their seats. “It’s what Eldians deserve!” the general next to List says, so naturally that he might have been born saying it. You blink, the heat of embarrassment and indignation crawling up your neck, but it’s only with List’s raised hand that the man remembers that the white band on your left arm is only for show. He glances away. “Present company excluded, of course.”

With the exception of his hand, List continues as though neither of you ever interrupted him. “And now, to the point. We need further information on the status of this little race. That is where you come in, Miss Tybur. You will use your family’s connections to enter the peninsula with our people - the peninsula and beyond, as the exact lay of their operations lies beyond our ken - and retrieve this information.”

It’s one thing to predict a general’s words and another to be confronted with them. You suppose you were still hoping he wouldn’t say it. “General List, are you saying you want a Tybur to be a spy?”

List glances over at Magath. “They were trained for interrogation, weren’t they?” Your old instructor is barely able to nod before the general recalls to you, “Ah, yes, I read the file. You withstood all but the final test. A failure then, but rather more a fluke, in my opinion. An irreplicable circumstance.”

You don’t say anything. You would rather not remember that night. Or that particular moment.

He takes your silence for agreement. “And so I answer, why not? You became a Warrior candidate - unprecedented initiative and involvement by the Tybur family. Why should this be any different?”

“Because—” Because becoming a Warrior isn’t a choice a child makes of their own free will, not really, but a Tybur doesn’t question the decisions of the former head of the family, of father, before all these strangers. No matter that they were loyal to him. You purse your lips. “Sir, I just don’t believe I’m the right person for this.”

“Your file did say you were always hasty, Miss Tybur,” List says, and you both glance at Magath at that. He doesn’t nod, only meets your gazes. He seems as trapped in this as you are, which makes your resentment for him ebb only slightly. “But you should know better now.”

Now you’re getting irritated. The temper that was your closest companion in your early childhood, and then your early adolescence seizes your fist under the table as List continues. “How goes Foundation operations?”

The Tybur Family Foundation. Set up by Walter Tybur when he first became head of the family and operated by the eponymous Tyburs - most often chaired by the spouse of whoever leads it. Your mother first, once, when she cared to, and now Mila. It provides healthcare and educational opportunities for ‘peoples once oppressed by the Eldian Empire,’ as part of continuing reparations for sins the Tybur family did not commit. Or so they say. Many of its employees now are Eldian, part of Willy’s initiative to improve Eldian relations… but in reality it does little when the Foundation is only a grantmaking organization.

“Well enough, Sir.”

“Is that so? From what I hear, the Foundation is unable to set up even offices in several countries in spite of the family’s stellar international relations.”

“And,” you add carefully, “if they ever catch wind of my close involvement with the regime even after all this time, that will not improve.”

“Clearly, Miss Tybur.” His level gaze shifts to patronizing in all the ways you hate. “But say you become more independent. Distance yourself from the military that leads our fine motherland… Say,” he smiles, “that you make overtures of dissatisfaction with Marley’s cruel expansionist policies and express the utmost sympathy for other nations. Perhaps then they will permit you to expand your operations within their borders.”

Your jaw almost drops at the very suggestion. You’ve always thought, since Willy became Lord Tybur, that only the Tyburs have the power to change the direction of Marley. For obvious reasons, not so obvious to the rest of the world, but also for the heritage you represent. If the Tybur family can be good Eldians, why can they not be only one of many good Eldians? Why not introduce the concept that any Eldian can be good, as any other race of people?

“You…” You rein in your reaction even as your imagination sets off in the direction List has set it—and far more. Especially the part where the Tybur family spreads the good name of Eldians throughout the world. No more ‘special’ treatment, no more interment zones…

No more Warriors.

Maybe. If Marley gets what it wants.

You would allow that? was your question. But the answer, you understand suddenly, is that they would allow perhaps the chance of it, in exchange for Marley’s continued expansion using Eldian bodies on the front lines. A slim chance of sparing Eldian lives for the certainty of losing them. You feel lightheaded just considering it. You want to help, but you are the last person who should hold so many lives in her hands.

