#reiner braun x ofc

[boo-nito-flakes]

Vertigo | Reiner Braun + Original Female Character AU: modern setting, neighbors multi-chapter story

Rating: Mature Synopsis: When Josie's mysterious neighbor becomes a temporary guardian for his young cousin, she didn't think she'd be so involved. Reiner was a ghost of a neighbor, the two only exchanging a handful of words in the year they'd lived beside each other. Yet there she was, spending her nights watching true crime documentaries and filling out online personality quizzes with Gabi while Reiner was at work at The Liberio. There were a lot of things about this new arrangement Josie didn't expect; how often she thought about Reiner's forearms was near the top of the list. This could become a problem...

Chapter One

“Um, I’m really, really sorry to bother you, but I kinda need your help.”

“Help?” Josie looked down at her new-ish neighbor, bottom lip trapped between her teeth. It wasn’t necessarily Gabi’s presence at her door that had her worried–it was her attitude. Sedated, with skittish eyes and arms crossed in front of her chest. She shifted on her feet and Josie’s heart lurched with every worst-case-scenario. “Is everything okay? Are you hurt? Is it Reiner––” 

“It’s not him!” Gabi half-shouted, big brown eyes wide and wet. “Nothing bad happened… I just… um, can I come in?” 

Josie peeked her head fully into the hallway and looked from left to right. No Reiner. No flames or smoke. No bloody trails. No Boogeymen lurking at the end of the hallway. Feeling a little sheepish, she stepped backwards into her apartment and extended an inviting arm to Gabi. 

Reiner is my cousin , Gabi explained by way of introduction. A few weeks ago on her way out to get lunch with a friend Josie crossed paths with the two at the complex entrance. Gabi hoisted an overstuffed duffle bag over her shoulder and stepped around Reiner to extend a slender arm–wrist adorned with at least seven multicolored beaded bracelets. So I guess that makes you my new neighbor . 

She stumbled upon Reiner later that night while on a mission to retrieve a long-forgotten load of laundry. He was kneeling in front of the only good dryer in the under maintained apartment laundry room. The dryer she most definitely left her linens–which were now neatly folded on top of the machine– in seven hours ago. Josie blustered through an apology, bumping around Reiner in an attempt to immediately remove her shit so she didn’t inconvenience him any more than she already had. 

The man folded her towels . The very friendly people living in Rose Hill Apartments Block C (where there were no roses nor hills) had a history of throwing forgotten laundry on the cracked floor. But her ghost of a neighbor took the time to fold her towels and pillowcases into two separate piles. The stacks were tidy, crisper than any laundry she’d ever done herself. 

Reiner shrugged off her apology. And when she danced around the weird stairway introduction he awkwardly explained, temporary guardian while her mom works some things out . He gripped the back of his neck, eyes drifting towards the door like he’d rather be anywhere than trapped in the linoleum lined room with Josie, ancient machines rattling against each other.

There was a nervous energy to Gabi as she stepped into the apartment. An ever-darkening flush stained her cheeks, fingers twisting together in front of her frame. “ IstartedmyperiodandIdon’tknowwhattodo .”

Oh. Oh. Josie’s eyes widened a fraction as she processed the rush of words. I started my period and I don’t know what to do. Yeah… that… made sense. Gabi at her door–a stranger’s door–full of a pressing urgency, eyes shifty and hands nervous… it made sense. Something familiar in Josie’s chest tightened at the realization. 

It wasn’t any of Josie’s business, what was going on with Gabi and her mother – why a twelve year old girl’s life was seemingly upended and her guardianship was delegated to a bachelor living in an outdated apartment in a just barely okay neighborhood. She didn’t doubt Reiner was a good guardian. But was he really the best choice? Josie bit the inside of her cheek to quell the surge of guilt prickling her skin. It wasn’t her business. 

(But she couldn’t help but think of herself at that age. Alone in a tiny apartment with painted over windows, a barely heated frozen meal warming her lap as she struggled to do homework. Slivers of light spilling in through the gap in her bedroom door when her parents got home. Quiet murmurs, conversation falling into nothing. The hum of a late night talk show through the walls. Workboots hitting floorboards. The beep of the microwave cutting short.) 

Reiner wasn’t a bad neighbor. If anything, the opposite was true. He was the type of neighbor people dreamed of –Josie included. He was so quiet that it took her months to realize the apartment next to hers wasn’t just sitting vacant. It was a stupid thought; their landlord was a dictionary example of ‘skeevy scum’ who would never keep profitable square feet empty. When she finally crossed paths with her mystery neighbor, it was brief – uneventful, even. He opened his door while she was juggling her keys, work bag, and canvas tote of groceries. They exchanged a few awkward pleasantries and that was that – mystery neighbor, no longer. From what Josie gathered over the next few months, Reiner worked late hours and was either never home or the quietest most considerate neighbor a person could ask for. 

“Um, Josie?” 

“Sorry, sorry! Come in some more and we can talk or whatever.”

She flashed what she hoped was a reassuring smile (fuck, she was making things awkward, right? ) and waved Gabi further inside. It only took a few steps for curiosity to outweigh weariness. Gabi’s eyes bounced around the apartment, and Josie swallowed the lump of self-consciousness at the examination. 

So maybe she was mid-cleaning session when Gabi knocked… and maybe her apartment was a little bit of a mess. Clutter that accumulated over the last week (okay, okay…the last few weeks) waited to be put away in semi-organized piles across her coffee table and floor. A basket of clean laundry, unfolded and definitely getting more wrinkled as the seconds ticked by, haphazardly balanced on the edge of the sofa. Music still played from her laptop, a playlist of punchy pop and rap that demanded constant dance breaks. The vacuum was still out, cord tangled, and off-brand cleaning supplies were abandoned like fallen comrades on the battlefield—hooked on the back of a dining chair, hidden with the leafy greens of a parlor palm, propped against a fiddle leaf fig, dangling from a dusty bookshelf.

Josie gave herself a few seconds to mentally prepare before clearing her throat and prompting, “Ah, so what kind of help are you looking for? Supplies? Advice?” A few seconds of silence passed, Gabi’s eyes still bouncing around the apartment, and Josie shifted on her feet and elaborated, “We can just talk, if you want. If you have questions.”  

Gabi finally turned and stared at Josie with a frozen panicked look. The apartment suddenly felt suffocating – too hot, too small. Another childhood memory wormed its way to the front of her mind. Legs crossed at the ankles while she sat on a sticky plastic table in the nurse’s makeshift office, her blood stained jeans folded neatly in a plastic bag by her side. The nurse spoke with a kind, almost muted voice, about cycles and proper hygiene. Josie remembered how she wished she were anywhere or anyone else at the time. She remembered the mortification and shame she felt. How unhelpful Nurse Amy really was – her platitude that her classmates would forget all about it feeling like the biggest lie when she returned to a class full of whispers and giggles.

Before Josie could say anything, Gabi squeezed her fists together and nodded to herself once before meeting Josie’s eyes with a newfound conviction.

“I have questions,” she confirmed. Her hands flexed open and she tugged at the bottom of her shirt, twisting the fading maroon fabric between her fingers. “But I also need… um…,” she motioned to her lower half, and Josie realized–slightly aghast–that she was currently unprotected and definitely super uncomfortable. “Supplies?”

“Oh, shit, of course! Shit–” she winced, hoping her tongue would catch up to her brain. “–yeah, I mean–”

Gabi interrupted with a snort. “I’ve heard worse than that at school.”

“I’m sure,” Josie said, fighting a smile.

She took a few steps towards the bathroom before realizing, 1) Gabi wasn’t following her, and 2) she needed to breach another layer of comfortability and ask about— “You probably don’t have a change of clothing with you, right?”

“Um, like currently?” Gabi squeaked. “No?” 

“You’ll probably want fresh underwear, at least.” She paused, a frown tugging her lips as she strung together some of the loose threads in her head. “Wait, does Reiner know you’re here?"  

“Um, no?” Gabi said. This time, with a huff of disbelief and a little bit of an ‘are you crazy?!’ expression. She shook her head, face softening a little while she explained, “He’s asleep. He worked a double shift yesterday and goes back in later tonight, so I wanted to let him rest… not that I want to talk to him about this stuff.”

  Josie’s heart squeezed tight in her chest. She knew what it was like, searching for the quietest floorboards. Holding her breath while she tip-toed past exhausted parents, just trying to catch a few hours of sleep between shifts. Toeing the line between caretaker and child, burdening herself with responsibilities – always wishing she were a few years older, a little bit smarter, a little more popular.  

“Go grab something comfy and let yourself back in. I’ll get some stuff around and once you’re situated, we can talk… if you still want.”

“Okay, um, I’ll be right back.”

Josie followed her the few steps to the door, double-checking the lock wasn’t turned, then turned back for the bathroom, stopping only once to shut off the music still playing from her laptop. The quiet that engulfed the apartment was somehow exhausting and terrifying—the adrenaline of that initial ‘I kinda need your help’ diffusing into something much more bruised and tender.

Her heart thumped dolefully, a familiar pattern that made her pulse tick beneath her skin. Josie bit down hard on the inside of her cheek and forced herself to think of something other than her parents–of a childhood spent quiet and alone, a youth spent chasing the sensation of flying. 

And she couldn’t help but… well, she couldn’t help but think about Reiner. 

Reiner, picking up extra shifts. She didn’t know where he worked, exactly, or what he did. Just that whatever it was, he kept odd hours. Was he lonely? Could she remember him ever having anyone over? Any company at all?

Reiner, who had this aura of perpetual exhaustion the handful of times they ran into each other around the complex. A sullen, kind of brooding look to him. It pulled at the peak of his lips, mouth always tugged into the slightest pout. Citrine eyes downcast, gaze always somewhere else. She’d never seen him freshly shaven, but the shadow of blonde hair at his chin and across his cheeks suited him. There was a lot about Reiner that suited him. He was handsome, in a rugged way. Handsome in a way Josie never really let herself dwell on… 

Reiner, barely an adult himself and taking care of his pre-teen cousin because… because, well, she didn’t know why. It wasn’t information she  needed or was entitled to know, but she couldn’t help but wonder. Couldn’t help but suddenly worry he wasn’t taking care of himself enough, if he and Gabi were going to be okay. Josie didn’t miss the look on Gabi’s face when she said she wanted him to rest—yeah, there was absolutely no way he was taking care of himself. Reiner was practically a stranger (calling him anything but would be a stretch) but Josie knew he was a good person; she felt it in her bones, he was decent. However she could help, she would—even if it’s just buying some pads and ice cream for Gabi. Reiner deserved a little rest.

Looking a hell of a lot less fazed than she did standing at Josie’s front door, Gabi walked into the bathroom. Josie hadn’t even heard her come into the apartment; when she slapped one palm on the counter and announced she was ready, Josie startled to attention–shoving her thoughts of Reiner aside for more pressing matters. Lucky for her, Gabi was too busy staring at the tampons and pads splayed out and cluttering the tiny counter to pay attention to whatever the hell was going on with Josie. 

“Do you want me to walk you through how to use anything–” 

“I can figure it out,” She chirped, way too loudly for such a tiny bathroom, eyes widening.

Josie smiled easily and said, “Okay. There’s a plastic bag there for your clothes, if you need it. I’ll just wait in the living room.” 

A few minutes later, Gabi emerged with the crinkling grocery bag bundled in her hands. She visibly looked more comfortable when she sat next to Josie on the couch. She did her best to tidy the apartment while her guest was in the bathroom… so really, she moved the laundry basket from its precarious perch on the couch to the papasan in the corner and consolidated the stacks of bills, spam mail, and restaurant flyers back into one mega pile to be dealt with later. Progress was progress, right? 

Josie didn’t expect Gabi to back out of talking, but she didn’t expect a full ‘things they should teach you in health class but apparently are too chickenshit and old-fashioned to talk about’ seminar, complete with a Q&A panel. For as nervous and apprehensive as she first appeared, Gabi was rightly curious and a little grossed out by her body—and that resulted in a lot of questions. Josie did her best to answer things as honestly as she could. Puberty could be fucking awful – in no universe would she sugar-coat that glaringly obvious fact – but it wasn’t all awful. It didn’t have to be, at least, and if even a third of the things she babbled about stuck with Gabi, Josie would call it a successful crash course in the joys and woes of womanhood. 

  Before sending her back to Reiner’s apartment, Josie grabbed the half-empty box of pads from the bathroom cabinet. “Here, take these with you. It should last at least until your next period, but be sure to have Reiner pick you up another box before then.”

  Gabi’s lips twitched a little.“R-right.”

“Let me know if he gives you any shit—”

“Reiner isn’t like that,” She interrupted. Her entire body coiled like a cornered cat, voice hitching higher with every word. “I just don’t want to worry him. He works really, really hard. And even though he says I’m not a burden I know I am—”

“Hey, hey, Gabi. Gabi!” Josie swallowed the sense of panic she felt at the sight of Gabi’s big brown watery eyes. She kept her voice as steady as she could (it still wobbled) and touched a light hand to her shoulder. “Breathe for a second.”

“—it’s my fault he’s so tired, but Reiner is my only family left and he takes really good care of me and I just want him to be okay—”  

After explaining the finer details of menstrual cycles with her, Josie was fairly confident she was close enough to hug Gabi without permission. So she did… mostly because she didn’t know what the hell else to do. It seemed to work, luckily; Gabi stopped talking and melted into Josie’s arms. She held her for a while, until her tears soaked a wet spot through her shirt and her stuttering breaths evened. Eventually, Gabi pulled back and swiped at her eyes with the back of her hands.  

Neither of them seemed to know what to say. But Josie was the adult, she reminded herself, and she had to say something.

“We really don’t have to talk about it now or ever, but if you want… if you ever want to talk, I’m all ears. My parents weren’t… I mean, I didn’t have the easiest time growing up. I know what it’s like to feel like a burden, is what I’m trying to say, I guess. And you’re not. You’re not a burden, Gabi, so don’t think that for a second more, okay?”  

“Yeah, okay.” She scrubbed her cheeks with her hands again as she nodded, letting out a meek little noise. “I’m sorry, I’m just really tired and, uh, yeah…”

“Crying is healthy, I think. Something about endorphins.”

“That sounds made up.”

“It’s true! I watched a video about it.”

“Duh. People your age believe everything they see online.”

Josie scoffed through her laughter. “ ‘People my age’ ? I’m twenty-two, you little asshole!” 

“I’m just saying!” Gabi exclaimed, hands waving defensively. A smile crooked her lips and she continued in a dawdling way, “I should get back before Reiner wakes up and wonders where I am. He always makes a big deal about making me dinner before he leaves for work.”

Josie couldn’t help but tease, “Aw, that’s sweet.” (She thought it was very sweet, actually.) Something about the off-hand way Gabi said ‘leaves for work’ pulled at something in Josie’s mind, another thread of a question she couldn’t help but ask. “Does Reiner leave you alone when he goes to work?”

“Um… no!” Gabi’s spine straightened, her eyes widening as a fresh wave of panic seemed to work down her spin. Josie raised an eyebrow–she wasn't judging… per se… and it made sense, knowing it was a complicated situation. Besides, pot–meet the kettle. It wasn’t as if Josie hadn’t been alone at that age for hours at a time. Gabi must’ve registered the doubt stamped all across Josie’s face  because she swallowed hard, eyes drifting to a corner of the room, and sheepishly continued. “I mean, okay, yes. But he checks in with me a lot and I always make sure I’m asleep by midnight at the latest so I’m being responsible!”

“I was just surprised, that’s all.” Josie admitted honestly, raising her hands. Of course she was concerned, too, but not for the reasons Gabi probably thought. No, Josie had been alone enough at Gabi’s age to know… well, to know how fucking lonely an apartment could be. And if Reiner was working double shifts… “What does Reiner do, exactly?”

“He works at a bar. Um, The Liberio.”

Ah, that made a lot of sense. The Liberio sounded vaguely familiar. Marley wasn’t the biggest city, but it was a college town with a thriving downtown scene. There were more bars than churches. It was something the university transplants loved to brag about, and she’d even seen the accolade blocked across welcome pamphlets and city guides.

Josie was born and raised in Marley, and even though she wasn’t a Warhammer (why they ever thought that was a good mascot for a school, she’d never know), she knew the city the way only a townie ever could. Which meant picking an apartment complex near the outer edge of town, away enough from the bustling energy leaking from Marley University and the rent that came with it, but not so far that the city bus didn’t make frequent stops. It wasn’t a bright or manicured neighborhood –too close to a highway exit to be considered all that safe or desirable– but it worked for Josie. 

For a moment, she tried picturing Reiner behind the bar top at one of those trendy places near the university, serving overpriced and watered down neon drinks to college kids. The image went fuzzy in her head. No, she bet he worked at one of the bars where domestic beers were practically free and there were at least four sporting events playing on the televisions at any given time of day. 

Gabi said her name, shifting from one foot to the other. “I really do need to go, but… um, thank you. Not just for the uh, pads—” she lifted the box with a nervous flutter, the plastic bag at her wrist sliding down and bunching the curve of her arm “—but for talking with me. That was really cool of you.”

Josie tried not to beam at the compliment. Jeeze. When did looking cool to a twelve-year-old ever matter to her before? 

“And um, for other things, too.” Gabi’s cheeks flushed pale rose and she looked away, admitting, “I guess it’s been a really long time since someone hugged me like that and it felt nice.”

That made Josie want to hug her again, but she settled on a one-shoulder shrug. Her chagrin was on display, from reddened cheeks and shy expression to nervous movements.“Everyone deserves a hug every now and then.”

It sounded lamer when said out loud than it had in her head and for a second Josie wondered if her ‘cool neighbor’ points were going to be rescinded. After such a short tenure, too. Damn. But something flickered in Gabi’s eyes and she nodded slowly. 

“Yeah… you’re right.”

