Eren, of course, doesn't fight Reiner's mouth on him. Maybe he could in some situation, but he doesn't have any fight in him at the moment. He just has need, so close and a little strung out with it, nerves lit up as Reiner's finger rubs against his prostate like that.
He makes a sound that becomes a protest, starting to move again, suddenly worried that Reiner is going to just stop. It would be a hell of a thing to do, wouldn't it, work him up and then walk away? But…no. Of the two of them, which of them is could manage to be that cruel? Not Reiner, surely.
And no, Reiner isn't actually denying him, not for long. There's a little resistance, maybe, because spit really isn't enough for this. But that's only for a moment, and if it hurts for that moment, all it does is make Eren want it more.
He had paused his hand for that second that he started to protest, but he goes back to it now, pushing his hips into Reiner's hand and stroking his cock again faster, sliding a thumb over the now slick head. All of this, the tension of it, Reiner's cock dripping for him, it's…exciting, really. That Reiner, who doesn't trust him, who has no idea what the future really holds, who sees them as enemies (they are, they have to be, they are so the same), can get this hard for him, can whisper in his ear like a lover…he feels almost drunk with that knowledge.
There are so many ways to have power over another person. Eren doesn't crave power for power's sake and never has, but…knowing the effect he can have on someone? Sure, he likes that. He can't help but like that.
As if he hasn't given away that same power.
"Fuck, I need—" he says, but even he's not sure what he's going to say. His hand slides from Reiner's shoulder back up his neck to the back of his head again, not quite high enough to tangle in his hair, just enough to keep him close. Too close, maybe, if there's such a thing as that left now.
He's worked himself up now as much as anything else, face flushed and eyes half-shut again, breath coming in gasps. Just a little more.
Spit really isn't enough for this, but it doesn't matter right now. Not to Eren, who makes that quiet (disarmingly cute) protest when Reiner's finger withdraws, then pushes himself down onto two. Not to Reiner, who curses as Eren's body squeezes around his fingers, hot and tight and so fucking perfect, he can't imagine asking for anything else.
No, that's a lie. Reiner can imagine asking for more. He can imagine asking for so many things, begging Eren to let him have more, to let him take more, greedy and desperate and drunk on it. Not just on Eren's body, but on Eren, in all his infuriating glory.
Eren's hand on his cock, thumb sliding over the too-sensitive head, Reiner fucking shamelessly into his grip. Eren's skin beneath his teeth, neck bared as though Reiner deserves such trust. Eren's hair tangled around his fingers, opening a whole new world of possibilities. Eren's voice, half-pleading, half-demanding. Eren's hand sliding up his shoulder, smoothing over his nape, holding him close. Eren needing him, if only for a moment.
This embrace will haunt Reiner later. It'll make that nameless something ache deep inside, tearing new holes in his already fractured psyche. But right now, it's perfect.
"I've got you," Reiner whispers, thoughtlessly, recklessly, lips against Eren's ear. He brushes a kiss against the lobe, then relinquishes his hold on Eren's hair. Drops his now-freed hand down, fingers wrapping around Eren's cock without preamble, squeezing it, stroking quickly.
It doesn't occur to Reiner to do anything else. Doesn't occur to him to make Eren finish that sentence, or to deprive Eren of what Reiner knows he needs. His first instinct is the same one that compelled him to reach out a hand and help Eren off the ground.
"Come on," he murmurs, taking care of Eren as best as he can. "Come on."
Reiner's hand finally moves out of Eren's hair, leaving Eren to just rest against the wall. But what he gets is better, at least in the moment, Reiner's hand on his cock, neglected for most of this time, dripping with need. Their clothes are both going to be a mess when they're done with this, but he's not thinking about that, and it never would have stopped him anyway.
The thing that will snag Eren later is Reiner's voice in his ear. I've got you. Somewhere in the midst of all of it, the years between them and the blood and horror and the animosity, he'd forgotten what Reiner was like when they met. He has no idea which version of Reiner is the real one, or if there is a real one, exactly. Reiner had been kind, compassionate, someone who was good at taking care of other people. This is that, isn't it? This bit of softness tangled up with whatever else they're doing.