Your eyes refocus on General List. A pleased smile brims beneath his well-trimmed beard, like he’s already read your mind. But he can’t know—you’ve shared your thoughts with no one but Willy and Lara, who have been as dismissive as they have been receptive. In other words, as though you’re still the child father sent away thirteen years ago they expect will eventually forget all her questions.

“Does Lord Tybur know about this, Sir?” You eye the intelligence officer not far from List.

List clears his throat. “Not as yet. Lord Tybur might be more receptive to such a scheme were his sister to present it to him herself. We are aware that Lady Tybur chairs the Foundation. Her movements are conservative, but she may agree to a more generous, active Foundation on your word.”

Scheme. That’s what it is, but that isn’t what really catches your attention. Willy and Mila, listening to you? You want to burst into laughter, tell them that they have severely misunderstood the dynamics of the Tybur family. But that intelligence officer is here, which makes you think List is lying.

“Why not ask Lady Tybur to head the operation?”

“Lord Tybur would never allow us to risk his wife,” List laughs. The implication of his words is hardly lost on you, but the general tempers his mockery with a compliment. “And we believe a new, younger face for the Foundation - perhaps one our enemies believe to be foolishly idealistic - will better suit it.”

Foolishly idealistic. Like the sort of person who would agree to this plan. Your face doesn’t fall, but your eyes do - toward the table, the way the fingers of each general drum against the wood. Magath’s hands clasp each other, firm as ever. When you look up to List again, you frown.

“Sir, you know that I’ve returned to Liberio to enter the university’s medical program.”

“Yes, yes, we were quite impressed when we learned of your state exam results, Miss Tybur,” List waves, impatient. He’s been relaxed back against his chair, but now that his certainty is dwindling, he leans forward on the table. “But think. Look at the bigger picture. As a physician you may help a man in need one after the other - years and years down the line. Six years at the shortest, and if you mean to be a specialist, how much longer? But with the Foundation’s resources, and with our backing at that, you will aid hundreds, thousands - and the motherland most importantly. Within the year. Half, if we move quickly.”

You bite your lip. You want it and you don’t. The Tyburs must do something, or else we are nothing were your exact words to Willy before. But the idea of retaking your name when you have only just arrived here nauseates you, and assisting the expansion, the destruction, under the guise of aid more so.

“I… would like time to give this some thought, Sir.”

A sigh seems to echo around the room, but it’s only all the men with you and their exasperation. Only Magath is expressionless as List visibly bites his tongue. He gives the commander a glare for good measure, as though it’s his fault you did not agree at once. “Very well,” he says. “But know that prolonging this will only bring harm to the motherland.”

You only nod. Much as you would like to have it, you have no intention of getting the last word here. You avert your gaze from the Commander when you permit the men to leave the room ahead of you.

It seems like the start of a rather miserable day - you’re practically scheduled to overthink all this some time this week, if not this afternoon - when, once the steady march of power has cleared from the hallway, Pieck meets you as you step out of the conference room.

“Boo.”

Your hand flies over your chest, but it’s a chuckle that comes out of you. “You’re a sight for sore eyes.”

“So I’ve been told.” She peeks into the room behind you right as you close the doors. “The brass did not look pleased.”

You wince. “I gave them no reason to be. I hate to get the Commander in trouble, but...” You trail off. You both know you can’t say much more.

It’s Pieck’s turn to raise an eyebrow.

“...Sorry.”

“That’s all right,” she shrugs. “I came here for lunch, not information.”

You doubt she knows the extent of the Tyburs’ relationship with the regime, but you can always trust Pieck to know not to pry. “You know, I remember now why you’re my favorite Warrior.”

“Oh?” Pieck grins. “Not the Boy Wonder?”

“Boy Wonder,” you repeat, the way the two of you always have when that name comes up - with a snicker and definitely with no one else around. You’ll never understand how the brass can say it with such straight faces. “So how about that meal?”

She pinches at the skin of your elbow through your sleeve. “Changing the subject doesn’t work on me, you know.”

You sigh. “Can we please eat first? I’m miserable enough without an empty stomach.”

“I guess some things don’t change.”