She left after that, rushing through another ‘thank you’ before slipping out the door. Once again left in the quiet—this time, for good—the last remnants of the weird kind of adrenaline of the afternoon started to wear off. Josie needed to finish cleaning her apartment; she didn’t have another day off for a few days and it was highly unlikely she’d be in the mood to clean again then. Hell, she wasn't in the mood to clean now . A few episodes of her favorite TV show and a nap sounded good. No, it sounded great. A way better way to spend a day off than organizing bill statements and dusting shelves. 

But she was already kind of grimy from cleaning and she wasn't going to take a nap on freshly washed sheets (groaning, she realized those freshly washed sheets were still bundled together in her laundry basket) reeking like lemon cleaner. And if she was already kind of gross and needed a shower… she might as well finish picking up her apartment. A night binging some TV after that would be like a reward. And fuck it—she was ordering takeout; there were a half dozen menus on her coffee table, at least one had to have some kind weekday special.

It took a little grumbling and mental ass-kicking, but Josie eventually restarted her cleaning playlist and formulated a half-assed (at best) plan for tackling the rest of the apartment. The name of the game: Damage Control. Instead of reorganizing her closets and mopping the floors, she put away the cleaning supplies littering her space and tossed empty hangers into an empty laundry basket. She fluffed pillows, refolded throw blankets, and struggled through making her bed. 

It wasn’t like her apartment was dirty, just a little messy. A deep clean sounded like a proper adult thing to do on a day off. At least she tried . When all was said and done, her apartment miraculously looked tidier than it had that morning. A win's a win. 

After a quick survey of the restaurant flyers and menus accumulated in one of her kitchen drawers, Josie decided on a new pizza place in the neighborhood. Ordering from a new spot was a gamble but their mailer had a really good coupon, and in her mind, bad pizza was still kind of good pizza. With her dinner secured, Josie hopped in the shower, spending a few extra minutes submerged beneath the too-hot spray. She dreamed of living somewhere with a big nice bathtub where, after a long day, she could drink wine and soak in water infused with essential oils and bubbles. All too soon, the water pressure flickered – a sign that too many people were taxing the building’s system – and her daydreams were over. 

She was half-dressed, deciding between pajama bottoms, when a knock sounded through the apartment. The pizza place advertised thirty minutes or less, and she did spend a lot of her shower daydreaming, but there was no way that could be her dinner, right? 

She tripped over her own feet, jumping into a pair of loose pajama shorts as she called out, “Just a second!”   

There was an apology queued on Josie’s tongue as she opened the door, and she thanked God she had the foresight to pre-pay over the phone. But it wasn’t pizza. 

Reiner, dressed in all black and wearing an unreadable expression, stared down at her. Silence beat between them. The slight rise and fall of his chest as he took a deep breath was the only sign he was flesh and blood in front of her and not some kind of hallucination.

Tongue feeling thick and fuzzy in her mouth, Josie greeted, “Oh. Reiner, hey.”   

“Sorry to bother you—”

“You’re not.”

“—but uh, can we talk? About Gabi, I mean.”

“Yeah, of course.” She should’ve expected this—expected him. It made sense, that he’d want to talk about the situation. He was her guardian, after all. He wasn’t upset, was he? Those three words, ‘can we talk?’ , had a tendency to be harbingers of really shitty conversations. Josie hesitated for a second before taking a step back, fingers hooked back with an invitation. “Do you want to come in?”

“Ah, sorry, but I actually need to get to work. I’m already running late. I just wanted to thank you… you didn’t need to do as much as you did.” Reiner huffed out a little self-deprecating noise. “I’ve already given her three lectures about talking to strangers so she knows she shouldn’t be knocking on peoples doors, but um, I’m glad it was your door she knocked on. Thanks, Josie.”

Josie’s heart jumped to her throat. She managed to sputter, “Anytime.” 

Reiner rubbed his neck, big hand coming to rest on his shoulder. The motion drew her attention to his arms. His muscles strained beneath black cuff of his sleeve, biceps pinching the material in a way that made Josie’s mouth dry. The cords of his forearm flexed and belated, she realized he was talking. Shit. Shit. Shit. Josie licked her lips, prayed the color of her cheeks didn’t betray her, and found his eyes.

Which was, admittedly, maybe not the best idea. Because there was something haunting reflected in the depths of his murky yellow eyes. Something vulnerable and familiar and heartbreaking. Josie’s palms itched. She pressed them flat against her thighs and forced herself to think about anything but how badly she wanted to reach out and touch him. Which would be crazy and cross so many boundaries but… he looked so incredibly sad . And didn’t she just tell Gabi everyone deserves a hug now and then? Maybe there was a gas leak in the building or she was tripping from eating spoiled fruit or something–there had to be a legitimate reason for the sudden sharp yearning, the wandering ache, the need to project her own fucked up bits onto other people.

“—at least until the end of the summer, so I want her to be comfortable coming to me for this type of thing.”

“She cares about you a lot.” 

“Yeah, I know.” Reiner’s face softened. He pulled on his shoulder with a sigh, then dropped his arm and admitted, “She said she didn’t want to worry me. Girls her age should be worrying about… I don’t know, but not that —not this. Gabi’s too smart for her own good, though. She’s already shouldering too much and… shit… I’m not trying to dump this all on you. Sorry.”

There he was, looking at her with those golden puppy dog eyes. Her hands flexed and before she knew it, Josie was opening her mouth and overstepping at least a dozen boundaries.

“She’s welcome here anytime. If you’re okay with that, I mean, and if she’s okay with it, too.”

This could potentially put Josie firmly in the ‘weird neighbor’ category… but there was a chance for it to be good for Gabi. And Reiner. Ever since Gabi showed up at her front door, Josie hadn’t stopped thinking about herself at that age. Parents working overtime. Powdered mac n’ cheese. Homework abandoned in favor of cartoons and bike rides. She thought of how bored she was, how lonely she was… and all the trouble she found.

If there was a chance she could offer Gabi even a sliver of a safe space or some companionship, it was worth at least asking–at least offering .

Seconds stretched by in silence, Reiner’s wide eyes unblinking as Josie anxiously shifted in her doorway. Fuck. Great. Just great. She was really good at putting her foot in her mouth and fucking things up, but this was a new one for her. She had to move, right? Break her lease and find somewhere far, far away from–

“Why?”

“What?” She squeaked.

“Why would you offer to do something like that?”

“I’m sorry if I overstepped—”

“No, no .” Reiner ran a hand through his already messy blonde hair as he cleared his throat, lips set in that seemingly permanent pout. “It’s not that. We’re just… I know we’re neighbors and it was really nice of you to help Gabi out, but you don’t need to do this. We’re not a… charity case or something."  

“Oh my God, no.” Josie waved a hand to stop him, a swell of panic tickling the back of her throat. She was fucking this up so badly. “That is not what I meant at all .”  

“We’re strangers,” he said pointedly. There was something sharp in the way he looked at Josie, like he was searching for a crack in her story. Like she would only offer them kindness expecting something in return.

“Neighbors,” Josie reminded him, even though they both knew the word held little weight. Neighborly wasn’t exactly a word she’d use to describe their brief interactions; yet, there she was… offering to hang out with his pre-teen cousin while he was at work. Okay, okay, she totally saw where his suspicion came from. “Look, I know family shit can be really weird and difficult. If I can help, I want to—not because I think you need it or see you as charity but because I get it. Besides, I’m home basically every night, so really she’d be, like, keeping me company.”

Josie thought of the way Gabi’s eyebrows furrowed when she said she didn’t want to worry Reiner. Thought about the way they both looked with the word ‘burden’ rolling from their tongues. Thought of herself, bundled under blankets in an empty apartment, all the lights on even though she knew she’d get scolded for the waste, echoes of sirens and shouts and music and cries seeping through the thin walls.

“Think about it,” Josie rushed to say, before he could turn her down directly. “Ask Gabi if she’d even be interested. I just…”

There was a noise at the end of the hallway, distracting them from whatever Josie was going to say. Probably for the best. She cringed inwardly—this was one of the first full conversations she was having with her neighbor and she was making a complete ass of herself. Reiner tilted his head down the hall, mouth pinched in a pout Josie couldn’t help but stare at, shoulders tight and squared. A few seconds later, he took a sudden step to the side.

“Ah…”

The sight of a delivery person, looking every bit a paragon for bored indifference, shouldn’t have taken Josie by surprise but she was startled, nevertheless. They balanced the insulated delivery bag in one hand, the other itching at their neck.

“Delivery for Apartment 2B,” they sighed, one eye lazily drifting between Josie and Reiner.

“That’s me.”

“I should go.”

Their voices overlapped. Josie sent Reiner a sheepish look, and the corners of his eyes crinkled with something that resembled a smile. 

Josie rocked on her heels. “Just think about what I said?”

“Yeah.” Reiner gave a quick, curt nod. The crinkle in his eye was gone, a more turbid look in its place. “I will.” 

The delivery person sighed again, a loud bothered noise, as Reiner dipped away. Instead of rolling her eyes, Josie forced the corners of her lips up to a friendly customer service grin. They didn’t return the sentiment. Can’t win 'em all. 

Reiner was already halfway down the hallway, hands shoved in his pockets. A simple white logo for The Libero stretched across the back of his shirt. At the sight of the blocky Varsity letters something warm bubbled in Josie’s stomach. Before she could stop herself, she called his name. He froze, back straightening, and slowly turned his body. Even from the end of the hall she could see his raised eyebrow, the apprehension on his face. 

Ignoring the groaning delivery person and the heat crawling up her neck, Josie blurted, “Have a good night at work.”

Under their breath but definitely not quietly enough, the delivery person moaned, “I don’t get paid enough for this.”

Josie agreed. At least she tipped them well . It was hard to care about inconveniencing the driver—or anything, really—because at her words, Reiner smiled. A real smile. Surprise rounded the edges of his mouth, a rosy pink peeking through the fine hairs of his scruffy beard.

“I’ll try.” He cleared his throat then added, “Have a good night, as well—”

Ripping Velcro overlapped with her name. Josie’s eye twitched with thinly veiled annoyance, but the delivery person waved a little tablet in front of her face and chastened, “Can you just take your pizza and sign this? I’ll get written up if the timestamp is over thirty minutes.”

 Aaannnddd… Josie’s annoyance turned to mortification. “Shit, sorry, yeah!”

As quickly as she could, Josie approved the order on their tablet and took her pizza. She closed her apartment door to their fading grumbles, letting her head thunk against the well-worn wood. The warm cardboard box flexed under her tight grip. After a few seconds of silence, Josie’s bouncing ball heart ricocheting against her ribs, she let out a low groan and a long and proper fuuuuuuuuccccccckckkkkkkkk .

She had a bad habit of speaking before thinking… but this was too far—too much—even for her. Offering to hang out with her perfectly quiet and polite (and handsome) neighbor’s cousin, despite them both being complete strangers, because she was triggered by… her own lonely childhood? Some… some fucking protective instinct? Neither were any excuse to invite herself into their lives without an offer, yet she did just that. With a smile! 

There was a drop ceiling in the employee break room at Paradis Mart. When Josie first started working there one of the older, long-time employees told her they found someone living up there in the 80’s. The story was urban legend garbage meant to get a rise out of newbies with the closing shift (and Josie herself told the story a dozen times to trainees assigned to her shifts over the years), but she was fairly confident she could make the arrangement work if it meant never having to face her neighbor again.

(Something sharp twisted in her chest at the thought.)

[pinkmirth]

(arranged marriage with reiner!! you’re expecting some cruel man and he’s just nothing of the sort and he takes his time getting to know you and falling for you before the idea of sex; and boyyyy the sex… first man to ever make you come)

˚୨୧⋆｡˚ ⋆ ARRANGED, reiner braun !

omg mona! hubby reiner is everything to me— especially since i’ve been meaning to write something like this for a while >< after the marriage (which you begrudgingly went through with,) you think you’re gonna hate him; that he’ll be heartless and demanding. what i love most about this is that reiner easily proves you wrong! contrary to your former assumptions, your new husband is kind. makes you proud of being ‘missus braun.’ he’s compassionate and dedicated to you and the future family you’ll make (assuming that you’re together for the sake of an heir!) speaking of an heir . . . it isn’t long before you’re expected to have his babies.

before any talk of kids, he’d spent the first few months of your marriage trying to be a good husband— a man you can rely on, someone you can tell your deepest secrets to and laugh with. from the moment your relationship became legally bound, he’s been trying his best to not only see you as a wife, but as his closest friend. once that bond is made, once you’ve built trust, he deems you ready for him. and god, is he the gentlest man on earth. his large calloused hands are capable of the softest strokes. and he never thought you’d be so eager to feel him in this way. deep down in his heart, reiner believes you’re made for him. on the night of his first attempt at impregnating you (the thought of which excites him more than it should), he makes sure to fuck you good— hard but slow, the exact way you instructed him to. he needs you to enjoy this just as much as him. with thorough thrusts and pressured rubs to your clit, five minutes was all he needed to get you undone. you think you’ve finally fallen in love— both for him and that thick cock of his. reiner’s the only man capable enough to make you feel this good, he turns out to be the best you’ve ever had.

when you’ve both had your fill, satiated after three lengthy hours of love-making, he stays. nobody else has. hell, he even goes as far as to wiping you down and tucking you in, slipping underneath the sheets beside you. strong arms encircle your waist and pull you into the firmness of his chest. his skin’s warm, so you press a kiss to it. initially, this relationship was never of your own will. you’d even threatened to run away and leave him at the goddamn altar. but now? you can’t even fathom missing up on a man as rare as reiner braun.

[tender-hearteddd]

i can’t take any interpretation of bertholdt’s ability of being the perfect doormat being a good thing seriously lol i just hate it and it feels disrespectful to his character and the very mini character growth he did have. idk i also hate this interpretation of him being a dumb dumb shit for brains baby who can’t do anything for himself?? i just hate it. pple act as if he was constantly crying to reiner every time he ran into the slightest inconvenience like he wasn’t the piece of thread that was still connecting reiner to his true reality, so it was more like reiner needed him more than bertholdt needed reiner and if bertholdt were to live, i hope he realized this and had a more concrete character development where he grew out of being a doormat.

reiner had this obsession with being the perfect soldier/warrior to the point where he lost who he was, people would argue annie was the true epitome of what reiner was trying to be but she still couldn’t help but demonstrate her true feelings so in turn, i would argue that bertholdt was really the true epitome of a soldier.

and i don’t mean that in a good way.

bertholdt always kept what they are and what their mission was in mind even if he did enjoy his time in the cadet corps. and i don’t even think most of the cadets truly seen him as a friend, only an extended part of reiner which just makes his character even more sad 👎🏾 he believed that retrieving the coordinate would truly save the world from the genocide eren ended up committing (and it would’ve lol), he kept watch on reiner’s mental illness so he wouldn’t lose his best friend, and during the RtS battle, he carried out his duty as a warrior as he understood war after living through it all his life, both as a victim and a perpetrator that no one was truly in the wrong - so he did what he was supposed to do.

bertholdt wanted to do what was asked of him to put an end to all the pain and suffering of the future generations who now have to rebuild the world due to a global genocide. if the warriors have succeeded, the rumbling would’ve never happened however, marley would’ve used the FT power to further its global domination all over the world. they definitely would’ve used it to eradicate paradis. there were no winners in this at all. the colonized people in the aot world (like ramzi) still would suffer from the colonial empires of marley and eldia. eldians would still be exploited to continue marley’s wrath. but there still would’ve been a world to save instead of one to eradicate.

he understood first hand the failed complexities of aot as a story, being that war only has countless victims, bertholdt being one of them.

[rhythmstars]

Characters and fandoms i write for

Comic Book and live action

DC comics

The batfamily (except Alfred ofc)

The superboys (excluding lex luthor)

The teen titans

The young justice

Billy Batson

Freddy Freeman

Eugene Choi

Mary Bromfield

Pedro Pēna

Morpheus

Marvel

Peter Parker

Miles Morales

Pavitr Prabhakar

Gwen Stacy

Miguel O'Hara

Hobart Brown (Hobie)

The Avengers (cap, tony, nat, thor, loki)

Yelena

Matt Murdock

Dr. Strange

Harry Potter

Harry Potter

Hermione Granger

Ron Weasley

Fred and George Weasley (separately)

Bill Weasley

Draco Malfoy

Cedric Diggory

Sirius Black (young)

Remus Lupin (young)

James Potter (young)

Lily Evans (young)

Peter Pettigrew (obviously young and maybe)

Regulus Black (young... obviously...)

Tom Riddle (not exactly eh)

Animes

Attack on Titan

Levi Ackerman

Jean Kirstein

Eren Jaeger

Mikasa Ackerman

Armin Arlert

Connie Springer

Hange Zoe

Sasha Braus

Reiner Braun

Jujutsu Kaisen

Satoru Gojo

Kento Nanami

Megumi Fushiguro

Yuuji Itadori

Suguru Geto

Shoko Ieiri

Iori Utahime

Bungo Stray Dogs

Osamu Dazai

Chuuya Nakahara

Kouyou Ozaki

Doppo Kunikida

Nakajima Atsushi

Ryunosuke Akutagawa

Ranpo Edogawa

Akiko Yosano

Junichiro Tanizaki

Tokyo Revengers

Manjiro Sano/Mickey

Ken Ryuguji/Draken

Takashi Mitsuya

Takemichi Hanagaki

Hinata Tachibana

Chifuyu Matsuno

Emma Sano

Yuzuha Shiba

Keisuke Baji

Tetta Kisaki (though i truly hate him lol)

Demon Slayer

Tanjiro Kamado

Giyu Tomioka

Nezuko Kamado

Zenitsu Agatsuma

Kyojuro Rengoku

Shinobu Kocho

Muichiro Tokito

Obanani Iguro

Mitsuri Kanroji

This list will be updated as i go! but for now these are the only characters I'll write for.

Rules (pls read)

I'm not comfortable writing nsfw themes so please don't request any

I do NOT write yandere themes.

I write mostly angst and fluff but anything else is fine! :D

I will try my best to write LGBTQ+ but I'm not FULLY aware of how things work so I'm so sorry if i make a mistake. (kind criticism is appreciated!)