Eren is so unused to softness. He hasn't let anyone care about him -- care for him -- in what feels like years.
That's the thing that does it, in the end, the thing that pushes him over the edge. Another time it would be blood and pain and all the things he can't get people to give him. Today it's this.
He comes with Reiner's name falling from his lips, body taut as a bow string, hips rocking into Reiner's touch. If he forgets where and when they are for a minute or two, that doesn't matter. He doesn't forget who he's with, and that seems more important right now.
A part of Reiner wishes—sharply, desperately—that Eren was laid out beneath him, not pressed against a wall. He wishes he could raise his head and watch as Eren comes, his cock still buried deep, Eren clenching around him as cum stains their bare abdomens. He wants to see it, burn it into his mind, one beautiful memory that might (just might) offset some of the horrible ones, helping to balance the scales. He wants to memorize Eren's face twisted in pleasure instead of rage; he wants to watch as he gives Eren something good instead of ripping away years of friendship.
Next time.
For now, this is enough. It's enough to feel Eren's body wind tighter and tighter, hips jerking and stuttering as he hits his peak, spilling between them. It's enough to hear Eren say his name, Reiner transformed from a curse to a benediction, searing itself into Reiner's memory. It's enough to know that he brought Eren this pleasure; it's enough to know that Eren needs him.
Reiner milks him through it, stroking Eren's cock and prostate until there's nothing left. Then he has the good sense to withdraw his fingers, squeezing Eren's ass instead, his other hand moving from Eren's cock to his own. It won't take much: just a few too-tight strokes, his breath unsteady against Eren's ear, gasping, whispering nonsense.
He comes with a shudder that wracks his frame, moaning, instinctively curling closer. His head drops, hot breath pressed to the place where neck joins shoulder, teeth scraping skin as a second shudder rips through him. Insensible, for the moment, lost in the sensation of their bodies pressed close, the scent of Eren filling his nose, pleasure buzzing through his being.
Eren makes noise practically the whole time, unable to keep his mouth shut, unable to just be quiet, too filled with need and sensation. Reiner works him over the whole time. He could keep going, push Eren harder, drag the sensation past where it would feel good. But he doesn't. True to his word (I've got you), he doesn't push it any further than he has to.
His hand joins Eren's on his cock but it doesn't take long at all.
Eren can count on one hand the times anyone has ever called him beautiful. Actually this is maybe the second time ever that he can recall. He would scoff or roll his eyes or try to play it off in another situation. After all of this, it makes his breath hitch. Reiner says his name the same way he says beautiful and Eren will pretend up and down for weeks that it doesn't affect him but it does. Damnit.
Eren holds on to Reiner's shoulder like a lifeline, like he's afraid he'll lose himself if he lets go (he might). For a long moment afterward they're just there like that, together, breathing. He should let go. He should move. He should…do anything, but he still doesn't. When they move, this will end, and they will be enemies again and who the fuck knows what else. For now, they can just be two boys, together in the rain, alive and breathing, undeserving of it but still here nonetheless.
It's a golden moment carved out of a slew of pain. One moment that isn't bloody or twisted; one moment that is simple, pure. And for the first time in a long time, Reiner doesn't ask who or what he is; he doesn't wonder how he's supposed to accomplish his mission (or how he will bear its weight); he doesn't feel the guilt, despair, and fear curling around his throat, choking him, trapping him, leaving him staggering forward, clutching any handhold he can find. He just … is.
He breathes deeply, his eyes closed, inhaling Eren's scent. Feeling the rain on his skin, more a mist now than a steady fall, pleasantly cool. Relishing all the places where he and Eren touch, their bodies still pressed close, their too-warm skin feeling normal, natural. Basking, for just one moment, in the hazy afterglow.
