endure | e. jaeger & a. arlert

XXXII. Dream

a/n: crying in the club ‼️

"Y/N, wake up," a soft voice said, shaking you gently. You fluttered your eyelashes open, and you were met with the handsome face of Eren Jaeger. He looked at you in worry, reaching up his hands to wipe away at your cheeks.

"Why are you crying?" he said.

"Hm. I don't know," you said. He laughed and helped you stand.

"My silly Y/N. Let's get inside, yeah? I don't want you to get sick," he said, taking you by the hand and into a warm cabin.

"I wonder when I fell asleep? Well, I guess it doesn't matter. I must have been having a long dream if I can't even remember what I was doing before it," you said, shaking your head.

"I hope it was a good one. Did you see me in it?" he teased, poking you in the ribs.

"I don't know. Like I said, I can't remember," you said before pausing, "Hey, Eren. Is it okay for us to be here?"

"Dunno. Nothing we can do about it now, though, is there?" he said.

"What are you saying?" you said.

"We ran away, back when we were visiting Marley with the Survey Corps. I couldn't commit genocide, but I couldn't sacrifice Historia, either, so we just ran away, you and I," he said, "It was your idea, remember? You didn't want to go back to Claude and the Tyburs, so you said we should leave it all behind, living the last four years of my life together. I expect the war to invade Paradis will be soon."

"Oh. I see," you said, "That's sad."

He hummed in agreement before groaning in dismay. "Come on. How many times do I have to tell you to be more careful?"

"What are you talking about?" you said, startled. He pointed at a cut on your leg.

"You must've sliced it open while sleeping or something. You've gotta pay more attention to your surroundings," he said, shaking his head before lifting you up by the waist and placing you on the counter, "Up you go, let's get this cleaned up. Don't want it to get infected."

"It's just a cut, Eren, it's not the end of the world. It's not even that deep," you said, laughing as he bustled about, gathering disinfectant and bandages from various cabinets. Turning to face you, he put the things down and placed his hands on his hips sassily.

"This kind of attitude is why you keep getting hurt!" he said before he finished collecting his supplies. Taking a cloth and soaking it in iodine, he dabbed at the cut. You hissed at the sting, and he gave you an apologetic look.

"Ouch, Eren, I think that hurt more than the actual wound," you said. He began to wind the bandage around your thigh with a small smile on his face.

"Maybe it'll teach you to not be so reckless with your own body. What will you do when I'm gone?" he said.

"Die, probably," you said wryly, remembering a similar conversation you had had with him when you were seven years old, though back then, it had been you asking Eren what you'd do without him.

His face darkened at your response. "That's not true. You'll live a long and happy life, even without me. Especially without me."

You leaned down to kiss his hair. "You're so serious. I was only joking. Nobody's dying any time soon."

He helped you down from the counter and led you outside to where the chickens were kept. They clucked indignantly at you, and with a chuckle, Eren reached into the pockets of his pants and tossed feed at them.

"Say, Eren, did you cut your hair recently?" you said. He reached his hand up to run it through his soft brown locks before shaking his head.

"No, it's been a while, at least a couple of weeks. Must've been a really long dream you had, huh?" he said.