I will write Character x reader and just character scenarios ONLY!!

Y'all are really free to request anytime i don't mind :)).

That's all i guess I'll see y'all on my next post!! till then bubyee!!

[jeagerism]

the negative

✒ word count : 2.9k

✒ characters : college!armin arlert x gn!reader

✒ warnings : nothing except debate talk, armin being a teasing little shit, erenn mikasa r mentioned like once, same with porco and annie, armin is very good at debate bc ofc he is, its a college!au surprise surprise, armin and the reader r friends but also more, friends that kiss, reiner and colt in this bc i love them

✒ summary : Armin’s always had your devotion. Even when he ran his mouth.

✒  notes : this came to be based on talking abt what armin would do in college and how he’d like having playful arguments with his s/o that would get distracted by how pretty he is when he’s cocky...i’ll probably write a part two that’s just smut and nothing else bc im a whore for one armin arlert

“I call this debate to order.”

Your eyes jump from the index cards in your hands to the administrator at the front of the room, rolling your shoulders back in preparation. It’s a practice debate, you have to remind yourself. The irregular beating of your heart isn’t slowed, palms slightly sweaty, leg jumping in nervousness. A practice debate. 

“Seated on my right are the affirmative debaters, namely, their first speaker, Colt Grice, and their second debater, Y/N L/N.” The moderator nods their head in your direction, and you can feel all the eyes in the room shift to you and your partner. “To my left, and supporting the negative side, are it’s first speaker, Reiner Braun, and it’s second debater, Armin Arlert.”

When you switch your gaze from the front to the opposing side, your eyes meet cobalt blues right away. 

A practice debate, but against Armin Arlert, it meant as much as any official match.

The curve of hair against his forehead shifts as he tilts his head, unwavering gaze trained on your spot at the table. He’s got his hands clasped together atop  his own desk, slim wrists shown from underneath the sleeves of his white button up. He looks...nice. A weird feeling claws at your stomach when other words for just how nice he really looks come to mind.

You suppose you’d always held a certain admiration for Armin. What with the way he seemed to be every professor's favorite, or the pinpoint amazing grades he kept every semester. Maybe it was the way your TA from last semester’s chemistry class, Erwin, had talked so highly of him and the way he went about his life. 

So you’d harboured a slight sort of awe every time he walked by, or every time his name was mentioned. The pretty shade of his eyes and soft looking strands of hair did nothing but add to that feeling, especially when you’d talked to him for the first time. Armin had been nothing but perfect that time, and every time after that. He’d been the reason you’d joined debate club anyways; it gave you a chance to talk to him every Tuesday and Thursday, and looked good on applications for internships.

And that gentle, quiet admiration for him grew. And grew, and grew, until you were hiding the smile that sealed your cheeks when you were around him, calming the pitter patter of your heart every time he said your name. You wanted to make him laugh, and listen to any story he had to tell you. You were enamoured by him, you could hardly look away.

Then the debating started. Which you’d come prepared for, of course. But there was also a certain anxiety that came with arguing your point against the blond himself. He was good at it, and of course he was, because Armin Arlert was good at everything. Seeing him defend his side of an argument was akin to watching a single flame spark into a fire. You held onto every smirk and click of his teeth during every speech, the way his fingers seemed to itch in anticipation for his rebuttal. He was the debate club’s golden boy, a poster child for getting new members to join your little group.

Which is why you longed to win against him so badly. He was great, more than great, and every part of you wanted to reach every point that he continued to surpass.

And you suppose that starts now.

“Each debater will make a three minute construcutive speech, and later a three minute official rebuttal period to attack his, her, or their opponents’ argument. I will grant debaters the right to speak by introducing them, and they may then hold forth until either they sit down, or I demand they relinquish the floor, whichever occurs first.”

In any other debate you’ve participated in since joining, you’ve never gone against him. You’ve been on his team, side by side, giving him a reassuring nod, even if he didn’t need it. He’d win, so he probably didn’t need your affirmations, but he always accepted them anyways, a gentle smile pulling at that dimple in his cheek.

Things are different now. You sit up straight in your chair, the droning of the moderator a familiar tune you’ve grown accustomed to in the past few months. Armin’s eyes haven’t left your own, and when you raise your eyebrows, corners of your lips lifting into a barely there grin, he returns it with a quirk of his own brows, wetting his lips. He looks like he’s going to do something else, but the next sentence from the moderator’s lips have his head turning.

“I call upon the first affirmative debater to deliver his constructive speech, including a definition of the terms in the resolution. If the affirmative team desires to introduce a plan,” they speak, body completely facing you and Colt, “it must be completely described during this address.” 

Colt turns to you, shuffling his cards together neatly. “Good luck,” you murmur, following his path up to the podium in between the tables, front and center of the spacious club room. He begins his speech with a smile, words clear and concise as he begins revealing his stance on the argumentative topic you’d been given earlier that week. 

Despite the focus you have on your teammates talking, your body is hyper aware of the eyes on you.

Armin had always been a friend. Something simple, something you could put a neat little label on, and stick it in the corner of your mind. He’d introduced you to Eren and Mikasa as his “friend from debate club”, and you’d done the same for him upon his first meeting with Porco and Annie. Friends was a good word. Sure, one that made your stomach twist at times when you’d see someone lay a flirting hand on his shoulder, but one that you could live with nonetheless.

He’d been the one to tease you whenever you’d tripped over your words during a speech, but was just as quick to spend an entire afternoon helping you commit it to memory. He liked getting to class before you to grab the seat right next to the one you liked. He’d been a friend, until he hadn’t really, your relationship trapped in this weird limbo of teasing remarks and lingering hugs. Either way, he was in your life, and had your heart clenched ruthlessly in those pretty hands of his.

So maybe he had a habit of holding your hands, and maybe he’d kissed you a few times before letting you walk into a class you had without him. Maybe you stuck to his side like glue at parties, and were with him more than anyone else. But he’d been your friend, before that, and you’d never figured out if your relationship had jumped to a next level, or had stayed stuck in between.

You suck a quiet breath between your teeth, allowing yourself a peek in his direction as Colt finishes addressing the judges. He’s smiling now, shoulders shaking as you squint your eyes at him. Leaning back into his seat, he tilts his head at you, nodding his head to the front of the room.

“Thank you, Mr. Grice. We shall now hear the constructive address of the first negative debater.” As your teammate begins his journey back to your desks, Reiner stands, shuffling from between the table and chair to make his way to the podium. Armin mumbles something to him from the other side of the room, giving the taller male a thumbs up.

“Hey,” Colt retakes his seat beside you, laying his cards flat against the table. Unlike you, he’d gone against both Reiner and Armin multiple times, and if Armin was the best, Colt was surely a runner up. “Still nervous about going against Arlert?”

“Very. I don’t think my hands have shaken this much since...freshman orientation.” Swallowing the lump of nerves swelled in the back of your throat, you shrug your shoulders slightly. “It’ll be fine. I’ve just gotta not throw up in front of everyone and embarrass myself. Easy, right?”

He chuckles quietly, nudging your leg with his own. “You’ll do just fine. I believe in you.”

You murmur a grateful thanks to the boy sitting on your left, turning your focus to Reiner as he starts his own address. 

Time goes by quickly, the only noise being the sound of your opponent’s words, the quiet click of the time keepers watch, and the scratching of Colt’s pencil as he takes notes for his rebuttal. Each second that ticks by only makes your hands sweatier, leg still jumping about as a visual representation of your nerves. You almost wished you’d had Armin to coach you through this one, too. He was never this nervous about debates, always taking whatever happened in stride, solving any mishaps in a flash. 

“I call upon the second affirmative debater to deliver their constructive remarks.” 

Colt taps your arm in quiet support, watching as you gather your index cards and stand. “You got this, yeah?” The screech of the chair moving against the wooden floor makes you wince, but release a quiet laugh at the choked snort you hear from who you’re sure is Armin himself. Another few titters arise before coming to a stop.

The few steps there go by far quicker than you wish, and eventually you’re standing in front of the entire club, knees knocking together and heart lodged in your throat. Glancing down at your hands, you check to assure your cards are in the right order, then recheck, and then recheck again. 

When you move your sights back up, you find Armin’s gaze immediately. He’s still smiling, but it's so warm and reassuring that you straighten your posture, clear your throat, and begin speaking. The lilt of your voice is quiet and unstable at first, but steadies out as you continue, words coming across with clear diction. Before you know it, your time is up, and you’re retracing your steps back to your seat. Colt gives you a giant smile, even bumping his fist against yours when you relax into your chair. 

Armin takes the stand next, diving into his oration as soon as he reaches the podium. Even going against him, it’s easy to be hooked on the way he speaks, the confident deliverance of words leaving you silent. His speech rips through the group of people just as it always does; the judges nod their heads along with his statements. He wraps his conclusion up with a polite smile, and allows the moderator to move on with the rebuttals of Reiner and Colt.

The back and forth between the two males lasts for a handful of minutes, before the moderator steps in, forcing Colt to relinquish the floor, and ending the primary speakers’ final debate. 

Which means it’s your turn to face Armin, take every witty remark and criticism into consideration before giving your own right back.

From your place across from him, you can see the blue of his eyes clearly, sunlight coming through the windows in sliced pieces. 

“The negative debater, Armin, has stated that our affirmative has taken the wrong approach to this, and have brought about reasoning as to why this study shows its detriment to university students in finding their place in the campus community.” You can feel a swell of pride in your chest, catching the look Reiner throws at Armin’s back from his place at their table. “However, there are many examples of this, for instance the recent study at Columbia University, where the study results taken from students attending the school proves the affirmative argument. That this case makes forward progress.” You throw out another remark, refuting the previous arguments Armin had brung forth.

Clearing your throat, you take in the eyebrow Armin raises at you, chest shaking with a chuckle. He begins unbuttoning the sleeves of his button up, rolling the fabric up to his elbows with a small smirk. Heart stuttering, you look away from him to collect your thoughts, locking gazes with him once more to finish your rebuttal. “Now because of this, we chose to propose this argument. If the negative were to have taken a closer look at these, I believe they would have taken this into account.” Letting out breath, you nod. “I rest.”

“The negative may now commence with his rebuttal and or defense.”

Armin’s eyes sparkle as he begins, missing their usual gentleness in exchange for a sort of cocky sheen. His hair shifts as he tilts his head at you. “Before I come to my own argument,” he voices, tongue running across his bottom lip while he pauses, “let us first take a look at what the affirmative, our darling angel Y/N, has said.” The only plus of this, you think, is the fact that this is a practice debate. He wouldn’t get told off for any remark he made that had no relevance to the case he’s defending. Laughs spark from around the room, and you see Colt flash a smile at your demise.

Armin shuffles the papers in his hands, nodding as he taps at the page. “I’ll continue our case in a moment, but before that there are some things about the affirmative argument that need to be addressed.” He rests his elbow on the edge of his separate makeshift podium, and begins pointing out flaws and holes in your first remarks that you hadn’t even realized yourself. “They told us that multiple in depth studies show that these methods help students assimilate into the community; but in fast, there are several studies that show the decline of this on students’ journey into the community, as my first speaker already told you.”

Armin continues on, opposing many of the statements you’d made earlier with backup from Reiner’s speech as well. Even when he’s done, giving you your own time to debate the evidence and thoughts that he’d brought to attention, you can feel the energy of the group shifting to support his side. “So, ladies and gentlemen, what have I told you today? Firstly, the affirmative seems to stem their argument off of invalid evidence from a community with other activities and cases aiding university students entry into social life. And second,” he relocks his sights upon you, making direct eye contact with you as he cocks his head at your form, scoffing, “and second, that affirmative debater Y/N has not taken the direct steps into this case, as frustratingly stunning as they are, to see the correct results of these studies, to refute our, the negative’s, argument.” Not taking his gaze from yours, he rolls his tongue against the inside of his cheek, not bothering to conceal his smile. Your cheeks are warm, and this being a practice debate means he can throw in any witty thing he wants without care. “I relinquish the floor to them.

“Second debater?” The moderator, as well as many others, are smiling, and you know boy wonder has won once more. You probably couldn’t dig yourself out if you tried. He had you in all ways, hook, line, and sinker.

Pushing a rush of air past your lips, you cough out a laugh. “I relinquish the floor as well.” 

“I declare this debate officially concluded.”

Another burst of laughs come from varying spots around the room, chairs squeaking against tile as everyone moves around, gathering supplies and bags. Colt claps you on the shoulder, giggles making his shoulders shake. “You, uh, you held your own for awhile, to be fair.”

“Whatever, I lost horribly because of Armin and his stupidly—”

“Stupidly unfair good looks, I’m hoping.” An arm hooks around your shoulders, the smell of warm honey and sea salt encasing you. Leaning your head back against the arm, you roll your eyes when Armin’s face appears above you. “You did good, for your first time with me.” You can feel his words as much as you hear them, already being pulled away from where Colt stands, towards the door. You give one last short wave to the boy before letting Armin tug you forward. 

“You’re annoyingly good at running your mouth is all,” you shoot back, ignoring the gentle click of his teeth he directs towards you in favor of lifting your hand to tangle with the one hanging over your shoulder. He hums, shuffling his feet in time with yours.

He lets a few more teasing words float between you, leading you out the main door of the university to wear he’s got his beat up old car parked. It barely works, the engine giving out sometimes in the middle of the road, the two back windows stuck in their shut position. But it gets him from Point A to Point B, and reminds you so much of its owner that it hurts. Armin keeps those old butterscotch candies in the glovebox, and always has the same Seabreeze air freshener hanging from the rearview. 

Armin follows you to your side, turning you slightly before you can reach for the door. Your back presses into the side, head tilting back to see him properly. “I meant it, you know. You did good today.”

“Still lost.” At the slight pout of his lips, you smile, shaking your head. “Thank you.”

“I’ll just help you prepare next time, yeah?” Pulling you away from the door and into his arms, he sways your bodies slightly, lips pressing against the skin of your forehead. He reaches behind you, pulling the passenger door open for you. Before he lets you go, he smiles, half of his mouth lifting at the sides. 

“I’ll try not to distract you with my stupidly pretty face next time.”

[lunaekalenda]

HIII 🤩 for your 700 followers event, can I request red roses, gardenia, and honeysuckle for Reiner pleassseeee with a cherry on top 🥺🥺

ofc! :D i hope you like it and sorry for the waiting!

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red roses - passionate and romantic love ; gardenia - secret love ; honeysuckle - eternity x reiner braun

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Falling in love with Reiner Braun wasn’t in your plans. 

Your family dislikes his, specially since they moved to the house next to yours. It’s just irrational hate, all because his mother wanted to share the garbage container instead of buying one. Actually, that’s a huge reason to get enemies in your neighborhood. You remember clearly the day he moved there. You were on your room, studying for your last exam. It was a hot afternoon, almost summer, and the sun was shining without any cloud to cover it. You saw his mother watering some red roses outside, and she smiled at you when she found your gaze. You waved your hand quietly, smiling a bit. Miss Braun is really sweet and kind. Then, a blonde boy appeared. He was dressing casually, just a plain t-shirt and shorts, but that wasn’t the thing that caught your attention. His smile towards his mother was huge, full of love and respect. Her mom looked at you again, as if she was saying goodbye, and that was the exact moment your eyes collided. He showed a sweet smile before disappearing inside his house. That night he was, obviously, the topic of the dinner conversation.

“Have you seen it? The neighbors have a boy around your age.”

“For sure he’s also a disrespectful man.”

You sigh. You’re tired of this. 

Summer passed by really fast, and you discovered his name: Reiner. He’s an only child and he moved there with his parents. You talk to him whenever you two coincide: when you take out the trash, when you walk the dog or when you go out and he’s watering his mother’s plants. Since both of your families work almost all day, you have a lot of time to pass together. A casual soda on his porch derived to a coffee on your favorite café, and that to a meal on your kitchen and that to a dinner on his yard. The more time you spent with him, the more attracted you felt. 

There was like an invisible thread pulling you closer, and it was impossible to resist it.

“Auch.” both of you giggle. He pats softly your head, where you hit, and you try to put the rear-view mirror back to his original position after hitting it with your head. “Your car isn’t the most comfortable place to give a good-bye kiss.” you say. It’s now September, and you’ve been secretly dating Reiner for almost four months. His car is parked on the street before yours, and you’re half leaning towards him, trying to find his lips, but your head found the mirror instead. He laughs again, quietly.

“Does it hurt?” he asks. His big hand is still on your forehead. You shake your head.

“Nah. I didn’t hit that hard.” you whisper. The silence is now comfortable, and you’re feeling his hot hand against your hair. “How much time do we need to hide?” you ask, quietly. You hear how Reiner sighs. He knows you’re right, your family will never approve this relationship, even when you’re free to decide with whom you want to be. 

“ We’ll think about something.” he says. You’ve enjoyed a day out, it’s not time to think negative. You smile at him and he does the same, leaning closer to you, avoiding the mirror. “I also don’t like to hide. God, Y/N, if I could yell to everyone that I’m with you, I wouldn’t doubt.” he whispers, you can even feel his lips brushing against yours with every word he says. You smile.

“I know.” of course you do. Reiner radiates love in every single word, action and gaze he gives you. “I would pay to walk by your hand on our street or pass the night together.” Reiner sighs again, taking your body as close as he can, letting your head rest against his arm. 

“I’ll wait. I’ll wait for it, and never leave you on the process.” he promises. You can see the petals of the honeysuckle he has tattooed on his arm. He also caresses yours, on your wrist. It was a total coincidence that you both had the same flower tattooed, but that was like a little reminder of destiny. Of how you were made to be together. “What if we go dinner with your parents?” he asks. You part and look at him, surprised. 

“Why so suddenly?”

“I want to be serious with you.” he says. “I really love you, and I don’t want to hide something that feels so good anymore.” it seems like his brain has been working full-speed all this time. “I want to be with you as a normal couple, and I want to impress your family. I want them to know me, not to have a prejudice against me. I want them to accept us.” he says. You also want. That dinner can end in two ways: your family likes him, or your family hates him and doesn’t want to know him. You sigh. Why is it so difficult?