When Reiner finally moves, he doesn't think. Doesn't hesitate. He turns his head and presses his mouth to the side of Eren's neck, lips lingering in an unmistakable kiss. It's too soft for what they are, too sweet for what they have done (what they will do) to each other. He's acting on instinct again. Following his heart instead of his head.
Eren lets his eyes close again, not as worried about flipping his shit as he was twenty minutes ago. He's never exactly safe or stable or any of that, and he's under no delusions about it. But he's so in his body and here that it doesn't seem to be as big a deal at the moment.
When he can manage to unclench his hand, his fingers find their way back to Reiner's nape, not as a threat but because his neck is just close. Eren's touch there is as gentle as he ever is, just fingers on skin, intimacy they don't deserve and can't possibly hold on to.
What could they have been in another life? What could they have been if they even tried to understand each other? All the branching time that Eren has ever seen, and he's never known any of the what-ifs. It doesn't quite work like that. He's only really ever known an unchanging ending.
He really, really does not want to go home to their world. He thinks that often, but sometimes he's just very sure.
Reiner kisses him, softly, and he doesn't understand. This is easier if they're rough, fighting, that first taste of blood. This softness is unfamiliar and strange and he wants to hold onto it. If he holds too tight, surely it will slip away like sand, like everything else.
There's a moment where he considers doing the opposite, swinging the pendulum back so far that it damages any opportunity he has of doing this again, causing a fight because he does not know how to handle softness. But even Eren's cruelty has limits; his edges are dulled at least a little, because he doesn't want to lose this, the closest he's felt to anyone in…ages.
This is fucked up, he thinks. The closest he's felt to anyone isn't Mikasa or Jean or even Levi. It's Reiner. Maybe that's typical, though, all things considered. Reiner has no idea that just how alike they are and Eren decides that now, today, here, isn't the time to clue him in. Someday, probably.
"We shouldn't stay here," he says, softer than he even means to.
It was a threat before, that hand on Reiner's nape. A threat, a temptation, a taunt, a promise, simultaneously dangerous and irresistible. Now, it's … tender. Gentle. Intimate in a different way than it was before. Intimate in a way that twists that raw, jagged thing lodged in Reiner's chest, filling him with a sharp ache for something that can never be.
Why didn't Eren come with him that day? Why couldn't he have taken Eren home without any more bloodshed? Why couldn't they have this?
We shouldn't stay here. For so many reasons, they shouldn't stay here—the very least of which is some stranger stumbling upon them with their cocks out. But what happens when they move? What happens when Eren pulls his hand away, and Reiner stops kissing Eren's neck? What then?
For so many years, Reiner has worked toward a singular purpose: retrieve the Coordinate and return home. He chased Eren without even knowing it, then chased him more fiercely once he did. What does he do now that he can't knock Eren out and haul him back to Marley? Where does that leave them?
Like this, apparently. Holding each other. Speaking softly, touching gently.
If things were different, is this what they could've been?
Reiner squeezes his eyes shut, face still hidden in Eren's neck. He doesn't want to move. He doesn't want to leave. He wants to stay close, their bodies pressed together, the threat of violence temporarily abated. He wants to cradle Eren in his arms and comb his fingers through that long hair. He wants Eren to keep wanting him. He wants to just be.
Such naïve desires. So fucking stupid.
Reiner is the Armored Titan. He doesn't get to just be.
"… Yeah," Reiner agrees, lips still so close that they brush Eren's skin. Slowly, he moves: his thigh leaving its place between Eren's legs, his hand releasing its grip on Eren's ass, his lips withdrawing from Eren's neck. He shifts back maybe a half step, lingering but no longer pinning Eren to the wall. Then his hands go to his trousers, starting to put his soiled clothing back in order, his motions mechanical.
Maybe in another life they could have fought the world and its order together. Maybe in another life they could have understood one another sooner. Maybe. Maybe.
For now they have to settle for this, broken pieces they can alternately harm each other with or try not to harm each other with. Softness found in surprising places. The thought of what they could be if they weren't already something else, enemies, monsters, unforgivable.
