blank open eyes | reiner braun x reader

chapter two

While the months following Bertholdt's death passed in a gloomy haze of mourning, the subsequent ones flew by in a blur of even more bloodshed.

Over three years had passed, and while you spent many of those nights restless, plotting with Zeke Jaeger, you were still very much a separate entity from the Warrior unit—and the rest of the military, even. Despite your distance from the battles, you feared that one day your duties and roles would increase. One day, your luck would run out, and you would be called to the front lines, asked to give your life for a cause you weren't so sure that you believed in anymore.

Fearing what they might one day ask of you, you'd grown more serious about training, often spending long evenings with Porco to improve your strength, while he simply prattled on, insulting your technique. Really, though, when it came to training, you were doing just fine. Even with your body's limitations, you were still one of the strongest civilians in Marley. If you were called upon by the army, so be it.

At the very least, you were able to receive an education from a university in Marley, studying under a man named Commander Tobias Klein. He'd been a retired veteran for nearly a decade and had since become a scholar. You knew you were lucky, that this was a once in a million opportunity, but there were times you felt uninterested in the foreign policy and military strategy that they were so desperate to teach you. Simply because a part of you knew the truth—it was built on the foundations of Marleyan lore that could've been as much fact as fiction.

Still, you continued with your studies, as it gave you access to many of the books in Marley, as well as the archives, and a life better than you could have dreamed of as a child. Of course, there was nothing in that library that could plant a seed of doubt your mind, but you had spent enough time in the past few years with Zeke Jaeger to pick up on his suspicions regarding the truth about Marley.

During the weekdays you were with Tobias Klein, and many of your weekends and evenings were spent training with the military. Your free time was often limited, but when you did have a day off, it was spent with Pieck and Porco.

After their initial return from Paradis, they two of them had grown closer due to all the missions spent together, where they constantly had to have each other's backs. Pieck often came along with Porco to see you, and while you had, at first, felt like she was an intruder on sacred time with your best friend, you became closer within what felt like an instant.

You looked forward to seeing Pieck when you could, and though you were not as close with her as you were Porco, you appreciated her calm disposition. She was easy to talk to, sometimes easier than your very closest friend.

Often, on days like today, when the weather was nice, the three of you would walk down to the docks, carrying bags full of lunches that you would all end up sharing. You would wave to the other soldiers along the coast, basking in the sun that beat down on you.

While were still a few cool days here and there, you were certain that those would start breaking. It was less and less often that the weather dropped to a chill, and you hoped that with spring just around the corner, it would continue to be as beautiful as it was that afternoon.

"I wish every day was like this," Pieck said from a few steps behind you, dreamily looking around at the city as if for the first time. That was one thing that you loved about Pieck. She appreciated even the small things in life, like a blooming flower or a perfectly ripe apple. You, on the other hand, sometimes took beautiful things for granted. "I feel so free."

Porco snorted, watching her blink tiredly. "You won't be saying that when you have to go back to H.Q. and listen to Zeke for an hour." He stretched his arms up above him, before bringing them back to his sides. "That man sure does like the sound of his own voice."