“I don’t know, Rein. I don’t want them to mistreat you.”

“It’s okay, love. They won’t, I’m sure. They just want to protect you. And so do I.” he says. “I’ll make them see I just want to treasure you.” he says, his forehead resting against yours. “I want to spend my life with you. I really want. I want to wake up with you and move with you and love you even more than I do now.” he whispers. He takes then your wrist, kissing your honeysuckle tattoo. You blush.

“Reiner...” you whisper. The blonde boy smiles. 

“I’ll be patient for you.” he says. He looks to the front, the stars shining intensely. “I’ll wait the time needed to spend my life by your side.”

[gabiloove]

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// Gabi [Gang’s] Week! 💕

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Gabi [Gang’s] Week is an annual fandom event following April 8th to April 14th, Gabi Braun’s birthday. As one may expect, the week is focused on Gabi and celebrating her, her character, and ofc her birthday!! !

More info below.. .

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>> Rules!; 💕

- Anyone can join!! ! <3

- Any medium or type of post is allowed!! Art, written work, editing, analysis’s, or simple posts! Ect! All are allowed!! <3 And you can switch through mediums all you like! Just, please do not post work that is not your own.

- Of course, keep you work/posts focused on Gabi. You may include other characters, but keep Gabi as the main focus. :)

- Please keep hate out of these and their posts!! Wether that’s hate towards Gabi, her fans, Sasha fans, those who dislike Gabi, and so on. Please be respectful.

- If your post contains ship art, please keep it mild—such as hugs, cuddles, head nuzzles, forehead/cheek kisses, and such. Nothing suggestive or sexual.

- Adding this as the final, as one might say, “Basic DNI.” No hateful, discriminatory, nsfw, or sexual work of any kind! Any ship art must contain characters of the same/similar age. No minor x adult ships. Ect ect.

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Week Calender!;

// April 8th; “Favorite Pair!” What other character do you love seeing Gabi with? Which relationship is your favorite? Gabi and Falco? Gabi and Reiner? Or Levi? Whether it’s familial, platonic, or romantic. What do you love about their relationship?

// April 9th; “Favorite Quote!” What’s your favorite qoute from Gabi Braun? Whether it’s from the anime or manga.

// April 10th; “Favorite Scene!” What’s your favorite scene from/featuring Gabi Braun? Wether it’s from the anime or manga.

// April 11th; “Favorite Headcanon(s)!” What’s you favorite head canon or head canons of Gabi?

// April 12th; “Favorite AU!” What’s your favorite alternate universe for Gabi? Wether it’s an alternate reality, canon divergence, cross over, and such. Wether it’s your au or another’s! (Please credit any aus that are not your own).

// April 13th; “Favorite Fit!” What outfit of Gabi’s is your favorite through out the series? This can include the anime, manga, or side series and side comics by Isayama and such.

// April 14th; “Gabi’s Birthday!” Where would she celebrate her birthday? With who and how? What events would happen? Chaos? Peace? Wholesomeness? Angst? This can apply to any of her birthdays over the years, before and after the aot/snk timeline.

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When posting content for Gabi [Gang’s] Week please @ this account ( @gabiloove ) and tag your post as #Gabi [Gang’s] Week. 💕

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[bluebellhairpin]

Be My Valentine?

Attack on Titan X Reader

A/N: Look at y’all, giving me a sweet tooth. A few days too early too. I wrote this like a week ago. - Nemo

Warnings: A little suggestive. Much Fluff. Modern AU. 

Listening to: ‘That’s What I Like’ by Bruno Mars (slowed) - ‘You deserve it baby, you deserve it all.’ 

Masterlist

Armin Arlert 

He is so organized, and no I’m not meaning he remembers to buy chocolates, flowers or a stuffed bear - no no no, to Armin that is not acceptable.

To Armin those are things he does every day. 

So you can bet your lovable ass that you have a much better Valentines Day than anyone else you know. 

He even manages to top it every year.

Once, he rented a penthouse for the night just because - tbh he probably said something dumb like ‘you deserve this and more’. (okay not that dumb, I’m just upset because no one will ever do that for me.) 

He had to save up for like, two years to do it though. 

Baby boy just wants to show his appreciation.

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Erwin Smith

He’s less organized than Armin, but he does have more money, and he is 100 per cent not afraid to ask for help. 

But like he’s an old fashioned guy.

Dinner, red roses, mayhaps a night in afterwards *wink wink*

But deadass this guy just makes it seem so special every time? Like you did it last year and you know you’ll do it again? But it’s so exciting anyway? 

Def feeds you the choccy strawberries. Or chicky nuggies. Whichever. He don’t care as long as his beloved is happy. 

Probably has a new item of jewelry bought a week in advance. Even if you don’t usually wear it, just do it for that night and he’ll be satisfied. 

He like’s buying you stuff, and he likes seeing you with/wearing the stuff he buys.

Dunno why, some shady possessive stuff probably, but who are we to complain? 

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Levi Ackerman

Smh. 

Man’s does not care.

At all.

‘Valentines? Who is that?’ 

But seriously, the only reason he doesn’t care is because he think’s ‘it’s dumb that we only have one day in the whole year to show our love for that one person when it should happen all the time.’ 

If he see’s a particularly nice bouquet or a brand of sweets you like that’s around during this time of year - however - he will get it for you. 

Because he knows you like whatever it was.

And if you do like Valentines day, he will do something for you on that day. 

He doesn’t think his opinions should always be yours and vice versa. 

But don’t catch him browsing the valentines themed isle in the grocery store otherwise you’ll get beat. 

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Reiner Braun

nEVER forgets. Ever. 

There are three dates set into his brain and he forgets everything else.

1. Your B-day. 2. Your Anniversary. And 3. Valentines Day. 

Bed’s covered in the petals of your favorite flowers. There’s matching bouquet’s in every room. 

Music’s playin’ as soon as you walk in, he’s standing there in that outfit he knows you like. Favorite dinner and drinks all set out. JUst walking home to that is *chefs kiss* ahhhhhh

But make sure you get something for him. 

The way he melts that you got him something? Even if it’s little, he will grab you and not let you go for like half and hour. 

Please return the favor. Hold him this night. Do not let go. Hold him tighter and tighter and he will not stop saying how much he loves you.

Even as he starts to fall asleep he will keep telling you. 

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Zeke Jaeger

Probably takes you on an overnight trip somewhere way too expensive and acts like it’s nothing. 

‘Zeke, this is a private jet.’ - ‘And?’ - ‘It’s going to Paris Zeke.’ - ‘Yeah? That’s like the whole point?’ 

Mans sees no problem spending a minor fortune on one night’s worth of activates and items. 

Goes all-out and is not afraid to do so. 

Will have you dress-up all nice and take you out on his arm to go to dinner. He’s trying to show you off. Like ‘look at this beauty I scored. You wish you were me.’ and I think that’s very in-character of him. 

Like legitimately the most fancy thing you ever wanted to - he’ll have it. 

Ball gown? Slim shimmery red-carpet dress? A suit that matches his that you pull off so much better than him? 

Shows his love through gift-giving, so just let him do what he gotta do. 

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Jean Kirstein 

He’s another classic roses, chocolates, and teddy bears guy. 

There’ll be a few times where the date creeps up and catches him off-guard, but he’ll always go out of his way to make sure he doesn’t see you empty-handed. 

Yes, that has once meant he rocked up to your door with a handful of flowers that were definitely from your neighbors front yard. 

You do also have one section of your bookshelf designated to stuffed animals he’s gotten you for valentines day. Yeah, not just bears. There’s a llama, lizard, and a bigfoot also. 

More like ‘at least’.

ALWAYS WRITES A NOTE OR CARD - depending on how much time is left - AND IT’S NOT JUST REALLY CUTE AND ROMANTIC BUt he draws a little mini him and you in the corner holding hands. 

Jean write me a valentines note plz, I’m so lonely and I love you.

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Connie Springer

Dumbass never remembers.

And if you don’t remember either then oh well. Guess a midnight Macca’s run is in order.

Yeah, he CAN make McDonalds romantic. Don’t think so? Fite me.

But then he feels bad, so he ducks into the closest open store and buYS YOU A RING POP -

‘Sweetie, I got you something?’ - ‘Yeah, what?’ - ‘A new cushion because dat ass keeps ruining all mine.’ ‘A ring, I hope you like it uwu.’

OFC YOU LIKE IT HOW CAN YOU NOT?

tbh if you rock up three days later - candy eaten - but still wearing the ring part he’ll start bawling. 

He ends up getting you a real ring a little later - a muther fooken PROMICE RING. OF aLL thingS. So yeah, He does top every single other person on this list. Don’t @ me. 

You still keep that ring pop tho. Cherish it forever. 

[cafedanslanuit]

who do you think your moots could pull (from any anime/ manga)

anon im sorry this took so long, but here you go!!!! also if we’re moots and i didn’t tag you i’m SORRY i did my best to remember everyone </3

let’s begin! ~

@rfadaydreaming / @puppylcve  -  okay i know you guys don’t know this but cae is really pretty. so i honestly think she could pull anyone lmao BUT i have a strong feeling she would be erwin smith’s type.

@requindeterre - the ultimate ship is sh0rk. that is, saeyoung + shark <3 a close second is nanami x shark, but the saeyoung ship holds my heart <3

@bitsybutton - dabi. dabi. DABI!!!! motorcycle rides to the beach, drinking together until the sunset, maybe shotgunning a cigarette--- i live for this ship sm.

@bunx - i would say someone from genshin but i don’t play ;-; so im gonna go with tamaki, a sweetheart and too good for the mess bnha has become lol

@jihyuncompass - do i even have to say............ jihyun x anne. i even made them their own playlist heh <3

@spacesquidlings - gavin x squids is the clear choice here!! i see a lot of domesticity and sweet things for these two

@ofoceansandtombstones - mikasa x nyla is the one and only ship for me <3 taking care of your garden together, travelling, making fun of me and porco LMAOsdkjhfsd i love our hcs so much <3

@robospybird - omg we’ve talked a lot ab this in the server mutliverse lmao so im gonna go with endeav-- KIDDING. honestly, this is new but sero x eli? i really see it. we haven’t talked ab it before but i like it <3

@liamiya - you can’t follow lia without shipping lia and atsumu together. you just can’t. <3

@junisfics - im obviously going to go with armin lmao. to be honest eren was a close second but im afraid if i pair two aries together they’re going to destroy the world.

@soranociel - ofc mrs. braun has to be shipped with reiner <3 no other choice here

@boston-bakedbeans - jean x boston is my one and only jean ship <3

@armins-futon - goldieee <3 omg i’m between armin and porco... but i’m going with armin for this one.

@armins-bowl-cut - izzy!!! i have to go with porco here i just <3 yeah. love the idea of you two together heh

@oi-levi - levi ackerman has to be my choice. the way you write about him just lets me know how much you truly understand him and how cute you two would be together <3

@alert-arlert - i’m going with armin for this one <3 study partners, library dates, coffee runs together when you’re both sleepy... college sweethearts, istg i see it

@bakhoe - reiner x mar, for obvious reasons <3

@somecatastrophe - colt x jo <3 i just..... yeah <3 him getting embarrassed, being playful together, taking care of small falco :’)

@todorki-shoto - kuroo x t!!! honestly i love to see it, highschool sweethearts, study dates, boba dates <3

@kirishwima - listen, this is going to be. not what you expected but hear me out. just a second. jumin x sophie. I SAID LISTEN. i just feel he would try his best to take care of all your needs so you don’t have to worry about the small stuff and only focus on your studies and eventually your work <3

@bokoutoe - ray!!! maki x ray are my favourite <3

@ackermans-freedom-inc - levi x suz, obviously c: but imagine him sending you coffee from your favourite shop when you’re studying as a small gesture :’)

@thebubblybakery - i just think the cutest thing ever would be to pair you with niccolo <3

@quirky-and-kind - zen x lea!!! honestly i love this pairing so much and im so happy to somehow have contributed to their storyline :’) zen is so sweet and so are you, i can honestly see you being v happy together <3

@erenstellar - this may be controversial but i’m going to go with jean. i have no proof i have no reason, i just feel jean would be OVER THE MOON to have someone like you by his side <3

@alrightberries - my first thought was eren, definitely. but i could also most definitely see it with levi. hmmm. i’m going to go with levi for this one. i see you two as these long-time couple were you guys start acting married without being married <3

@franciium - this is a blind guess to be honest but i’m going to choose osamu for this one. he has both a playful and a calm side and i can see him truly admiring your art <3

@dimplesum - with oikawa!!! definitely. i can see it: the friendly banter, walking home from school together after voleyball practice, boba dates. i see oikawa uploading a lot of insta stories about you two <3

@inthisblogwestanthechoitwins - saeyoung!!! chaotic couple that is always fun to be around c:

@meowlayn-art - i just feel the need to ship and artist with an artist, so i’m going with jihyun for this one. i love your art so so so much and it’s either jihyun to be your artist companion or jumin to take care of everything else so you can focus on your art <3

[lostbbygorl]

THAT EREMIKA SCENE MADE WORSE:

Pairing: Eren x Mikasa (Armin’s in there too ofc along with Gabi)

Synopsis: Basically what happened originally in the manga/anime, but I spice it up (read: but I make it angstier to make little children cry even harder)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Armin and Mikasa didn’t know what to say when they saw their best friend walk inside the room. Was he even their best friend anymore, or was he just a shell of the boy he once was? But he couldn’t be just a mere shell. Shells are dull and hollow, and the only thing dull or hollow about this raven haired Lord of anguish of a 19-year-old was his eyes. They were a bonny shade of emerald green, and they once sparkled like freshly unearthed and polished crystals. To Mikasa’s dismay, those freshly unearthed polished crystals didn’t sparkle anymore. His eyes that once shone with compassion and love, now only glowered with bitterness and bloodlust.

The best way to describe Eren Yeager now was to say that he had faded, and grown up in the worst way possible. He had disappeared on his comrades, a fiery boy positively crackling with energy, and then returned a man who did nothing but scowl. And if he wasn’t scowling, he looked bored. So bored that it’d be hard to believe he was living in a time where chaos and misery fell on Earth in unpredictable, furious sheets of rain. So bored that it’d be hard to believe he was the bringer of that rain. Mikasa felt bad for admitting to herself deep down that he was very handsome.

Eren eyed the group in front of him as he made his way to the chair from across Mikasa and Armin and almost beside Gabi Braun, the 12-year-old killing machine prodigy of a warrior candidate, best known in Paradis Island for killing Sasha Brauss. Reiner Braun was Gabi’s cousin, and he and Eren were once like brothers. Under different circumstances, he might’ve felt affection for the child, who was quivering like a dead leaf, avoiding any contact with him like a deadly plague. As he sat down at the head chair of the table he realized something for the first time: everybody looked at him with either fear, distaste, or distrust. He was sad to see the same went for his two closest, dearest friends. The one he had known since childhood. The ones that pushed him to take the drastic actions he was taking.

Eren was busy pretending his heart turned to stone. He never knew he was this natural of an actor till he actually executed the insane plan he thought of in his head. He had everyone buying this new heartless monster persona. But at the end of the day, it was just a well crafted persona. The boy inside was weeping and broken, holding boxes of love and warmth with trembling fingers, but in no position to express any of that. Armin and Mikasa knew him better than everybody else, so the two of them still desperately clutched onto who he once was. They still believed he’d strip himself of his cruelty with a few emotional phrases and precious anecdotes from his childhood. Regretfully with a heart that was crumbling to dust he braced himself to kill those hopes. He raised his head to face them, and with dead eyes, he began speaking.

“ I want to have a nice, calm talk” Eren broke the silence.

“ We don’t have to fight to solve Eldia’s problems. I am free”.

Freedom, the thing that motivated him above all things in all his years as an overworked cadet. The first genuine thing he said after his return was that he was free. He was acting of his own free will and he had all the rights to preach it now. But freedom wasn’t as sweet as he dreamed it’d be. Or maybe it was, but the hellhole of the world he was born into stopped him from enjoying it.

“ No matter what I do or how I do it, it’s of my own free will,” Eren continued. Mikasa and Armin didn’t know how to respond. Many things ran through their heads, betrayal and confusion being the majority of what did. But at the moment, confusion overruled betrayal, and all they did was stare incredulously at him. Mikasa spoke first, just as he expected. How lovely it was to hear her gentle voice after so long. If only her voice wasn’t laced with anger and displeasure. Eren hated seeing her unhappy. His one other dream besides freedom was doing all he could to ensure her happiness. Unfortunately, that was the one thing he couldn’t ensure himself. At Least without bloodshed, something Mikasa absolutely despised but was conditioned to.

“ No! You’re being controlled! You wouldn’t ever lead children and innocents involved. Not even from the enemy’s side” Mikasa countered, a hard frown on her face. Armin nodded, his countenance just as severe. This might’ve been true 4 years ago. Mikasa was dangerously close to hitting a nerve.

“ Back when you saved me back at the cabin in the mountains”, she continued.

“ When you wrapped this scarf around me. That was your kindness”. At the mention of the scarf, Eren had to bite his cheek to not show his sorrow. Mikasa’s voice went softer and needier when she held the red scarf around her neck. Her precious scarf that her precious Eren gave her. Eren who was so kind and loving. This wasn’t her Eren, it simply couldn’t be!

“ Keep your hands on the table. Be careful to keep it that way for the rest of this chat” Eren interrupted. He didn’t know how much longer he could hold himself together, so he did the only thing he knew what to do at this point. Act cold. Don’t let even a sliver of warmth show. Put them all off. Turn them all away. But it was proving to be far more difficult to turn Mikasa away. Begrudgingly, she sat down on her chair.

The excitement of the prior row made her spring out of her seat. She made a great show of pressing her hands firmly on the table. She glared at the white cloth that was draped over it. Eren then turned to Armin.