Eren has long given up on the idea of life, of what comes after, because there is no after. There was only his terrible end, the end of the world and all its ills. Or not? What does he know? He hopes some of them survive it. He desperately wants them to, to give his insane actions some meaning. They have to live. But he can't.
For a few moments here, he almost contemplates it. This place. The after. The connections he has unwittingly cultivated with other people, ties he tried to sever and couldn't. Even Reiner doesn't only hate him. Even Reiner could be someone Eren would protect. He was once. Funny how everything always circles around again.
Naive as hell, that's right.
Reiner moves away, slowly, and Eren lets him. There's some reluctance in the way his own hands move, letting go or falling away. He has both feet on the ground again but it feels less steady somehow. They're both a mess (in many ways).
He looks down at his hands, his clothes.
He pulls off his shirt and uses that to clean up a little before he fastens his trousers again. Was that smart? Not at all, but it's not like he had a towel. Whatever. Levi probably won't be home and even if he is, is he really going to ask questions about why Eren rolled up missing a shirt? Unlikely.
But Eren isn't even considering that.
He holds his shirt out to Reiner. Better than nothing.
He doesn't trust himself to speak. He knows how he is. He'll ruin this shaky peace if he speaks.
Unstable, unsteady, broken pieces grinding like gravel, the awful desire for intimacy slowly slicing his insides. Reiner tries to ignore it. He's good at ignoring things. Good at pretending things are okay until he comes to terms with them or forgets his ills altogether. Good at carrying on, pressing forward no matter the circumstances. He can deal with wanting Eren, right? It's not so different from before, is it?
It is different. Eren moaning, gasping, touching him, kissing him, saying his name while coming—of course it's different. Reiner knows what Eren tastes like now. Knows the heat of his skin, the heat inside. That alone would be enough to change things. But that's not what hits hardest. That's not what hurts.
Eren removes his shirt, using it to clean himself. Reiner stares blankly at Eren's chest, all the bare skin he didn't have a chance to touch or taste. Will he get a chance later? They must get another chance, right?
Then Eren holds out his shirt like a bizarre peace offering. Reiner blinks at it, then wordlessly accepts it. Cleans himself off with those same mechanical motions. Fastens his trousers. Hands the shirt back. Raises his head.
That last act is a mistake.
His eyes meet Eren's, gold holding green. Reiner's throat tightens. He wants to lean in and kiss Eren again, starting this encounter anew. He wants to say thank you for the shirt. He wants to ask why and doesn't even know what he'd be asking about. He wants so much, and he can't have any of it.
In the end, Reiner gives Eren a nod, acknowledging all the things he can't say. Then he takes another step back, turns, and starts to leave, picking his way past the refuse.
It's different for Eren, too. As soon as he'd recognised Reiner, he'd planned something much different. This is better? Though whether it lasts is anyone's guess. He doesn't know if he wants it to last, but he wants this again. No, not this. More.
This is dangerous, he knows, the gap in knowledge and his own inability to root himself in time and Reiner's inability to remember which him he is. But danger has never been a deterrent for people like them.
He takes his shirt back, lifts his gaze.
There are so many words between them left unsaid. Eren's not sure where he'd start. A flood of lies? A flood of truth? That one is worse. Something in between? Likely.
He takes a breath but Reiner turns away and saves them both from whatever it is Eren might say. His hands clench in the soiled fabric so he doesn't do something absolutely idiotic like reach out again.
He watches for a long time after Reiner leaves, past and present melded like it always is, before he snaps out of it enough to also leave.
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dreamsofwings) wrote2020-11-19 01:04 pm
no subject
He makes a sound that becomes a protest, starting to move again, suddenly worried that Reiner is going to just stop. It would be a hell of a thing to do, wouldn't it, work him up and then walk away? But…no. Of the two of them, which of them is could manage to be that cruel? Not Reiner, surely.
And no, Reiner isn't actually denying him, not for long. There's a little resistance, maybe, because spit really isn't enough for this. But that's only for a moment, and if it hurts for that moment, all it does is make Eren want it more.