“Hey!” You half-scoff, half-laugh. With a wink, Pieck slips her arm around yours, and you start down the hallway in companionable silence.

Or you would, if you didn’t know that you owe her a little more than that. Reaching over to rest your free hand over the arm linked with yours, you look at her. “I’m sorry, Pieck. I really am.”

Pieck waits a moment, and then meets your gaze. She searches yours for the lie, but she already knows it won’t be there. You always were too candid for your own good. With a squeeze at your hand, she nods. “I know. Tell me all about it after that meal. Your treat, right?”

You blink, and then laugh with shaking relief. “Of course.”

You and Pieck fall back into the easy rapport you’ve shared since you became friends more than a decade ago. Contrary to her words, she doesn’t press you for answers as you decide on where to eat in the zone. For old times’ sake, you agree on the sandwich place two blocks from the Yeagers’, and you end up sharing a meal in your bedroom.

Sitting on your bed together, legs dangling over one edge as you nip at your food, you finally work up the courage to speak through your guilt and explain yourself and the past five years—or most of it. And of course Pieck is understanding, which makes you feel even more pathetic. True to form, she picks that up as well and gracefully changes the subject.

You’re the one who brings it back to what still hangs in the air over you when you’ve finished eating. Nothing personal—but though Marcel was the only one with whom you were ever close friends with, Reiner, Bertholdt, and Annie were your teammates too. You’d suffered your superiors together during training, and you’d been there for each of their first transformations. For all the experiments too; even their first assault mission.

“What happened?”

Propped up on one elbow, Pieck is lying on her side, legs tucked under her skirt as you set aside your trash. She accepts the glass you hand her from the table, eyes distant. “Zeke hasn’t told you?”

“Zeke won’t look at me unless he absolutely has to. You know how he is.”

Pieck groans. She knows. “He was so irritating after you stopped writing.”

You click your teeth in a wince. “Really?”

“Imagine, Lucy—after you all left, I was stuck with him and Porco. The abandonment issues didn’t just double, they were exponential. Multiply that with the ego and the sarcasm? The Commander was my favorite person those days.”

You laugh in spite of yourself. “I am so sorry, Pieck.”

“You should be,” she grumbles, but the remark is softened with a grin. When you grimace, she braces herself with a deep breath.

She tells you everything, or most of it: that the people of Paradis were shocked to find others alive outside of the walls, what Reiner and Bertholdt and Annie went through the past so many years, how the latter were captured—and exactly what happened to Marcel. She saves that one for last, and though you are infinitely more curious about the world behind the coward king’s walls, you reach for her hand again.

“I’m sorry, Pieck.”

She shakes her head. “You don’t have to make apologies all day, you know.”

“Don’t I?” you grin, embarrassed, teeth gritted even when your feigned mirth starts to droop. The dreamy way she speaks throws others off, but you know Pieck. She’s always been the most pragmatic of the Warriors and so she must feel silly, thinking about what could have been, had Marcel returned. Would a childhood crush have become something more between them if things were different? He had promised his family, and her specifically, that he would come home after saving the world. The thought, the regret for a chance not even yours gone, has a weight settling in your throat too.

You clear it and huff. “Well, it’s a great loss. I think everyone was a little in love with Marcel.”

Pieck glances at you.

“...Except Annie,” you add.

The sudden exemption makes Pieck choke with laughter, with tears not far behind. “Except Annie. Of course.”

You giggle, and both of you pretend not to see each other wiping your own eyes. “You know. Annie was always the toughest among us.” You pause. “Is. She is.” When Pieck’s laughter gives way to somber agreement, you ask, “What about Reiner? What has he said? I know what he’s said, but… two weeks of debriefing… it sounds like a little much.”

“He was there for years,” Pieck shakes her head. “He grew up there, Lucy. He’s… completely different now. Kind of like you.”

“I think that’s giving me a little too much credit.” You haven’t done anything remotely in the way of serving the motherland; not that you begrudge the others that the way you once did. “All I’ve done is see things and get upset. Until I can get my degree, and then until I can get the War Hammer, there’s nothing I can do.”