“ Armin, how is that Leonhardt girl? Still useless? Still stuck in that damn cocoon?” He asked. Armin did not take kindly to someone speaking in that ill manner about Annie. Armin’s temper was starting to bubble up inside him.

“ You’re in love with her, correct? Only you aren’t. It’s Bertholdt, Armin. He’s taken over you. You feel what he feels. It’s just like that stupid tower of a boy to waste his time talking to an inanimate statue of a girl. Goodness gracious, what are we to do with you?” he mocked. A frown gradually formed on his face as he spoke.

“ You’re being controlled by the enemy”.

Armin gasped, not expecting this blow at all. His mouth hung wide open, and weak little squeaks came out of it. Mikasa angrily got up from her chair again, wrapping her hands around Armin’s shaking body.

“ Eren, you-”

“ What did I tell you about those hands, Mikasa? I told you to keep them on the table. But you never were good at catching things quickly anyways”. A lie. An ugly lie.

“ I seriously wonder how you became such a favored cadet, Ackerman” Eren feigned disbelief. Mikasa gritted her teeth. Never before had a friend addressed her with her surname. This coming from Eren was the worst feeling she experienced. It was bitter. It stung. How could Eren, who left her enchanted everyday treat her this way?

“ Your whole life is based on following orders. You’re part of a clan that’s lost its identity. Pitiful, pitiful girl” he tutted.

“ In other words, you’re a slave”.

At this, the anger that was bubbling inside of Armin burst out. This was no longer his best friend, this was an unpleasant, harsh stranger. Mikasa’s eyes twitched in disbelief. This wasn’t her Eren, no way. This was a clone. Her Eren had nothing but praise to give her. He wouldn’t spit such poison after he saw everything she did for him.

“ Do you know what I hate the most in this world?” Eren asked, eyes glued to Mikasa’s. This was an awful sight to see. Eren didn’t know what he’d do with himself that night. He didn’t know if there was any way to make it up to her. He probably wouldn’t even see her again after this. Their last moments should’ve been prettier…

“ Slaves, Ackerman. People who aren’t free. They’re equivalent to cattle. That’s what you are, Ackerman. You’re cattle” Eren wanted nothing more than to bleed to death right there, but he couldn't stop now. He couldn’t stop until all the light and love Mikasa held for him died out. He couldn’t stop till she finally distanced herself from him and let him go.

“ Eren!” Armin yelled, his blue eyes widened in rage! His fists began to curl, and the level headed, sweet boy everyone loved didn’t mind violence one bit at this moment.

“ Just looking at her used to piss me off like mad. You’re so smart, Armin. You didn’t notice?”

“ Shut up! You’ve said enough. Leave us!”

“ So cold, Armin. Very cold”

“ We’ve had enough of you. Leave!”

“ Wow, Armin. Aren’t we being honest today? Well, since we are. I’ll share my two cents with you two as well. Mikasa, I’ve always hated you. Ever since we were kids, I’ve hated the very sight of you”.

Mikasa’s mouth hung open like an old door that just couldn’t be fixed! Her breathing was unsteady, and the world around her was painted gray. She gripped the edge of the table till her already pale knuckles turned even whiter, seeking support. Now there was no doubt left in her mind. Eren Yeager was gone, this wasn’t a clone. For over 10 years, she had been living a lie. Her heart ached and bled. Her heart cried for this all to be a nightmare. Her heart pounded and twinged. But for some reason, the warmth and the butterflies that only Eren could ever bring by, didn’t say goodbye.

Tears welled up in her gray eyes. A whimper escaped her lips. It was a sound only someone with a wounded heart could manage. Armin went mad! Like a rabid dog, he jumped on the table with such ferocity Gabi was snapped out of her alarmed trance, and the white table cloth nearly flew off. Even an experienced, bloodthirsty murderer didn’t have a look quite as terrifying as Armin before claiming their next victim. His eyes were wide like saucers, flushed poppy red just like his cheeks.

“ HOW DARE YOU TALK TO HER LIKE THAT, BASTARD!” Armin yelled, lunging at Eren’s direction with his fists in the air. Eren stood up casually, not even flinching. In a flash, Mikasa pinned Armin’s arms behind his back and held him face down to the table. Armin stared into her hardened eyes with confusion and pain, silently asking her why she wouldn’t stop blocking anything that could harm him from affecting him even after his treatment of her from seconds ago.

“ All your life you’ve been stringing along to the whims of your Ackerman blood” Eren started again.

“ No, Eren. That’s just untrue” Mikasa cried, not even bothering to put up a strong front now. All she wanted to do was reason with him, bring him out of his daze. She just wanted to bring him back home.

Armin swung his arm with all the force he could muster at Eren, his teeth bared. In shock, Eren fell back to the floor, the sting on his backside just as painful as the sting on the right side of his face from where Armin had punched him. The table flipped over. Gabi rushed to Mikasa’s side. The two girls stared in shock at the events unfolding before them.

Armin tried to throw another punch, but this time, Eren was prepared. Beckoning tears to fall from Mikasa’s eyes was horrible enough, now he had to physically hurt Armin, who was just as good as his brother. Till this point, Eren did all he could to protect the blond boy. Best not make a fusion of the past and present.

Aggressively, Eren grabbed Armin by his collar, and hurled him to the cold, hard ground. Armin’s temple started bleeding, but Eren wasn’t done yet. Next, he began kicking the blond non stop. Like an automated machine. An emotionless robot. He kicked any spot his foot could find. His sides, his face, his thighs. Armin was sure that the angel of death would float down and collect his soul any moment now. He was unfortunate enough to taste the metallic taste of fresh blood on his tongue. Armin firmly kept his eyes shut, just waiting for this to end. Would he even leave this room alive so that he could have treatment for his bruises by the end of the day?

“ HELP!” Gabi called for someone loudly, helplessly. She knew there were guards stationed outside the door. The question was whether they’d do their job, or ignore her cries for help out of fear. It wasn’t the latter, thankfully. 4 guards armed with guns rushed inside the room, their guns pointed at Eren.

“ Mister Yeager” the tallest one said with a strict tone.

“ It’s fine, you can go now” Eren waved his hand lazily, his stoic orbs never leaving Armin’s weak body. One might think he was a monster admiring the ruins he left behind, but he was just a guilty, depressed boy who hadn’t a clue in the world. Savagery bloomed wherever he walked. Sometimes for the greater good, sacrifices must be made. His sacrifice was the love of his family.

Eren strutted up to the open door, Mikasa’s devastated, teary face and Armin’s panting, bloodied jungle green uniform not escaping his peripheral vision.

As he walked, he wondered how he could still feel things like heartache and pain. After everything he had done in the past few minutes, how had his heart not gone numb?

[myelocin]

May we know hints or pairings/summaries of your commissions? Only if you’re okay w it!

ofc! :> there’s a few that won’t be posted so i’ll just exclude those from here ;w; these are all written in second person pov btw :D

daichi/kuroo triangle (finished) (to be posted): to remember you by

hurt/comfort, angst, infidelity, brokenfamily AU, love triangle

reiner braun: in memoriam

hurt/comfort, post breakup, mild nsfw

kozume kenma: should i say i love you

hurt/comfort, a series of i don’t knows that have the both of you questioning if it’s selfish to demand certainty in love.

miya atsumu: heartbeats

slowburn, comfort, domestic fluff. “hell is lost inside this heaven we’ve made.”

tsukishima kei: 30 minutes

slice of life, comfort, domestic fluff. there’s more than just a couple lifetimes over promised after 30 minutes of you, him, a ring, and an i do.

ushijima wakatoshi: moon in the morning

hurt/comfort, arranged marriage AU. answering “why can’t you stay here with me?”

asahi/daichi triangle: after endings

(client has asked to go in blind and wants no spoilers so sorry ab that T—T)

atsumu/bokuto triangle: sunny

(also has asked to be surprised so ;w;)

reiner/miche: (still drafting)

-

(the rest are either character x oc or client asked for it to just be sent to them & not posted :> )

[boo-nito-flakes]

Vertigo | Reiner Braun + Original Female Character AU: modern setting, neighbors multi-chapter story Rating: Mature Synopsis: When Josie’s mysterious neighbor becomes a temporary guardian for his young cousin, she didn’t think she’d be so involved. Reiner was a ghost of a neighbor, the two only exchanging a handful of words in the year they’d lived beside each other. Yet there she was, spending her nights watching true crime documentaries and filling out online personality quizzes with Gabi while Reiner was at work at The Liberio. There were a lot of things about this new arrangement Josie didn’t expect; how often she thought about Reiner’s forearms was near the top of the list. This could become a problem…

Chapter Three

It was all Hannah’s fault, really. Typical. In no other universe other than the one where, over a deliciously rich and greasy plate of chicken and waffles at Garrison’s that had Josie feeling all sorts of nostalgic, would she have ever agreed to this… this hell. 

To be fair, it seemed like an okay-ish idea at the time. 

It’d been months–at least since Christmas break, if not before that–since she’d met up with Hannah. Hannah hugged her like it’d only been a few weeks (like they were long lost best friends and not just casual friends who fell out of touch with one another) and spent the next forty minutes gesticulating through rants about her degree program, her last boyfriend, and her deadbeat older brother Josie 100% didn’t have a huge crush on back in high school. 

Josie was fine to sit back and listen; not much ever changed in her life, and she definitely didn’t want to see the glimpses of pity in Hannah’s eyes when she said ‘yeah, same old same old here’ . (Maybe it wasn’t pity. Maybe it was an empathy Josie wasn’t quite ready to accept. And maybe… maybe she had a chip on her shoulder wherever things like college or the future were concerned.) Josie was safe, stably employed, and mostly happy – there was nothing to pity about that at all. 

For some reason, the thought of telling Hannah about Gabi and Reiner made her stomach turn. It was easier to shrug a shoulder and play along with whatever story Hannah was telling. 

Okay, she knew she was being a little bitchy and standoffish. How else was she supposed to act when her high school friends drifted back in her life when it was convenient for them? Josie wasn’t just in Marley for holidays and breaks; it was her home, and they knew it. So why get overly invested in stories she couldn’t quite relate to, stories about people she didn’t really know or balancing course loads with internships and clubs, when all those ‘we should get together again soon!’ fell flat when fall rolled back around? 

Years of wear and tear meant the red vinyl booths at Garrison’s were permanently tacky-feeling, discolored grooves in the shape of human legs warbling the sagging seats. Josie’s bare thighs stuck to the material, making a plastic-y crinkling noise every time she moved. She was focused on the feeling – the peel of flesh, how her skin immediately re-soldered to the plastic – when Hannah waved a ketchup coated fry in her face and said, 

“So you probably haven’t talked to Irma.”

“Like recently?” Josie scrunched her face up. Suddenly, she wasn’t all that hungry anymore. “No.”

“Hm. She’s back. Like, in Marley.” A second passed, then a curious, “She didn’t message you?”

Last Josie knew, Irma deleted all her social media profiles when she moved to Germany a month after high school graduation. So no, she definitely didn’t message Josie. 

“No, she didn’t.” 

Josie reached for her empty drink, slurping the remnants of melted ice and sweet tea from the bottom of the glass. The sludge coated a thick layer in her mouth. 

“Weird. She asked me about you.” 

The plastic straw gave way to her teeth; she gnawed on the end. What was she even supposed to say to that? Ask what Irma said? Ask if she looked happy? Healthy? Ask if it was easy for her to live her dream life overseas after abandoning Josie all her friends? After breaking Josie’s heart? Irma was Josie’s best friend. Like actual best friend. Her first friend, too, probably. 

Irma lived with her grandma in a mobile home a few blocks from Josie’s apartment complex. They met one summer during middle school and were inseparable after that. Irma was the reason Josie joined the basketball team. She was the reason Josie knew how to do a wheelie on her bike. Why she preferred her eggs scrambled and always reached for spearmint gum at the checkout aisle. Why she had any sort of a green thmb (well, that was all Irma’s grandma…) or knew that a warm water bottle compress did more to alleviate period cramps than ibuprofen. She was the reason Josie could pick a lock, drive a car like… at all (if you counted the few lessons in her rusty Ford Taurus – they gave up after Josie almost ran over a pedestrian), and loved dumb reality shows. 

Irma was her best friend. At some point, though, she stopped being Irma’s best friend back.

Josie remembered the last night she talked to Irma in waves–bits and pieces of a painful night. A few days after graduation. A party at some rich kids house in one of the confusing suburbs where the roads all had dumb, long confusing names and the houses looked like they were just dropped there from the sky – manicured lawns against stone and stucco. Dirty plastic pong balls bouncing into red solo cups and a live DJ because why the hell not? (She remembered being so fucking bitter about the DJ. Josie’s parents regularly pawned then re-bought their TV to afford rent, and this asshole had a DJ and light show at his house party.) A few drinks in and wanting to impress the private school tool she was hanging off of, Irma opened her mouth and said, “I’ll be back-packing in Europe this summer, actually.”  

Josie snorted into her own cup to keep, thinking it was a bit to fuck with or flirt with the dude. Irma’s grandma lived off government assistance, and the glass jar full of tips from Garrison’s on Irma’s dresser was hardly enough money for a few month’s rent, let alone a plane ticket overseas. But Irma kept talking. About an uncle in Germany (who she hated, this part conveniently left out of the story) letting her and her grandma move in with him. Something about a work visa, a message board full of odd jobs, and getting the fuck out of this dead end town. 

The alcohol at the party was better than Josie was used to – kegs of domestic brews and a kitchen island covered with mid-shelf liquor and mixers. While Irma talked, Josie stared into the pink tinted liquid, stomach turning, hazy reflection mocking from the depths of the solo cup. By the time her friend switched to fully speaking in German, Ich finde dich suß and Du hast wunderschöne Augen rolling off her tongue perfectly despite her inebriation, Josie felt sick to her stomach. They’d been friends, best friends, for seven years and this was the first time she was hearing about any plans to go to Germany. Immediate plans, at least. Long-term plans. Irma talked about wanting to go someday, but someday was… in less than two weeks? And she didn’t think to tell Josie? 

They argued that night. 

Not then, with Irma giggling into the ear of whatever boy’s lap she was occupying. Not when Josie let herself be pulled to one of the folding tables in the yard for a riveting game of beer pong. Not when whatever random person she was teamed up with decided their victory was best celebrated with ‘the hard stuff’ and poured at least four ounces of tequila into a little cup, floating a splash of orange juice on the top. And not even when Irma appeared with her lipgloss gone and sporting a fresh hickey, pouting about missing Josie kick ass and duh, of course she was going to win – have you seen this woman shoot a three from half court? 

But when the DJ was gone and the strings of mood lights were unplugged, the two of them searching for an unoccupied section of couch or bed in one of the many rooms in the museum-like house, Josie couldn’t help but ask, “Were you being serious? About Germany?”. Irma muttered a tired, “Can’t this wait?” . But it couldn’t. Not to Josie. She didn’t even really remember what was said that night – a blur of alcohol, adrenaline, and hurt. Voice ricocheting in the hallway until a bleary eyed head popped out of one of the rooms, telling them they had to shut up or leave. Irma threw her hands into the air and stormed off, and that was the last time Josie saw her. 

Until now, that is.

Because Josie let herself be goaded into signing up for some dumb indoor cycling class Irma was apparently teaching now that she was back in town. Looking as pleased as punch, Hannah leaned across the tacky vinyl top at Garrison’s and told her all about this gym slash spa downtown (a new gym, like there weren’t already a dozen trendy boutique yoga studios and niche gyms cluttering Marley) her mom’s friend opened the previous year. Irma, apparently, was a certified spin instructor and was teaching classes 3 days a week at Paix Wellness Studio. “She’s like, actually insane on the bike,” Hannah gushed before inviting Josie to a class the following weekend. 

There was no way in any universe, but especially in their universe, Josie could afford even a month’s membership at Paix or any other gym. Before she could laugh in Hannah’s face and tell her as much, Hannah flattened her palms on the table and said her membership covered three guest visits a month. How generous. Admittedly, Josie was curious. Despondent… but curious. So she said yes.

Naturally, Josie spent the entire week bouncing between wanting to bail and wanting to storm into the class and ask Irma where she got the nerve. 

She did neither. As merciful as she was generous (major side eye), Hannah offered to pick Josie up at her apartment so she didn’t have to spend forty minutes hopping buses to get downtown. Josie was so anxious the night before she caved and asked a twelve-year-old for advice. A new low, potentially, but Gabi was kind of the closest thing she had to an actual friend at the moment. There was another shift manager at Paradis Josie would sometimes get lunch or coffee with, but they hadn’t spent a lot of time together since he took over the morning shift. So Gabi, as mortifying as it was to admit, was her only option. 

To Gabi’s credit, she only teased Josie a little bit. She was sprawled out on Josie’s living room floor chomping on a rope of licorice, stuttering audio from TikTok videos filling the space between them. There was no way Josie was going to trauma dump a decade’s worth of her friendship troubles onto the girl, so she tried to play the ‘cool and slightly annoyed’ card – groaning and making some comment about meeting up with an old friend for some ludicrous exercise class and how she already regretted it. It took one look from Gabi, sideways and skeptical, for Josie to spill the proverbial beans. She snatched a piece of licorice and flopped dramatically on the couch before confessing it’d been over four years since they last spoke and they didn’t leave on the best of terms… how she was nervous to see her again. 

Gabi rolled her eyes, drew her body up to a sitting position – knee length rainbow socks almost mocking as they bounced with her restless energy – and said, “So what? Do you like, care what she thinks or something?”

Good question. Did Josie care what Irma thought?

“A little, I guess. I think… I think I’m more curious to see if she’ll say anything? Like, she unfriended me on everything–”

“That’s so… people your age.”

“Hey! Shut up,” Josie groused, her bite only half-serious. “This was right after high school, anyway. I don’t know. She just… she was my best friend, and then she wasn’t. I thought I was over it, but I think maybe I’m not.”