He had paused his hand for that second that he started to protest, but he goes back to it now, pushing his hips into Reiner's hand and stroking his cock again faster, sliding a thumb over the now slick head. All of this, the tension of it, Reiner's cock dripping for him, it's…exciting, really. That Reiner, who doesn't trust him, who has no idea what the future really holds, who sees them as enemies (they are, they have to be, they are so the same), can get this hard for him, can whisper in his ear like a lover…he feels almost drunk with that knowledge.
There are so many ways to have power over another person. Eren doesn't crave power for power's sake and never has, but…knowing the effect he can have on someone? Sure, he likes that. He can't help but like that.
As if he hasn't given away that same power.
"Fuck, I need—" he says, but even he's not sure what he's going to say. His hand slides from Reiner's shoulder back up his neck to the back of his head again, not quite high enough to tangle in his hair, just enough to keep him close. Too close, maybe, if there's such a thing as that left now.
He's worked himself up now as much as anything else, face flushed and eyes half-shut again, breath coming in gasps. Just a little more.
no subject
No, that's a lie. Reiner can imagine asking for more. He can imagine asking for so many things, begging Eren to let him have more, to let him take more, greedy and desperate and drunk on it. Not just on Eren's body, but on Eren, in all his infuriating glory.
Eren's hand on his cock, thumb sliding over the too-sensitive head, Reiner fucking shamelessly into his grip. Eren's skin beneath his teeth, neck bared as though Reiner deserves such trust. Eren's hair tangled around his fingers, opening a whole new world of possibilities. Eren's voice, half-pleading, half-demanding. Eren's hand sliding up his shoulder, smoothing over his nape, holding him close. Eren needing him, if only for a moment.
This embrace will haunt Reiner later. It'll make that nameless something ache deep inside, tearing new holes in his already fractured psyche. But right now, it's perfect.
"I've got you," Reiner whispers, thoughtlessly, recklessly, lips against Eren's ear. He brushes a kiss against the lobe, then relinquishes his hold on Eren's hair. Drops his now-freed hand down, fingers wrapping around Eren's cock without preamble, squeezing it, stroking quickly.
It doesn't occur to Reiner to do anything else. Doesn't occur to him to make Eren finish that sentence, or to deprive Eren of what Reiner knows he needs. His first instinct is the same one that compelled him to reach out a hand and help Eren off the ground.
"Come on," he murmurs, taking care of Eren as best as he can. "Come on."
no subject
The thing that will snag Eren later is Reiner's voice in his ear. I've got you. Somewhere in the midst of all of it, the years between them and the blood and horror and the animosity, he'd forgotten what Reiner was like when they met. He has no idea which version of Reiner is the real one, or if there is a real one, exactly. Reiner had been kind, compassionate, someone who was good at taking care of other people. This is that, isn't it? This bit of softness tangled up with whatever else they're doing.
Eren is so unused to softness. He hasn't let anyone care about him -- care for him -- in what feels like years.
That's the thing that does it, in the end, the thing that pushes him over the edge. Another time it would be blood and pain and all the things he can't get people to give him. Today it's this.
He comes with Reiner's name falling from his lips, body taut as a bow string, hips rocking into Reiner's touch. If he forgets where and when they are for a minute or two, that doesn't matter. He doesn't forget who he's with, and that seems more important right now.
no subject
Next time.
For now, this is enough. It's enough to feel Eren's body wind tighter and tighter, hips jerking and stuttering as he hits his peak, spilling between them. It's enough to hear Eren say his name, Reiner transformed from a curse to a benediction, searing itself into Reiner's memory. It's enough to know that he brought Eren this pleasure; it's enough to know that Eren needs him.
Reiner milks him through it, stroking Eren's cock and prostate until there's nothing left. Then he has the good sense to withdraw his fingers, squeezing Eren's ass instead, his other hand moving from Eren's cock to his own. It won't take much: just a few too-tight strokes, his breath unsteady against Eren's ear, gasping, whispering nonsense.