That’s a lie. There is apparently the Foundation—but the idea of directly assisting the regime in its efforts is something you cannot consider as you are.

“If you do become a doctor, will they let you have the War Hammer?”

You bite your lip. If only for Lara, you’re still bitter about that. “What was it all for otherwise? Though… I guess if I had inherited it then, there’s no way I’d ever be able to come back and see you all except under specific circumstances. Much less be permitted to study.”

Pieck only sighs, reaching for your hand. “Well, I’m glad you didn’t. And when I think about it… a part of me is glad Marcel didn’t have to see all of what Marley has done. What we had to do in Paradis—and I only saw a speck.”

You know what the others did, but Zeke and Pieck’s involvement apart from retrieving your old comrades is still vague.

You squeeze her hand reassuringly, but you can’t help it. “What did you have to do?”

“What we’ve always had to,” she answers with a faint smile. Your friends always had tells when they would rather not say more, and this is unmistakably hers. Given your earlier explanation, you understand why. She intertwines your fingers with gratitude at your silence.

“So,” you start after a while, “how about some dessert before I walk you back to HQ?”

“Sure. I might as well treat myself a little before we have to head out to the mountains again.” At your questioning gaze, she says, “Training with the Panzer Unit. That’s what all the paperwork was for.”

“Gross.”

She chuckles. “That’s exactly what Zeke says.”

Your face falls at the mention of him. Relieved as you are with your progress with Pieck, Zeke is an entirely different ball game. You hate that that’s the phrase you even thought of.

“You know what?” Pieck sits up smacks her hands on her lap. “I’ll treat you, too.”

You perk up. “Really?”

“For a price.”

“...What’s that?”

“Talk to Zeke already. If I come back after a month to your gloomy faces still, I’m going to go crazy.”

“It’s only been a day,” you mutter. “And I’ve tried to apologize to him.”

Pieck gives you a knowing look.

“I did,” you insist helplessly, but you both know that’s probably a lie. In Pieck’s case. You know it is absolutely false: when Zeke came upstairs after dish duty, quietly closing the door to his room, you stepped out of yours and stood outside in the hallway, your hand raised to knock on his door. You just couldn’t do it. You can take Porco’s jabs any day, but last night, the thought of Zeke and his silence, or worse, his caustic cheer, sent you scurrying back to your room.

You sigh. “Fine.”

Amused, Pieck gets to her feet for the opportunity to loom akimbo over you. “Good. And if you start to lose heart, try to remember that six-year old who used to glare at Magath like she had nothing to lose. That girl had guts.”

“You mean the half-dead one who wasn’t allowed dinner and got a Warrior class’s worth of cleanup duty alone, whom you specifically told to get over herself if she didn’t want to actually die a few months into training?”

“Exactly. What is Zeke going to do? Tell you to go to your room without dinner?”

Maybe. You sigh. “Sometimes I don’t like it when you’re right.”

Pieck grins. “And when Zeke gets over himself—maybe he’ll tell you about his brother.”

Your shock would be better illustrated in this moment were you sipping a drink you could spit in her face. “His what?”

“Shh. I don’t think he’s told the Yeagers. I think… he only told Magath because I was there when he discovered it. Still,” she says when your eyes remain wide and expectant, “it’s not my place to say. So talk to him.”

Medicine is one of the few fields for which Eldians are permitted to pursue higher education. It’s only logical—there are only a few non-Eldians who care to treat pig-blooded devils, and the efforts of those who do are wasted on said filth. And so the regime allows the admission of more Eldians than often permitted under quotas for other majors, even if the number does remain small regardless.

After parting ways with Pieck, you find yourself standing in line in some administrative building in the University of Liberio in the midday heat of summer. The line stretches outside because this is the queue for Eldian students wishing to confirm their intention to enroll over a month from now. That’s all—you need only submit a form and pay a fee, and the line for non-Eldians students has long finished—but of course the line has barely moved for your kind.

You’re clutching your envelope and your permit to your chest, which you quickly realize is a terrible idea. Sweat is starting to trickle down the nape of your neck, and you start to fan yourself with the envelope. Talking to the other applicants in line is prohibited - you must be spaced far from one another so as not to make noise and distract students who actually deserve to be here.