Nobody ever claimed Josie was eloquent or well-spoken, but this was a new low, even for her. She shoved another piece of licorice in her mouth to fill the silence that followed her groundbreaking admission. Something rattled in the lone vent in the room, the weak air conditioner kicking on.

When Gabi finally did speak, after a dramatic hum that rivaled the noise of the failing air-con unit, she asked, “You won’t know if you’re still mad until you see her, right? So why are you worried about it right now?”

The answer made something press against her ribcage: embittered, more agitated than amused. She regretted saying anything at all. It wasn’t that easy , Josie wanted to snap, the human brain doesn’t work like that – her human brain doesn’t work like that, at least . Like she was some kind of pre-teen mind reader, Gabi raised an eyebrow with a challenge. It said, ‘are you sure?’ and ‘of course they do’ . She looked so unshakeable in her wordless declaration. Auburn hair plaited into two unruly braids, freckled face bright, candy-like bracelets lining her arm, sporting a bleach stained Shiganshina Devils shirt and rainbow knee high socks. 

Though she still felt prickly all over, Josie let out a breath and was surprised at how light she felt on the inhale. Was it really that easy? Just… don’t worry about it until it was time to worry about it? Definitely not. But could Josie distract herself enough to convince herself she didn’t care? Absolutely. 

“You’re right,” she exhaled, stretching a leg out on the couch. Her muscles felt tight, like over-tuned guitar strings. “I shouldn’t stress out about it.”

This earned her an eye roll. Gabi put her chin on her knee and said, “Yeah right. You’re so gonna stress about it all night.” Ouch. Shots fired . Something playful tinted her expression and she made a big show of picking a piece of lint off her shorts. “So, we should definitely make cookies or something right? To, like, take your mind off it.”

Josie sent her home that night with two dozen cookies. They raided her cabinets for random ingredients, pretending like they were on a cooking show, and ended up with some wins–pretzel and brown sugar, M&M, and a tried and true peanut butter–and some losses–potato chip, and frozen blueberry. 

Hannah picked her up in the same Honda Civic she drove in high school, windows down with a poppy hip hop song bleeding into the parking lot. They talked about the most recent episode of some reality dating show they both enjoyed on the drive, and by the time they pulled into a city parking lot downtown, Josie realized she wasn’t terribly anxious to see Irma again after all. She checked her phone for the time on the walk to Paix, heart fluttering when she saw a text from Reiner waiting for her.

(10:48 AM) Reiner : Good morning. Thank you for the breakfast cookies. 

good morning! [smiley face emoji] :Josie (10:54 AM)

you’re welcome. which is your favorite? :Josie (10:54 AM)

(10:56 AM) Reiner: I’ve only tried the peanut butter ones. They feel like they’re the most nutritionally balanced. 

Josie smiled at  her phone. Since exchanging numbers, she and Reiner had texted a few times. Mostly just a few messages about Gabi or his work schedule changing last minute. He had every Sunday and Monday off but went in at different times throughout the week, usually staying to close up the bar. Josie had a set schedule with Sundays and Wednesdays off, working basically the same hours every day of the week to hit a full 40-hour work week. Nearly every night Reiner worked, Gabi wound up at Josie’s place. It’d only been a few weeks, but they were settled into a pretty nice routine. 

whatever you have to tell yourself :Josie (10:56 AM)

(10:57 AM) Reiner: To be fair, I’ve had four…

LMAO i rest my case :Josie (10:57 AM) 

“What are you giggling about over there?” 

Josie resisted the urge to jam her phone in her pocket like a guilty child as they rolled to a stop. Instead, she floundered, “Nothing! I mean, I’m not giggling.”

“Oh my God,” Hannah snorted, a smile pulling at her cheeks. “You still have such a bad poker face.”

“There’s nothing for me to be poker facing over,” Josie said, this time more impassively. 

“Right. Well… we’re here.” She waved her hand at the white brick building they were standing in front of. Josie hadn’t even realized. The front windows were frosted, a white and pink vinyl floral logo and Paix Wellness Studio stamped on one of the panes. “Ready to head in? Seriously, be prepared. I wasn’t lying about Irma being absolutely fucking psychotic on the bike.”

“Jeeze, thanks for the confidence booster.”

“In a fun way! Psychotic in a fun way.”

Josie jabbed, “That makes it more ominous! Who has ever said that? Psychotic in a fun way.”

“Me, right now. Quit stalling, let’s go.”

Josie didn’t look at her phone again until she was squirreling her bag away in a rented locker. Surprisingly, she still wasn’t nervous to see Irma. She was slightly worried this entire ordeal was part of some cult induction ceremony based on the way Hannah was acting. And the staff at Paix definitely gave off mild cult vibes, all of them in similar pink uniforms with matching smiles and bleach blonde hair. 

(10:58 AM) Reiner: [smiley face with cold sweat emoji] [smiley face emoji] 

She closed the locker with a smile on her face. 

And promptly lost that smile twenty one minutes later in a fever dream of flashing LEDs pulsing in sync with way too loud EDM music shaking the mirror lined walls. Hannah was right; Irma was fucking psychotic on the bike. Unfortunately, she was lying her ass off about the ‘in a fun way’ part. There wasn’t anything fun about sweating actual buckets, hamstrings quaking while her former best friend, looking bolder than she did at eighteen–features sharper and hair shorter, instructed her and eleven other people to ‘push harder!’, ‘attack this next climb!’, and ‘embrace the burn!’.

It was surreal, in a way, Josie realized after the fact as she wiped her face with a complimentary pink towel (embroidered with the Paix logo, naturally). Of all the ways she imagined her reunion with Irma, it wasn’t like this– at some trendy dime a dozen gym sandwiched between Hannah and a middle aged woman whose bleached curls somehow managed to not move once during the workout, her diamond ring big enough to actually glisten in the reflection of the LEDs as she cycled. 

“That was fun, right?” Hannah grinned as she tossed her own towel over her shoulder. “ God , my legs are jelly.”

Josie so didn’t have the energy for this– and her face must’ve said as much because Hannah started laughing.  

She shot her a look, only barely resisting the urge to stick her tongue out. “Fun is like, dancing naked in your apartment or playing a pickup game at the park.”

“We have to get you out more if those are your only parameters for fun, Josie.”

Irma, sweat drenched and smiling, materialized out of thin air. She shouldn’t have been surprised; a quick look around the room showed only Hannah and Josie were left. Their reflections blurred with the still flashing LED lights on the wall of mirrors.

“I get out plenty,” Josie said placidly. Her heartbeat thrummed steadily in her ears, and she told herself it was a side effect of the workout still.

Irma’s smile grew wider. “It’s good to see you, Josie. I’m glad Hannah convinced you to come to a class.”

“She said you were, and I quote, ‘fucking insane’. I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to see for myself.”

“Fucking insane on the bike ,” Hannah corrected with a pout. 

“Either way, I hope I didn’t disappoint.”

“Still deciding,” Josie quipped with a shoulder shrug. “But I’m a little worried I won’t be able to climb the stairs at my place, so as much as I hate to admit it, Hannah might be right.”

“Hey! Don’t say it like that.”

“We used to bike across town all the time. Like all the way out past the Flats and back.” The Flats being an abandoned strip mall at the far edge of town frequently used by local teens as a hang out-slash-party spot. Even after all these years, it was still abandoned and the police had long given up on monitoring the area. “There’s no way a forty-five minute spin class is going to be what takes you out.”

Josie figured it wasn’t tactful to say her bike was stolen a few years back and she hadn’t been on one since. “You weren’t yelling at me to ‘find my groove’ or whatever and keeping me at 150 BPMs back then.”

“Fair point.”

“There are complimentary hydration packs and fruit at the front desk. We’ll grab some on the way out,” Hannah suggested. “It’ll help any cramps, for sure.”

“Complimentary hydration packs?” Josie parroted. There was a food-covered microwave in the break room at Paradis Mart and a sign on the ancient refrigerator that said ‘smile, you’re on camera!’ to prevent theft. The thought of complimentary anything was laughable. “Seriously?” 

Hannah scrunched her nose. “What?”

And Irma laughed. “Hannah, dude. Your head is so far up your ass.”

“My ass is perky and cute, thank you very much. Great place to be. Five out of five stars.”

“Sure is, but that was like, kind of entitled sounding.”

Instead of agreeing, Josie muttered, “Cult sounding.”

Irma’s laugh turned to a wheeze. 

“I forgot how evil the two of you are together,” Hannah sulked, crossing her arms. “Besides, Irma, if it’s a cult you’re like totally involved.”

“When in Marley,” Irma shrugged. She tilted her head Josie’s way. “I know it sounds bougie as fuck, but the owner has some sponsorship deal with LiquidIV and gets massive discounts on bulk orders so it’s not that big of a deal.”

“Sure.” Josie’s stomach felt sour, and she was suddenly very aware of how tired–physically and mentally–she was after a morning of…whatever this was. Exercise and weird reunions? Regardless, she wanted to go home and take a long nap. “I graciously accept the complimentary, definitely not poison, hydration pack.”

“We shouldn’t tell her about the crystals and hot yoga class,” Irma deadpanned towards Hannah. 

“Okay, well.” Josie clapped her hand on her thighs. “This has been fun. Enlightening, even.”

“That’s my cue,” Irma laughed, smile not unkind. She always could read Josie too well. The realization made Josie’s chest tighten… and not in a good way. “I need to get ready for my desk shift, anyway. It really is good to see you, Josie.”

Josie heard herself echo, “Yeah, you too.”

A weight clung to her shoulders the entire way to the locker room, growing heavier as the silence stretched between her and Hannah. There was, at least, a lofi jazzy soundtrack to the tension, courtesy of the speakers tucked in the corner of the subway tiled room. She tapped the code to the locker into the digital keypad and swiped her bag. There was a row of sparkling shower stalls on the other side of the room, but Josie didn’t think Hannah was going to offer to stick around any longer than necessary. 

They walked past the hydration packs and fruit basket on the way out. 

And by the time they got to Hannah’s car, Josie felt like shit. The fresh air loosen whatever clung to her ribcage, and without the strobing LED lights blasting into her brain, she realized she was kind of acting like an asshole. Maybe it was justified. Maybe she could’ve handled the whole situation better. Maybe all of them could’ve handled it better. 

Hannah cranked the air conditioner and didn’t sync her music. Josie knew she fucked up. 

She waited a few streets, until they were out of the rush of downtown traffic (until she had enough courage), to say, “Thank you for inviting me today. That place was a little out of my comfort zone, but I really did have fun.” She hesitated for a split second, casting her eyes from the front window to the side pane. “I know I was kind of acting like a dick. I’m sorry. It was just… weird seeing Irma. We haven’t talked in years.”

Silence stretched down another street. 

“I didn’t know that.” The turn signal ticked a steady noise. “She seemed really excited to see you.”

“Irma’s good at reading people,” Josie said, like it was some kind of explanation.

“Or maybe she, I don’t know, cares about you? When I told her you were coming to today’s class, she was like, so happy.”

Of course she was; Irma was the main character in her own story, and she either didn’t care or recognize that other people had their own lives. In the years after she left, Josie had a lot of time to think about their friendship. Friendship in general, really… because it wasn’t just Irma that left her.

Some nights she warmed her couch with a box of wine, endless questions of ‘ what did I do wrong? ’ and ‘ maybe I’m meant to be this lonely ’ looping in her mind. A soundtrack to the memories that wormed their way out of the boxes she tried shoving them into. Maybe people like Hannah still reached out every now and then, but it wasn’t the same. It wasn’t cramming as many bodies as possible in the back of a Honda Civic, music blasting, shitty wine coolers poured into fast food cups, speeding down backroads. It wasn’t sleepovers with gossip and Guitar Hero. It wasn’t pick up game after pick up game. 

Other nights, the script flipped. ‘ Woe is me ’ easily turned to ‘ fuck you, and you, and you ’. It was just as lonely, but a little more cathartic. 

Josie bit her cheek and swallowed the urge to snap back, knowing she’d regret whatever she said. She let Hannah’s words sit between them for another road before composing herself enough to say, “The summer she left we got into a huge fight at some party. Do you remember? I had to call Lucy for a ride at like, three in the morning.” Lucy was the most mom-like of their friend group, the most reliable at picking up late night calls. She didn’t say a word when Josie insisted they drive by Irma’s place to make sure she was there and not wrapped around a tree. “That’s the last time I saw or talked to her. She blocked my number and refused to answer the door.”

“Seriously?”

“Yeah, seriously. I had no clue she was going to Germany until that night. She got mad when I brought it up, and we fought. Then she left.”

Another block blurred past the window. They were so close to Josie’s complex, she could cry with relief. She just needed to make it a little longer, a few more minutes, and then she could shower, hide under a mountain of blankets, and pretend like the entire day didn’t happen. 

“I heard about the fight, but I didn’t see you before I left for Trost.”

“Yeah. Not a lot of people did.” 

It came out more bitter than Josie wanted it to, but fuck it. What was the point in pretending like she didn’t care anymore? 

Neither of them spoke again until Hannah pulled into the weed congested lot at Josie’s apartment complex. Josie’s hand was practically twitching on the handle as Hannah rolled to a stop in front of the entrance. She kept the car in drive, the locks engaged while she idled. Before Josie could orchestrate her great escape, Hannah cleared her throat. She had one hand on her steering wheel, the other fiddling with her spandex leggings. 

“I wouldn’t have dragged you along today if I knew you weren’t, like, on good terms with Irma. I’m realizing I’ve kind of been a shitty friend, too, but… I don’t know. I just wish you would’ve told me. We could’ve done anything else.”

A dozen excuses weighed Josie’s tongue. But looking at Hannah, still a little sweaty from their class – eyes looking through the windshield and hands jittery, she felt just as guilty of being a bad friend. Maybe all those late nights in an echo chamber of  her own creation warped her perspective on things. Maybe Hannah was actually… fuck, Hannah was genuine and Josie was the one being a bitch, wasn’t she? 

“I wanted to go. I was morbidly curious, I guess.” Josie tasted iron when she spoke and the inside of her cheek throbbed. “I should’ve said something though, you’re right. It wasn’t fair to put you in the middle.”

“It’s not like I asked.” She shot Josie a warbly yet tired smile and unlocked the doors. “Next time you’re picking what we do.”

Josie’s chest squeezed at her ‘next time’ . Hearing Hannah say the words out loud made her realize she actually… she actually did want there to be a next time with Hannah. Despite the way she’d been dragging her feet and griping about well, basically every social interaction, Josie missed hanging out with someone her age who she wasn’t also going to see in the breakroom at work. 

“Maybe something involving copious amounts of alcohol?” Josie suggested mildly.

Hannah snorted. “Yes, absolutely.” 

By the time she all but crawled through her apartment door a few minutes later, Josie was drained–mentally and physically, smelled like death, and was in desperate need of carbs. A shower sounded like heaven, and there was a container of leftovers in the fridge calling her name. Instead of doing any of the things that would immediately improve her wellbeing, Josie flopped backwards on her floor in an attempt to not get her gross post-gym-ness all over her couch and groaned (rather dramatically, in her humble opinion) . A few minutes of moping was more than enough to at least ease the pit in her stomach. 

Itchy with drying sweat and guilt, Josie decided a shower was the first priority… after a handful of pretzels. She fished her phone out of her bag, ditched by the front door and forgotten, on the way to the kitchen. 

(11:19 AM) Gabi: hey 

(11:19 AM) Gabi: do u have hulu 

(11:23 AM) Gabi: [photo of tv screen with hulu pulled up and on a show called Escaping the Backrooms ]

(11:23 AM) Gabi: we should watch this 

(11:31 AM) Gabi: [screenshot of advertisement for Escaping the Backrooms ]

(11:31 AM) Gabi: wait ur at that dumb class u didnt want to go to 

(11:34 AM) Gabi: hopefully u didnt kill ur friend 

(11:34 AM) Gabi: reiner knows a cop if u need bail 

A fond, if not exasperated, smile worked itself onto her face as she skimmed the messages. She thumbed over to her browser and did a quick search of the show; it wasn’t like they hadn’t watched absolute garbage in the few weeks Gabi had been hanging out at her place. 

I don’t know if bail works like that but I appreciate the offer :Josie (12:19 PM) 

And I don’t have Hulu, but this show sounds fun. I like Darius Art :Josie (12:19 PM) 

(12:20 PM) Gabi: who 

He’s the main actor in this backrooms show lol :Josie (12:20 PM) 

(12:21 PM) Gabi: oh ok 

(12:21 PM) Gabi: reiner says we can use his hulu account 

(12:21 PM) Gabi: glad u didn’t go to jail

Was that ever a question… :Josie (12:22 PM) 

Actually don’t answer that :Josie (12:22 PM)  

(12: 22 PM) Gabi: ok i wont but reiner is also glad u didnt get arrested

Josie thought about responding with a string of key smashes. She thought about walking next door to ask Gabi why she was such a little shithead. She thought about Reiner, plain black tee stretched across his chest and face scruffy with stubble shooting her a confused smile. She put her phone down and went to take a shower. 

Escaping the Backrooms was a four part mockumentary style show with a surprisingly fleshed out set and actors, like Darius Art with his adorable head of curls and killer smile, who were actually pretty good. 

Josie couldn’t tell you a single thing about the show otherwise. Because she was in Reiner’s apartment.

She didn’t realize ‘Reiner says we can use his Hulu account’ translated to ‘hey you can come over to our place to watch the show’ . So she found herself inside her not so mysterious neighbor’s apartment, without him, on a Tuesday evening. Freshly showered, dressed in a respectable pair of leggings and an oversized graphic tee, and armed with a takeout bag from the deli inside Paradis Mart, she knocked on the door. 

It was weird to see her apartment but… not her apartment. The space was laid out the same, opening right into the living and dining space with a half-wall leading into the galley kitchen. A short hallway seemed to lead to the bathroom, a bedroom, and a linen closet. She didn’t knock on the door with any expectations but was surprised by the space, regardless. 