(So good. Beautiful. Eren. Fuck. Fuck. Want you. Fuck. Eren. Eren.)
He comes with a shudder that wracks his frame, moaning, instinctively curling closer. His head drops, hot breath pressed to the place where neck joins shoulder, teeth scraping skin as a second shudder rips through him. Insensible, for the moment, lost in the sensation of their bodies pressed close, the scent of Eren filling his nose, pleasure buzzing through his being.
no subject
His hand joins Eren's on his cock but it doesn't take long at all.
Eren can count on one hand the times anyone has ever called him beautiful. Actually this is maybe the second time ever that he can recall. He would scoff or roll his eyes or try to play it off in another situation. After all of this, it makes his breath hitch. Reiner says his name the same way he says beautiful and Eren will pretend up and down for weeks that it doesn't affect him but it does. Damnit.
Eren holds on to Reiner's shoulder like a lifeline, like he's afraid he'll lose himself if he lets go (he might). For a long moment afterward they're just there like that, together, breathing. He should let go. He should move. He should…do anything, but he still doesn't. When they move, this will end, and they will be enemies again and who the fuck knows what else. For now, they can just be two boys, together in the rain, alive and breathing, undeserving of it but still here nonetheless.
no subject
He breathes deeply, his eyes closed, inhaling Eren's scent. Feeling the rain on his skin, more a mist now than a steady fall, pleasantly cool. Relishing all the places where he and Eren touch, their bodies still pressed close, their too-warm skin feeling normal, natural. Basking, for just one moment, in the hazy afterglow.
When Reiner finally moves, he doesn't think. Doesn't hesitate. He turns his head and presses his mouth to the side of Eren's neck, lips lingering in an unmistakable kiss. It's too soft for what they are, too sweet for what they have done (what they will do) to each other. He's acting on instinct again. Following his heart instead of his head.
cries about this
When he can manage to unclench his hand, his fingers find their way back to Reiner's nape, not as a threat but because his neck is just close. Eren's touch there is as gentle as he ever is, just fingers on skin, intimacy they don't deserve and can't possibly hold on to.
What could they have been in another life? What could they have been if they even tried to understand each other? All the branching time that Eren has ever seen, and he's never known any of the what-ifs. It doesn't quite work like that. He's only really ever known an unchanging ending.
He really, really does not want to go home to their world. He thinks that often, but sometimes he's just very sure.
Reiner kisses him, softly, and he doesn't understand. This is easier if they're rough, fighting, that first taste of blood. This softness is unfamiliar and strange and he wants to hold onto it. If he holds too tight, surely it will slip away like sand, like everything else.
There's a moment where he considers doing the opposite, swinging the pendulum back so far that it damages any opportunity he has of doing this again, causing a fight because he does not know how to handle softness. But even Eren's cruelty has limits; his edges are dulled at least a little, because he doesn't want to lose this, the closest he's felt to anyone in…ages.
This is fucked up, he thinks. The closest he's felt to anyone isn't Mikasa or Jean or even Levi. It's Reiner. Maybe that's typical, though, all things considered. Reiner has no idea that just how alike they are and Eren decides that now, today, here, isn't the time to clue him in. Someday, probably.
"We shouldn't stay here," he says, softer than he even means to.
cries with 😭
Why didn't Eren come with him that day? Why couldn't he have taken Eren home without any more bloodshed? Why couldn't they have this?
We shouldn't stay here. For so many reasons, they shouldn't stay here—the very least of which is some stranger stumbling upon them with their cocks out. But what happens when they move? What happens when Eren pulls his hand away, and Reiner stops kissing Eren's neck? What then?
For so many years, Reiner has worked toward a singular purpose: retrieve the Coordinate and return home. He chased Eren without even knowing it, then chased him more fiercely once he did. What does he do now that he can't knock Eren out and haul him back to Marley? Where does that leave them?
Like this, apparently. Holding each other. Speaking softly, touching gently.
If things were different, is this what they could've been?