It’s ridiculous. You can’t even leave the line because saving spots is prohibited. Something about being fair.

The frustration crawls up your neck in the form of prickling heat, and you feel a headache coming. You fan yourself more vigorously, trying to calm down. It takes a minute, but the background buzz eventually starts to soothe you, and you begin to accept that you can simply return to the Yeagers’ and change as soon as this is over. The glares your line receives from passing students and the guards watching you, ensuring none of you causes a ruckus (as if any Eldian would dare), fade under the memory of your childhood. You withstood it before, with Magath and the other drill instructors screaming in your face. You can ignore a few nasty looks.

With that as a frame of reference, the line is even almost... peaceful. The heat is dry, not humid, there’s no mud, no blisters in your feet, no rucksack weighing you down, and no rifle either.

Only the sudden rustle of paper as it slips from your thumb interrupts that peace.

“No!” you gasp, watching your permit flutter closer to a guard with his back turned.

Just then a hand swoops in to save it - its owner bent forward, dark hair falling over his face until he rights himself, permit in hand, and glances around. You sigh in relief when you spot the band around his arm and wave him over.

He jogs over to you, hand already extended with the permit. “Confirming your slot for the medical school?” he asks, brushing away the bangs that fall over his face. He’s got the slightest stubble around his jaw, which he brushes his fingers over when he notices you looking.

You meet his gaze when you notice you’re looking. “Yeah,” you say, clearing your throat. He smiles at once, as if he can tell you’re embarrassed, but he only casts a glance at the line behind and ahead of you. “It was a lot worse during my time. They had us looping around the gate.”

“Ugh, really?”

He nods, but swallows down his grimace to lick his lips. “I’ve… never seen you around the zone before.”

You blink. Smile a little as you glance around the line. “You know everyone in the zone?”

He opens his mouth to respond with a sheepish grin that makes his eyes twinkle when movement behind him catches your peripheral vision. One of the guards watching the line has noticed him and is stomping his way over. Noticing your alarm, he sticks out a hand. “I’m Kellan, by the way.”

“Lucy. It’s nice to meet you.”

“Lucy,” he repeats, and you’re barely able to shake his hand when the guard yanks him back.

“Damn pig’s blood—!”

“I’m going, sir. Sorry,” says Kellan, ending the apology with his eyes on you even as he winces from the shorter man’s grip. When he’s eventually released, he ducks away and walks off. He glances over his shoulder to wave, but another guard keeps him moving with a shove.

The shorter one glares at you when he’s gone, and though you remember Pieck’s words, you know this isn’t the time or the place.

“Sorry,” you mutter, eyes to the ground as you turn ahead. Once he’s assured of your submission, he leaves too.

The line takes longer than you expect, but you survive the sweltering heat and submit your form just before the offices close. You hurry back to the zone afterward, dropping by the Galliard bakery to call on Mr. and Mrs. Galliard and offer your condolences. They are shocked but overjoyed to see you, and insist that you take your old favorites when they discover that you’ll be dropping in on Mr. Finger afterward.

You don’t stay long, though Mr. Finger is pleased about your choice of future employment. You feel even guiltier at the unspoken regret in his smile, and beg him not to mention it when he tries to thank you for the support the Tybur family has sent the Fingers over the years—the one thing you think Willy has ever done right.

You return to the Yeagers before dark, early enough to help Mrs. Yeager start with dinner. Dr. Yeager is apologetic as always, but you’re able to change the subject by serving the blueberry pie from the Galliards for a mid-meal dessert of sorts, and the dinner table relaxes soon after. Zeke is absent - he still hasn’t come home from work - so you make sure to leave some for him. This time, Mrs. Yeager allows you to take over cleanup, and the couple retires to their bedroom once the conversation fades into a comfortable silence.

You hope to meet Zeke right as he arrives, corner him into talking to you somehow unless he decides to miss dinner himself, but after half an hour of sitting at the dinner table, cleaning anything you might have missed in the kitchen and the dining room, and rearranging anything out of place in the living room, it starts to look like he won’t be coming anytime soon.