Like most twenty-something dude’s place, it was furnished in shades of black and a deep burgundy. A deep set fabric sofa (black, naturally) was positioned around a dark rectangular coffee table, top only housing a gaming controller, a few coasters, a sticker-bombed water jug not on a coaster, and a lit candle–something sugary and warm. A fuzzy red throw blanket was tossed over the back cushions. The TV was a little larger than hers but not unreasonable, sitting on a media stand that seemed to match the coffee table. There was a large framed black and white photo of some mountains mounted behind the television, but the walls were otherwise bare. 

Where Josie had a tiny bistro set was what she assumed to be Gabi’s space. Not wanting to breach a sensitive subject, she never asked about the sleeping arrangements at Reiner’s place. She assumed it was a 1-bedroom unit, like hers, but didn’t think too much more about it out of necessity. It was clear that Reiner did think a lot about it, though, and went out of his way to make sure Gabi had her own area. 

A twin sized bed with built in storage beneath the mattress was tucked against the wall. The bed was sloppily made, a fluffy comforter with a rainbow ombre pattern wrinkled with one edge flipped up to show the neon pink sheets. There were at least a dozen stuffed animals lined against the wall: a shark with a missing eyeball, bears in 3 different colors and sizes, a handful of Squishmallows, and a tattered looking cat rounded out the bunch. A slim nightstand, wide enough to hold a lamp and not much else, tucked against the bed. A phone charger wrapped around the lamp base. Beside the nightstand was a three shelf bookcase cluttered with what she assumed to be Gabi’s things–nail polishes, piles of bracelets, brimming craft bins, a few board games, and a remote controlled monster truck Gabi enthusiastically demonstrated for her later in the evening. 

So maybe it was a little difficult to focus on the plot of a cheesy, yet well cast, mockumentary when she was nestled up on the couch, wrapped in a fuzzy blanket that smelled like Irish Springs and something distinctly male. And maybe when she looked over and saw Gabi fast asleep on the other side of the couch Josie let her eyes close instead of turning the TV off and walking the short distance back to her apartment. Could anyone really blame her? She dreamed of yellowing backrooms, of warm hands and a broad chest.  

“Josie.” 

She tugged the blanket up to her chin, groaning at the new chill at her feet, and tried burrowing into the couch further. 

“Josie… Josie, hey. Wake up.”

“Mmm. No. Go away.”

There was a low chuckle. “I’ll go away in a minute. First I need to get you to bed.”

“Bed?” She mimicked, scrunching her face as she rolled a little towards the voice. The couch was nice; she was warm and cozy, but not all that comfortable. There was already a slight kink in her neck from laying at an awkward angle, and Gabi’s leg was stretched out and wedged under a cushion so that one of her feet was jammed into Josie’s side. “Bed sounds good.” 

“Yeah?” A gentle touch to her shoulder had Josie melting deeper in the couch. “I bet. Come on.”

The warmth around her started to disappear. She reached for the top of the blanket only to grasp at air. Josie made a pathetic languid noise and forced her eyes open a crack, just enough to squint at… wait… to squint at…

“Reiner?” She mumbled. It was him, alright. The room was dark but she could still see him, backlit with some kind of angelic fucking lighting as he kneeled next to the couch. He was warm and close and God, he smelled so good. So she was still dreaming, then? A dopey smile lifted her lips a little, and she struggled to open her eyes more. “Reiner, hi.”

“Hi, Josie.”

“You’re in my dream.”

“Ah, man.” His hand was on her arm–her bare arm. (Dream Josie was so lucky.) When he laughed, it was a tiny abashed noise that melted into the darkness. “You must be a deep sleeper. Okay… shit.” 

A new determination to not let the dream version of herself have all the fun settled in her sleepy, Reiner-addled brain. Her arm was as heavy as Excalibur, but she lifted it enough to press her palm against Reiner’s chest. The warmth she was missing from the blanket came back, and then some. She curled her fingers into the fabric, humming at the hard wall of muscle that greeted her.  

“Bed?” she asked Dream Reiner. Legs stiff but somehow tingling, she scooted her body to a half-upright position using his chest as an anchor point.

He sucked air through his teeth; the hissing noise echoing through the otherwise still room. It reverberated through her bones. Even this version of Reiner was hesitant, if not bashful. Maybe it was a trick of the light–or lack of light–but through the sleepy slits of her eyes, she watched a blush bloom down his neck. Any and every version of Reiner was handsome, she decided, no matter what universe or dreamscape he landed in. Luckily, this version was close enough to the real thing that Josie’s heart ached at their closeness. Her fingers twitched; she wanted to be closer, curled up in his warmth with that blush beneath her lips.

Reiner covered her hand with one of his own, fingers looping beneath hers. Her name was a soft breath. “Josie.”

This was the part where Dream Reiner would swoop her into his arms and carry her to bed.

This was the part where… Dream Reiner… pulled her hand away, his hold moving to her shoulder, and helped her to her feet. Okay. She could get behind this. The fuzzy blanket that was now way too warm and sticky feeling fell to the couch as Josie took a wobbly step past Reiner. The hand on her shoulder tightened as she swayed on her feet. The bedroom was only a few steps away; she quite literally could make the walk in her sleep. Her next attempt at a step was slightly more productive than the last, but she didn’t make it very far. Reiner’s hand flexed then loosened on her shoulder, still holding her in place. Her shirt must’ve rucked sideways at some point because a few of his fingers pressed against her bare collarbone. Was that her heartbeat she felt or his? 

Bleary-eyed, Josie looked over her shoulder (well, over and up – did all versions of Reiner have to be this tall?!?) and mustered enough energy to furrow a brow. She parroted. “Bed?”

A few things happened all at once.

Reiner’s expression went from disconcerted to tormented back to disconcerted before softening into a smile. His hand slid down her arm, fingers leaving streaks of warmth Josie hoped never faded. Voice tender and guiding, he said, “Josie, wake up. You’re at my place still.” 

Josie squinted at him for one of those impossibly long seconds that bled into another impossibly long second. The haze holding her somewhere between dreamworld and reality vaporized, and she realized with a painful clarity that he was right–she was at his place still. Which meant her whole roaming hands act was perpetrated on Reiner, not some fantasy dream version of him she cooked up in her brain. Her brain that was now short circuiting as she tried piecing together bits of her weird dream that maybe definitely wasn’t a dream. If Gabi wasn’t still dead to the world and snoring lightly on the edge of the couch, Josie would have screamed. 

She settled for a wide-eyed harshly whispered, “Oh. Cool, um, yes. I am awake. Hi.”

Her eyes were adjusted to the darkness (the vent light casting a fluorescent glow from the kitchen helped, she was sure), and now without sleep crusting the corners, she could see Reiner more clearly. He was dressed in his standard black work tee–now visibly dirty–and a pair of jeans, blonde hair unusually disarrayed and sticking in every direction. A stubble that seemed permanent curved around his jaw, around the amused quip to his lips–an almost smirk. And even though he looked exhausted, there was something bright and searching reflecting in the hazel sparks of his eyes. 

“You’re a heavy sleeper, too, huh?” He waved a hand towards Gabi. “She sleeps like the dead. When she was younger my mom and I took her to one of those Christmas rock orchestra shows. She fell asleep during one of the first few songs–not even the pyrotechnics woke her up. I carried her three blocks to the parking garage and strapped her into her seat before she even made a noise.”

Josie thought of a teenage Reiner sitting dutifully in the audience with his mom. She wondered if Reiner took after her or his father. She wondered if they were around, if they still talked to him, if he still went to Christmas shows with them. She thought of Reiner hoisting a tiny Gabi, probably still stressed loudly and definitely, over his shoulder and carrying her through the streets. She thought about what it would be like to have family like that–to have family, at all. 

“More a deep sleeper than a heavy one,” she said, fighting and failing to keep a yawn at bay. She hid it poorly behind her hand. “Sorry.” Was she apologizing for the yawn, falling asleep, or groping him? All three, probably. She took a step towards the hallway. “I’ll just um, head to bed. My own bed.”

Reiner gave a half-snort, half-laugh. “You might want to go the other direction. Out that door, a few steps to the right.”

“Right, yes, totally!” Josie was too tired not to scowl at him. She started walking in the correct direction, then double backed to grab her bag from beside the couch. Her keys were undoubtedly buried near the bottom of the mess. “Don’t make fun of me.”

“Goodnight, Josie. Thank you for hanging out with Gabi.”

“One, anytime. Two, goodnight. Three, please forget I was here.” 

She felt more than heard his laughter through the closed door. Josie waited until she face-planted in her bed to scream. 

Reiner (11:41 AM): Are you home right now? 

Kinda :Josie (11:42 AM) 

[photo of the shared apartment laundry room – a dingy linoleum lined dungeon with cracked concrete floors, standing water pooling by a drain near the door. half the room was shroud in a yellowy hue, the other half dark – the flimsy plastic cover over the strip lights left dangling] :Josie (11:42 AM)

Might get murdered down here… or accidentally gas myself. I think one of the dryers is venting into the room? [frowning emoji] :Josie (11:42 AM) 

There weren’t any messages waiting for Josie by the time she finished loading her laundry into a washing machine, scowling at every quarter she jammed into the shitty piece of equipment. An “are you home” text was just as bad as “can we talk” . Had she not woken up and immediately remembered the mortifying circumstances of her existence, she wouldn’t be worried. But she’d basically groped the man, for fuck’s sake, so the lack of a text back sent a spiral of anxiety through her. 

Josie’s shoe scuffed against the second to last stair on the way back to her apartment, and her heart dropped to her stomach. Reiner didn’t message her back, but he was waiting for her in the hallway; leaned against the wall between their units, his eyes shifted from his phone to Josie. He slid his phone in his pocket all while aiming a measured smile in her direction.

“Hey.”

She adjusted the laundry bag under her arm as she approached him, mimicking a “hey” back. It was unfair how good Reiner always looked. There was almost always a scruff clinging to his jaw and a smudge of darkness beneath his eyes, his hair a little wild. He was wearing a bright white shirt with some athletic company logo printed across the chest and a pair of black sweatpants. Until that point, she was pretty confident his wardrobe was filled entirely with shades of black. 

“I thought I’d just run down to the laundry room instead of texting. Made it out the door before I thought it might be weird to just drop in on you,” he admitted sheepishly. “Waiting by your door is just as weird, I guess.”

The itchy anxious feeling in her stomach gave way to a bubbly sensation. Josie laughed as she unlocked her door. “Well stop being weird, then, and come in.”

Even though Josie spent a majority of the past few weeks hanging out with Gabi in her living room, she’d yet to have Reiner over. There’d never really been a reason. Josie tossed her bag onto the couch and, in an effort to keep pretending like she wasn’t maybe totally freaking out at Reiner being in her space, she tilted her head towards the kitchen and asked, “Do you want any coffee?”

“Sure,” He said after a moment of hesitation. 

“It’s a fresh pot,” Josie explained, happy to let her nervous jitters fill the quiet, as she pulled down two of her favorite mugs. A ceramic mushroom-themed gnome house, rim shaped to be a bulbous red head with white spots and a painted on front door and shuttered windows, for herself and for Reiner, a promotional item for a random crab shack–a white and blue checkered pattern wrapping the cup behind a cartoon crab waving from the front seat of a pink cadillac. “I have a caramel creamer and milk.”

“Just black, thanks.”

“So,” she reached for the fridge, holding the door with the side of her foot so she could quickly add a splash of creamer to her cup, “We’ve established you’re definitely not being weird by sending cryptic texts and lurking outside my door.” 

“I wasn’t lurking, ” Reiner puffed to her back, the linoleum floor crinkling as he stepped into the kitchen. 

Josie raised an eyebrow, turning to hand him the steaming crab mug. “Okay. You weren’t lurking.”

“I wasn’t,” he said again.

Josie would’ve made fun of his pouting a little more, but their fingers brushed as he took the cup and she short-circuited, a memory of her palm scratching into his chest stuttering behind her eyes. She curled her fingers into her palms and turned for her own drink.

“You weren’t lurking,” she repeated, grinning at him over the rim of her cup. “So you’re here because…”

The tips of Reiner’s ears were red. She told herself it was from the heat of the coffee. 

“I know it’s short notice, but Sunday I’m taking Gabi and her friend Falco to the State Fair. I wanted to invite you to go with… us.”

“Oh.” That was absolutely not what she expected. The State Fair? She went once in high school with some of the girls from the basketball team. They spent too much money on ride tickets and fried foods, flirting with strangers and getting too competitive over carnival games. It was one of those classic, all American teenage nights that was a core memory for her.The thrill she felt was short-lived, though, when she remembered there was a reason she didn’t go to the State Fair more often–it was a few hours away by car. “I um, would love to go, but I really don’t have a way to get there.”

A twitch of disappointment, then confusion, pulled at Reiner’s face. “I know. I’m offering to drive.”

She found herself once again saying, “Oh.”

“What type of asshole would invite you somewhere almost three hours away and not also take you?” He asked with an impish edge. She caught the edge of a smile before his cup covered it completely. 

“I don’t know!” Josie whined. 

“To be clear, I’m offering to pay, too.”

“Reiner,” she protested, whole body going flush.“That’s too much, no. ”

“It’s not though. Consider it a thank you for your help lately.”

“It’s not… I’m not–”

“I know.” Reiner put his cup down and looked at Josie with what was undoubtedly fondness–a type she wasn’t quite ready to face head-on. “I know you’re not. I just.. I just want to do this for you, Josie.”

She didn’t want to face it, but she found it impossible to look away. “Okay.”

“Okay?”

“It’s been years since I’ve had the chance to go to the State Fair. It sounds like a fun time.”

Over the past few weeks Josie learned that Reiner had all sorts of smiles. Exasperated ones, often directed at Gabi. Self-effacing ones and relieved ones and ones that stayed trapped between his teeth. There were cordial smiles in the hallway and appreciative ones on the other side of her door. Smiles for baked goods and smiles for bad jokes. 

This was probably her favorite smile, though, if she had to pick. Hazel eyes twinkling with affection and a row of teeth peeking from behind widely stretched lips.

“Same. One of my coworkers mentioned it started last weekend. Gabi’s never been, so I asked if she’d want to check it out.”

“Like any twelve year old would say no to deep fried Oreos and carnival games.”

“Yeah,” Reiner laughed a little, “I didn’t even get the whole question out before she was inviting Falco.”

“That tracks.”

“It’ll be good for them. They go to the same school, but they haven’t seen each other a lot lately,” he confided, fingers curling around his mug. “The Grice’s were my neighbors almost my entire life. Falco and Colt are like family, honestly.” His shoulders slumped a little. “We had Gabi a lot. Her dad wasn’t around, and her mom was working two jobs. My mom had a part time gig so she was able to help with Gabi. But she left my dad my senior year, and we moved in with my grandparents in Arcadia. Val–Gabi’s mom–doesn’t get along with their parents, so she stopped asking my mom for help.” 

“That’s a dumb reason… sorry.”

Reiner set his empty cup in the sink between a cluster of unwashed silverware and her unwashed oatmeal bowl from breakfast. “No, it’s okay. I was getting carried away, anyway.”

“Can I ask you something that’s probably too personal so feel free to say no?”

“Sure.”

“Why isn’t Gabi with your mom now?”

“Ah. Well,” He smiled, and it was one of those tender-eyed ones that made Josie’s heart do somersaults. “She remarried last year, and they just moved a few hours away for Ron’s job. Val only agreed to get help if we kept things as normal as possible for Gabi. Staying with me seemed like the best option all around.” 

Agreed to get help. Both Reiner and Gabi were rightfully tight-lipped about the situation with her mom. It wasn’t like Josie was prying, anyway. She knew how complicated and messy family could be. She wasn’t going to ask him to clarify what kind of help – this was already plenty of information to fill in the gaps. 

“I agree,” Josie said softly. 

“Speaking of Gabi, I should probably get back over there. We have some errands to run before my shift, and I promised her we could stop at the craft store while we’re out.”

“So I should be prepared for slime and or a lot of yarn tonight?”

“She said something about making soap, actually,” Reiner chuckled. 

“Got it. Soap making, I can handle.” 

He raised an eyebrow playfully. “Were you worried about yarn?"

“Yarn is a very dangerous item, thank you very much. A lethal weapon in some places.”

“Don’t worry, I’ll do my part in keeping yarn out of the hands of our youth.”

“My hero,” she drawled sarcastically.

“It’s a hard  job, but someone has to do it.”

“Okay,” Josie snorted. She placed her empty mug in the sink with a lot less finesse than Reiner, cup clattering with the silverware. She felt bubbly enough to ignore the voice in her head that said touching him was a bad idea. She bumped her shoulder lightly against his arm. “Thanks for your dedication and vigilant service.”

“You know, something about that doesn’t feel all that genuine, Josie,” Reiner tsk-ed, eyes bright. 

“I’m being nothing but genuine, Reiner,” She said back. 

They were by her door, neither seemingly overly eager to say goodbye. A few seconds of silence stretched comfortably between them.

“I’ll let you know more about Sunday when I actually figure out what the plan is. I think I saw online that they do a fireworks show every weekend. Gabi and Falco will definitely want to stay for those, so it will probably be a long day.”

“Fireworks, huh?” 

A wistfulness settled into Josie. She wanted to drink a ridiculously sugary lemonade with a bendy straw. She wanted to listen to a kind of really good local cover band play alternative music from the 90s. And she wanted to watch fireworks with Reiner. 

“Yeah, fireworks.” Reiner smiled at her from the open door. “I’ll talk to you later.”

“Have fun with your errands. Don’t let Gabi bully you into slime.”

“Or yarn,” he added.

“Or yarn, right.”

For the second time in less than twenty-four hours, Josie closed the door to her apartment and promptly fell into her bed face first. She groaned a pathetic noise into the sheets. She was in deep. Too deep, probably. Fuck. 

