Mission Success: A Different Story

Brother Bonding

Eren lay on his bed, staring up at the ceiling in boredom. Reiner and Bertholdt had left about three hours ago to go see their families, leaving him basically alone in this new place. In that amount of time, he had tried to talk to Ymir and Krista, the only other people he knew, but the freckled girl had pretty much just hissed at him and shut the door in his face. He had also attempted to converse with Pieck and the redheaded asshole that had broken Reiner's nose, but the redhead was...well, an asshole.

A knock sounded on the door, causing Eren to groan." Fair warning, I'm not in the greatest mood right now."

The door opened to reveal a familiar pair of green eyes." Hello, Eren."

Eren propped himself up on his elbows so he could look at his half brother better." Did you come here for a reason?"

"I did."

"...Was it to show off your new haircut?"

Zeke chuckled." No. I thought that with Reiner and Bertholdt gone, you might be a little bored."

Eren flopped back on the bed." More than a little."

"Good; then will you join me for the afternoon?"

Eren blinked and sat up all the way."... What exactly will we be doing?"

Zeke scratched at his ear mindlessly." Oh, a little catch, maybe some coffee, or some drinks if you prefer that."

"What's catch?"

The blonde man stared at him in disbelief." You don't know what catch is?"Eren shook his head.

"Then you have to come with me and play. Life isn't the same without catch."

Eren stared at him for a minute before shrugging." It beats doing nothing," he said as he stood up. Zeke gave him a smile as the boy pulled on the red armband.

"Alright, follow me; we have to get mitts first," he said, turning around and leading his brother out into the hall.

"What are mitts?" Eren asked, catching up and walking side by side with Zeke.

"Mitts are like big, leather gloves that you wear on one hand that you catch a baseball with."

"What's a baseball?..."

Zeke smiled again as he began to explain." A baseball is a certain type of ball used in a game called baseball. In the game, you have a two teams that take turns playing certain roles; someone is a batter, someone is the pitcher, and the others are catchers and outfielders..."

As he explained the game to Eren, Zeke went to his own room and grabbed two worn leather mitts before leading Eren outside to the training field. By the time they got there, the blonde man had finished explaining the game and was giving Eren tips on how to catch, aim, and throw like a pro.

"You ready?" Zeke asked eagerly, handing Eren a mitt. The boy took it and shrugged.

"I think I got the basics. Which hand do I put this on?"

"The one you write with." Zeke began backing away, creating some distance between them while he produced an old, dingy white ball the size of a fist." Ready?"

Eren nodded, shuffling his feet into a comfortable position. Zeke also shifted a little, pivoting and bringing one leg off the ground. A split second later, Zeke brought his arm back and launched the ball at Eren,who instinctively sidestepped as the ball flew past him, missing him only by a few inches. 

"What the hell?!"

"I was testing you. It seems that when something comes at you at a high speed, you avoid it. Interesting..." Zeke mused. Eren picked up the ball and threw it at his brother.