Reiner squeezes his eyes shut, face still hidden in Eren's neck. He doesn't want to move. He doesn't want to leave. He wants to stay close, their bodies pressed together, the threat of violence temporarily abated. He wants to cradle Eren in his arms and comb his fingers through that long hair. He wants Eren to keep wanting him. He wants to just be.
Such naïve desires. So fucking stupid.
Reiner is the Armored Titan. He doesn't get to just be.
"… Yeah," Reiner agrees, lips still so close that they brush Eren's skin. Slowly, he moves: his thigh leaving its place between Eren's legs, his hand releasing its grip on Eren's ass, his lips withdrawing from Eren's neck. He shifts back maybe a half step, lingering but no longer pinning Eren to the wall. Then his hands go to his trousers, starting to put his soiled clothing back in order, his motions mechanical.
no subject
For now they have to settle for this, broken pieces they can alternately harm each other with or try not to harm each other with. Softness found in surprising places. The thought of what they could be if they weren't already something else, enemies, monsters, unforgivable.
Eren has long given up on the idea of life, of what comes after, because there is no after. There was only his terrible end, the end of the world and all its ills. Or not? What does he know? He hopes some of them survive it. He desperately wants them to, to give his insane actions some meaning. They have to live. But he can't.
For a few moments here, he almost contemplates it. This place. The after. The connections he has unwittingly cultivated with other people, ties he tried to sever and couldn't. Even Reiner doesn't only hate him. Even Reiner could be someone Eren would protect. He was once. Funny how everything always circles around again.
Naive as hell, that's right.
Reiner moves away, slowly, and Eren lets him. There's some reluctance in the way his own hands move, letting go or falling away. He has both feet on the ground again but it feels less steady somehow. They're both a mess (in many ways).
He looks down at his hands, his clothes.
He pulls off his shirt and uses that to clean up a little before he fastens his trousers again. Was that smart? Not at all, but it's not like he had a towel. Whatever. Levi probably won't be home and even if he is, is he really going to ask questions about why Eren rolled up missing a shirt? Unlikely.
But Eren isn't even considering that.
He holds his shirt out to Reiner. Better than nothing.
He doesn't trust himself to speak. He knows how he is. He'll ruin this shaky peace if he speaks.
no subject
It is different. Eren moaning, gasping, touching him, kissing him, saying his name while coming—of course it's different. Reiner knows what Eren tastes like now. Knows the heat of his skin, the heat inside. That alone would be enough to change things. But that's not what hits hardest. That's not what hurts.
Eren removes his shirt, using it to clean himself. Reiner stares blankly at Eren's chest, all the bare skin he didn't have a chance to touch or taste. Will he get a chance later? They must get another chance, right?
Then Eren holds out his shirt like a bizarre peace offering. Reiner blinks at it, then wordlessly accepts it. Cleans himself off with those same mechanical motions. Fastens his trousers. Hands the shirt back. Raises his head.
That last act is a mistake.
His eyes meet Eren's, gold holding green. Reiner's throat tightens. He wants to lean in and kiss Eren again, starting this encounter anew. He wants to say thank you for the shirt. He wants to ask why and doesn't even know what he'd be asking about. He wants so much, and he can't have any of it.
In the end, Reiner gives Eren a nod, acknowledging all the things he can't say. Then he takes another step back, turns, and starts to leave, picking his way past the refuse.
no subject
This is dangerous, he knows, the gap in knowledge and his own inability to root himself in time and Reiner's inability to remember which him he is. But danger has never been a deterrent for people like them.
He takes his shirt back, lifts his gaze.
There are so many words between them left unsaid. Eren's not sure where he'd start. A flood of lies? A flood of truth? That one is worse. Something in between? Likely.
He takes a breath but Reiner turns away and saves them both from whatever it is Eren might say. His hands clench in the soiled fabric so he doesn't do something absolutely idiotic like reach out again.
He watches for a long time after Reiner leaves, past and present melded like it always is, before he snaps out of it enough to also leave.