Mission Success: A Different Story

I'm Coming Home: Bertholdt

It had been almost a week since they had gotten back. Porco had stopped attacking Reiner every time he'd seen him, settling for either ignoring him completely or giving him a death glare. Eren had more or less gotten comfortable with his new home, settling in quietly. Ymir and Krista had hardly been seen other than at meals; Bertholdt guessed that that was Ymir's doing. She had been really clingy as of late.

Bertholdt woke up one morning to something-or someone-poking him in the ribs.

"Bertholdt! Wake up, man! You can't sleep in today! Bertholdt!"

Green eyes opened to find excited golden ones bearing down on him. Reiner was practically bouncing with happiness as he slapped the awkwardly positioned giant on the back." Come on, buddy! Get up!"

Bertholdt groaned as he got up from his ass-in-the-air position, straightening the cricks in his neck. "Reiner....why are you getting up this early? And waking me up too? Go back to bed."

Reiner roughly grabbed his friend's shoulders and started shaking him." Bertl! Get up! We're going home today!"

Bertholdt blinked, once, twice, before his head caught up with his ears." Wait, today!?"

"Yeah, so hurry up and get dressed!" Reiner practically threw the giant's clothes in his face before rushing out the door. Bertholdt rushed to get dressed, forgetting that he was still tangled up in his sheets and landing on the floor with a loud thud. Wincing, he pulled himself back to his feet and quickly pulled on his clothes and shoes before bolting from the room.

A few minutes later, Bertholdt crashed through the door to the Warrior's cafeteria, where Reiner was shoveling food down his throat. Across the way, Pieck watched the blonde with a bemused expression while Eren and Porco had a staredown. Zeke calmly watched them all, nodding at Bertholdt over his coffee in greeting. Bertholdt nodded back respectfully before heading towards the table that the food was laid out on and filling himself a plate. He then rushed over to Reiner as carefully as he could and sat down.

Reiner looked up from his half-finished plate of food and shot the giant a grin as he sat down.

"Better eat that quickly. It's almost noon." Bertholdt gaped at him.

"Wait, what?! It's noon already!? How long did I sleep in?!"

"A good long while. I got up at around eight and did a little paperwork to wait for you to get up. Next thing I know, it's noon and you're still in bed."

Bertholdt looked down at his plate and began eating." My bad."

A few minutes of silence followed as the boys eagerly ate their food.

"Wow. I thought the only person capable of eating that fast was Sasha." 

Bertholdt offered Eren a quick smile." We have to eat fast so we can spend more time at home."

"Oh." An awkward silence filled the space as Eren sat down next to Reiner just as the blonde finished his plate.

"So...Eren...how are holding up?" Reiner asked, glancing down at the brown-haired boy. Eren shrugged.

"It's not as bad as I thought it would be. Other than the Marleyans, this place is actually really cool. I just...miss Armin, Mikasa, and the others. Life isn't really the same without them here."

Reiner looked down at his plate as Bertholdt sighed." You're right. It doesn't feel the same without those guys."

Bertholdt's head snapped up. Is he out of his mind?!