That’s fine, you tell yourself. You feel slimy from being out in the sun all afternoon anyway, and you treat yourself to a relaxing bath. Zeke is still away when you return to your room, and the calming warmth of your evening has you yawning. You have no choice but to change into your pajamas.

In truth, you’re a little relieved. Not that you’re particularly answerable to Pieck anyway, at least not until she finishes training with the Panzer Unit, but it won’t be your fault that you and Zeke weren’t able to talk tonight. But just to feel as though you’ve tried your very best, you keep yourself up by starting to write to Lara—and then regret your principle when you hear heavy footsteps outside and a soft click of the door across yours.

The word you’re writing skitters off to the edge of the paper in your surprise. Your heartbeat invades the tense silence of your room, but you manage to take a deep breath, folding your unfinished letter and slipping it under the paperweight on your desk.

Your door is your next obstacle.

Overlapping images of how Zeke will surely reject you race through your mind alongside the words you wish you could say, and you’re able to keep up with about... none of them. You thought that the words would come to you, and maybe they will, but the moment is about to come and you can’t think of a single word to say.

If you have time to worry, you have time to just get over there and do it, you tell yourself. You shake your head, regretting your own harshness, but also nod as you hastily gulp down the glass of water on your bedside table. Those words in mind, you move, switching one door for another. No longer standing nose-to-panel with your bedroom door, you’re doing it with Zeke’s in the hallway instead.

Hand raised to knock, you eye the light peeking out from the gap beneath the door. Knock. Just knock. The worst he can do is turn you away, and you’ll probably want to wriggle under the dirt and cry, but you’ll at least have tried. You owe it to him to try, like you did with Pieck, and you know you’re braver than this. Or you were, once upon a time.

If you’re still the same girl from years ago, you don’t get to find out just yet.

You hear his footsteps coming from the bathroom too late. No, it’s the heat of another and the familiar scent of his soap which alert you to his presence.

That and his voice, still too deep for the older boy you remember. “Aren’t you a little too old to still be knocking on my door at night?”

“Zeke,” you say, trying to pull your heart down from your throat before you turn and meet his flat expression. He’s in pajamas himself, his hair damp. You must not have heard him head for the bathroom you share down the hall. “Hi.”

That’s more than your mind could summon a while ago, but you still want to smack yourself.

His chest rises and falls as he takes a deep breath. His jaw shifts even as his pale eyes stare down at you in the dim light, as if deciding what to do with you... and then he sighs. He’s too tired to be glib tonight. “Can I help you, Lucy?”

Your lips purse with trepidation, but you stand your ground. “Can we talk?”

He pushes his glasses further up the bridge of his nose. Looking down at you is clearly work. “I’m listening.”

You hesitate, trying not to make another face. It seems to come naturally with Zeke around, but you resist the urge, and instead tilt your head to the side. There is no light coming from the master bedroom down the length of the hallway. When you glance back up at Zeke, you give him a pointed look.

Zeke sighs again, and then… decides to just brush past you to grab his doorknob.

Your stomach twists with both disappointment and pique. “Zeke,” you whisper furiously, barely just stomping your foot.

He whips his head to face you, halfway inside already. “What?” he whispers back, like you’re nagging him. Then he rolls his eyes, swinging his door wide open and backing into it to give you room.

“Get in.”

Sorry for the dearth of Zeke moments this chapter, but the next one will mooostly feature him and yes we'll finally find out why Zeke is upset. I used to write very long chapters with fics, but that really exhausted me so I'm trying to write shorter now to keep myself from burning out. But I'm enjoying writing in 2nd person! I never used to do it because it was frowned upon long ago, and possibly still is now? But idc anymore it's fun to try.

Thank you for reading!

#zeke x reader #zeke x oc #zeke yeager x reader #zeke yeager x oc #zeke jaeger x reader #zeke jaeger x oc #aot #snk #aot fic #aot fanfic #haliyam #interim #snk fanfiction #aot fanfiction #zeke yeager #zeke jaeger #snk fanfic

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