When she went to flip her laundry a half hour later, the light was fixed–fluorescent bulbs changed and secured behind the plastic screen, there was a handwritten ‘out of order’ sign on the questionably murderous dryer, and the stagnated water puddle was gone.. Josie moved her clothes to one of the non-life threatening dryers with a smile on her face.

[boo-nito-flakes]

Vertigo | Reiner Braun + Original Female Character AU: modern setting, neighbors multi-chapter story Rating: Mature Synopsis: When Josie’s mysterious neighbor becomes a temporary guardian for his young cousin, she didn’t think she’d be so involved. Reiner was a ghost of a neighbor, the two only exchanging a handful of words in the year they’d lived beside each other. Yet there she was, spending her nights watching true crime documentaries and filling out online personality quizzes with Gabi while Reiner was at work at The Liberio. There were a lot of things about this new arrangement Josie didn’t expect; how often she thought about Reiner’s forearms was near the top of the list. This could become a problem…

Chapter Two

Knock. Knock. Knock.

The quiet taps at the door somehow cut through the noise from the TV, a random reality show thrown on for background noise. Josie’s fingers curled against the cutting board.   

She’d been on edge all day after a shitty night of sleep. Her bedroom was too warm, sheets sticking to clammy skin. She refused to check the time on her phone; it was sheer desperation to pretend like sleep would come easily and effortlessly. She flopped, legs tangling with each inutile turn, and thought of anything and everything in a miserable attempt to not replay every detail of her day. When she eventually fell asleep from sheer exhaustion, Josie was haunted by a nightmare she hadn't had in years. A big-top circus, stained leather whips,  clowns with stitched on faces, a mannequin crowd – her parents' doll-like visages glowing under a blood-red spotlight. She drank an entire pot of coffee by the time she left to catch the bus for work. 

By the time Josie’s lunch break rolled around, she broke a wheel off a pallet jack, split a half dozen watermelons in the process, and incorrectly labeled the squash shipment—all three hundred and twenty two items. Her direct manager practically threw her out of the store when her replacement arrived for the night.

There was another succession of knocks and Josie dropped her knife, wiping the backs of her hands on her shorts as she scuttled to the door. She put one eye to the peephole, but her hands were already working the lock. Gabi blinked at her, big brown eyes widening with something between surprise and panic. 

“Hey,” Josie greeted, gaze flickering to the empty hallway behind Gabi.

“Reiner is already at work."

She snapped back to Gabi. “So, what’s up?”

“Why did you offer to babysit me?” She bit back immediately, words nipping with a suspicion teetering on anger. 

“Okay, one,” Josie lifted a finger, “I never used that word. And two, that’s not what happened.”

“Reiner said you offered to hang out with me when he’s at work.”

“I did.”

Gabi narrowed her eyes and declared boldly, “That’s babysitting .”

“I don’t think so.” In her apartment, a timer started beeping a steady tune–a reminder of her temporarily abandoned dinner. Nothing was so time-sensitive that it risked immediate ruin, but she knew not to risk it. She took a step backwards, arm extending with an invitation. “You’re allowed to be here, right?”

“Yeah. Reiner told me I could come over… if I wanted to,” she said, rolling her eyes to punctuate with a dramatic flair.  

“Hmm.” Josie hummed, fighting a smile. “Alright. Have you eaten yet? I’m still working on dinner, but there’s plenty to share.” 

A slight stretch of the truth. It was hard cooking for just one person, so leftovers existed by default. A cute lunchbox and colorful tupperware was a fun way to rebrand the monotony of leftovers, but day three of a not so great attempt at a new recipe was still a bitter experience even with carefully curated utensils. 

“We went to Garrison’s.”

“ Ooohh , they have the best milkshakes,” Josie sighed wistfully. The sauteing vegetables and chicken on her stovetop were insultingly mocking after thinking of thick malts and greasy smash burgers served at the diner in the old part of the city. “Last summer they had, like, a peach cobbler one. I almost cried when they cycled it out.”

“It was my first time there. I really, really wanted some onion rings and a chocolate milkshake.”

“Well, you went to the right place.” 

Neither of them spoke for a few seconds, the sound of the TV nothing but white noise. It crackled with the hiss of the vegetable mix as Josie stirred and monitored her food. When she was sure nothing was burning, she turned and leaned against the counter. Gabi stood in the middle of the living room, curious eyes once again taking in every nook and corner of the open living-kitchen-dining space (advertised as ‘opening floor plan’ but was really just an excuse to toss an awkward half-wall up and call it an integrated kitchen in lieu of making anything close to  functional). 

“I had a friend in high school who waitressed there, and she said they put an obscene amount of powdered sugar in all their fried foods and that’s why everything tastes like heaven.”

“You went to high school here?” Gabi asked, voice lifting with surprise.

“Karanes for high school. Dok Foundation Charter for everything before that."

The timer beeped, and Josie jumped to pull her hodgepodge meal off the stove. 

“Oh.” A few stilted seconds passed. “I go to Shiganshina.”

The Dok family cared enough about their reputation to keep at least an appearance of giving a shit about their foundation-funded charter schools. And they were smart enough to know to stay away from anything beyond eight-grade. Karanes High School was, by no means, a great school. The building was old school with chunky bars covering the tall windows and a fenced in stretch of ‘yard’ that was smaller than most yards in the city. Compared to Shiganshina, it could be as good as any Dok Foundation school. 

Shiganshina was the largest K-12 school system in the city. It was also the most underfunded. The buildings were crumbling, and there were never enough teachers to reign in the overstuffed classrooms. Shiganshina kids were hard. They knew violence—were known for violence–and wore proudly on their chest. On the football field. In parking lots and graffiti covered bathrooms. Behind family barns in the roaring light of a summer bonfire. The Devils of Marley.

Rich kids in Marley went to Sina Prep; with school buildings that looked like cathedrals, a waiting list for the preschool, and a yearly tuition that honestly made Josie want to vomit. She tried not to think about it. Marley City K-12 was the best public system, but the class-sizes were small and filled fast so a lot of kids bussed to Dok Foundation and Karanes on the outer edge of the east side of town. Shiganshina serviced the entire south side of Marley, far from the university’s ivory towers and Sina’s wrought-iron gates.

“Do you have a lot of friends there?” Josie asked, feeling out the situation. 

Anyone who grew up in Marley knew about Shiganashina’s reputation. The devils that haunted the city. It was stupid and honestly kind of shitty but in a town like Marley, where the city’s history was interwoven with the legacy of education, where you went to school carried a lot of weight. The prestige of academia that segregated the town into old and new–settled farm families and rail workers and the high brow scholars that cluttered around the newly established Marley University–influenced nearly every part of life as a born and raised Marlinean. 

“I have a few friends, yeah.”

“That’s cool,” Josie shrugged, cringing behind the cabinet as she reached for a plate. “What are you guys into?” 

Gabi wasn’t necessarily being stand-offish, but small talk with a twelve-year-old wasn’t a skill she would ever claim to have. Her only experiences with anyone that age range was at Paradis Mart, and after five-years of working at the grocery store she knew that judging anyone by the weird rituals humans displayed while shopping was a recipe for some fucked-up world views. There were some lifetimers at Paradis spewing nonsense in the lockers and break rooms, muttering about fucking Gen Z on their phones and women with kids being worse than insert-terrible-figure-in-history, to make anyone wary of longterm customer service work.

“Like are we jocks or nerds?” Gabi deadpanned.

“Sure, I guess if you think of it like that, but we both know it’s more complicated than that.” There was a pinched, almost accusatory look on Gabi’s face that prompted Josie to just act like Gabi was one of her friends and reason with her honestly. It felt less awkward that way, at the very least. “We don’t have to talk about anything, if you don’t want to. We can just hang out and watch Netflix or Youtube or something, if that’s more your thing. I’m just trying to feel out the situation.”

Gabi shook her head with an almost eerie placidity. “You never answered me when I asked why you want to babysit me. You’re not trying to get Reiner and my mom in any trouble, are you—”

“What? No! Absolutely not.” Josie stopped plating her dinner, spatula splashing in the chicken and cream sauce. It splattered across the stovetop. “That’s so not in the realm of what is going on here.”

“So what is going on? You’re just being nice?”

“I guess I am. Is that so hard to believe?” 

It was wrong to ask something like that–something so outright and accusatory. Gabi’s face fell as a result, and before she defend herself or snap off a string of angry words Josie rushed to clarify:

“That’s not what I meant, I’m sorry. To be totally and completely honest with you,” she turned to Gabi, who teetered near the fridge–socked feet balancing on the faux gold aluminum divider separating the beige carpet of the apartment from the checkered linoleum in the kitchen area. Her arms were crossed and her bushy brows furrowed with a stubborn intensity. “Look, I was alone a lot at your age and it sucked. I’m not saying you can’t take care of yourself, and Reiner obviously trusts you. I just know it can get lonely. I’m not trying to play savior or whatever, and I don’t have any ulterior motives. If I’m bored and alone here and you’re bored and alone twenty feet away, why not hang out sometimes?”

“So, you want to be friends with a 12-year-old?” After a few long seconds Gabi scoffed, tilting her head to the side (Josie chose to ignore the pink tinting her cheeks). “That’s kinda lame.”

She laughed, and some of the tension left her body. “I’m so sorry if I ever gave the impression that I’m anything but lame.”

“Oh I never thought that.”

“So mean, Gabi!” Josie whined with a huff. She balanced a plate in one hand while she opened the refrigerator with the other, blindly reaching around for a seltzer water. A guilty pleasure, but in her defense as a shift manager at Paradis she got second dibs on damaged products. It was easy enough to accidentally drop a 6-pack of whatever brand while stocking. Not that she’d ever done that, ethically speaking. “You could’ve at least pretended.” 

“Well don’t say that if you don’t want to know!” She blurted, waving her arms.

“I’m just teasing. I get it.”

“I know that!” Gabi harrumphed, tilting her head to the side. Her skin was flush, lips pulled in a pout that resembled the one Reiner always seemed to wear. It was incredibly endearing. “There are red flags, obviously.”

“Oh, ‘ obviously’? ” Josie deprecated, humming as she side-stepped Gabi and wandered towards the living room. “I really don’t know if I should be offended by that.”

She followed Josie’s footsteps, heckling passionately, “Red flags for being cool, not for being like a serial killer or something.”

“Thank you for not thinking I’m a murderer?” 

“You’re welcome.” Gabi plopped on the couch, immediately tucking a leg under her lithe frame. The couch was a secondhand find online. A score, actually; some modern-looking Ikea piece with a chaise a college student was so desperate to get rid of at the end of spring semester they accepted her three hundred dollar offer. “You’re loud. Sometimes I can tell you’re trying to be quiet and it’s still loud. Also, like, how are you always doing dishes? And why does it sound like you’re banging every pan you own?”

“Oh my God,” Josie groaned, crumbling on the other side of the couch. This was her worst nightmare. She was a shitty neighbor. Shitty enough to be roasted by a literal twelve-year-old about it. “I like cooking!”

“And you’re kind of clumsy. Last week I saw you almost trip going down the stairs—”

“My shoes were untied!”

“—and there was also the time you spilled your coffee at the mailboxes.”

“Okay, okay,” Josie conceded, “But that doesn’t mean I’m not cool. Or a serial killer, for that matter, but we are definitely not going to get into that.”

“Women are four times more likely to use poison to kill someone. Which would line up with you liking cooking, I guess. Hypothetically."

“You don’t need to specify that it’s hypothetically,” Josie retorted, emotions bordering bewildered and impressed. “That’s what makes it weirdly accusatory?”

There was an impish air to the way Gabi uncrossed her legs to lean forward, her elbows coming to rest on her knees. It was conspiratorial, in a way, how she beckoned for Josie to lean in closer. The collection of multicolored beaded bracelets on her arm jangled as they slid down her wrist. “I started watching Forensic Files and I can’t stop.”

It was probably not a good idea for a twelve-year-old alone at night to be watching brutal true crime television, but it wasn’t Josie’s place to tell her that. Besides, the show was pretty addicting.

“There are some new true crime documentaries on Netflix I’ve been meaning to watch, if you’re in the mood to watch one.”

“The one about the Fritz cult?”

“Yeah. Have you watched it already?”

“Not yet but—” Gabi stopped abruptly, shifting to pull an older model phone out of her pocket. She grumbled something about Reiner calling before pressing the phone to her ear. “Hey… yeah, I said I was… no… no… well, I forgot! … planning a bank robbery, what do you think? … no! … okay, fiinnneeee .” She looked at Josie out of the corner of her eye as she spoke. In response, Josie took a big bite of her dinner to keep from laughing. “Reiner wants to talk to you.”

“Oh?” No longer laughing, she balanced her dinner on her lap and waved for the phone like talking to Reiner on the phone was an everyday normal occurrence and not something that had her freaking the fuck out. “Okay, sure.”

She cleared her throat as she accepted the phone, greeting him with an  awkward, “Reiner, hey.”

“Hey, Josie.” Muffled chatter drifted through the line, but Reiner’s voice was crystal clear–timbre deep and smooth. “Is Gabi behaving?”

“Depends on your definition,” she couldn’t help but laugh.

“Send her back to my apartment if she’s too—”

“No, no. We’re having a good time, I promise.”

The background noise faded and a metal door clanged—Josie winced, tilting the phone away from her face. “If you say so… look, I really appreciate you spending some time with Gabi.”

“It’s not a problem, really.”

“Don’t feel, like, obligated to be with her the whole time. I’m usually not back until late Thursdays.” He sighed, a heavy noise that vibrated through the phone. “Sorry, I’m being bossy, aren’t I?”

“It’s cool, I get it. I think we’re going to watch something on Netflix, and I’ll probably con her into helping me water my plants. After that she’ll for sure be ready to leave.”

Gabi crossed her arms and muttered, “It shouldn’t take two people to water plants.”

“Good luck with that. She claims to be allergic to chores. I asked her to do the dishes a few nights ago and she gagged the entire time.”

Josie chortled, “So dramatic.”

“Reiner!” Gabi scooted closer on the couch and raised her voice. “Stop saying whatever you’re saying!”

“He’s telling me how much you love doing dishes.” Josie graduated to full blown laughter. Payback for maybe seriously considering the possibility she was a serial killer. As if. 

“That’s where I draw the line! I’m not doing your dishes! Especially not after watching you cook—it’s like you’re trying to make the biggest mess possible!”

Reiner rumbled, “Unbelievable. Sorry, Josie. I promise she wasn’t raised in a barn.”

“I am the opposite of offended.”

“Because it’s true,” Gabi mumbled under her breath, too quiet for Reiner to hear.

“She knows not—shit, hold on a second, sorry.” There was a loud shuffle, followed by a few muffled words. A deep sigh, a grunt, the creak of a door. And then, “I need to get back to work. Can I talk to Gabi again?”

She  hummed a noise of acknowledgement and a quick, “Have a good night, Reiner,” into the phone—barely catching his delayed, “You too, Josie,” before passing the phone back to Gabi.

She made it a point to focus on her half-cold dinner and not the rushed fragments of the one-sided conversation. It lasted maybe thirty seconds—not nearly long enough to eavesdrop, anyway. After hanging up, Gabi tucked the phone back in her pocket. She made a lot of noise, sighing dramatically and shifting restlessly on the couch until Josie looked at her.

“Are you really going to make me help you with chores at ten pm?”

Well, Gabi had a point. Most of the cleaning projects Josie planned the day before got put on the back burner. Watering her plants could wait another day or two until her next day off. And it wouldn’t be the first time she left dishes in the sink overnight to “soak.”

“I was joking about that part, but yeah, I probably shouldn’t. I’ve heard recently that I'm kind of a loud neighbor. But in my defense, the walls here are kind of crappy.” They really were. Luckily, the only shared wall space was in the kitchen-living area. “And at least you only have to listen to me and my apparently endless stream of dishes and not an aspiring DJ, which is what I had to listen to with my neighbor before Reiner.”

Gabi’s face scrunched and she asked, “Wait, are we loud?”

“Reiner? No. Like, I thought it was unrented for a while because it was quiet for weeks sometimes.”

“And now?” 

“I mean, I can tell someone lives next door,” Josie said delicately. It still elicited a shocked look from Gabi, who apparently hadn’t considered the possibility that she too could be considered loud. Josie rolled her eyes and offered, “But it’s not crappy house music at three am, so I’m not complaining.” 

“He really did that?” 

“Oh yeah. Almost every weekend.”

“And you never told him he was, like, annoying?”

Josie snorted, raising an eyebrow at Gabi. “And what, piss off the alpha male douche next door when I’m a woman living alone? No thanks. I operate under a mostly don’t-ask-don’t-tell, definitely don’t complain model. It’s served me pretty well, especially here. This complex is like, so much better than the last place I lived.” Which wasn’t saying much, honestly. “I do keep a baseball bat and a switchblade by my bed, though, just in case.”

“A switchblade ? Can I see?” 

“So you can juggle it?” She remarked, incredulous, face wrinkling. “No, absolutely not.”

“I just want to see it, sheesh.”

“One minute you’re ‘seeing it’ or whatever and the next we’re carrying your severed finger in a bag of ice on our way to the hospital.”

“That’s just dramatic.”

“I can’t let you play with knives, sorry dude.”

“I just wanted to see it!” Gabi huffed, flopping back on the couch. She made a show of getting comfortable, wiggling into the cushion and stretching out. Her long socks slipped in the commotion; tie-dye pattern bunched like rainbow vomit at her ankles. They didn’t match the oversized and well worn monster truck hoodie swallowing the rest of her body, but if anybody could pull the combination off it was Gabi. “So have you used it on anyone?”

“Have I knifed anyone?” Josie paused for dramatic effect, humming like she was in deep thought. “No, can’t say I have.” 

She almost did once, at her last apartment. It was a way shitty efficiency with a broken entrance lock and no security lights. There was mold in the bathroom and she got good at shoo-ing mice out of her place (usually through panicked tears). It was hers, though. Cheap enough to afford with her barely-above minimum wage job at the grocery store and most importantly, a space Josie didn’t have to share with her parents or anyone else. After a lifetime of rent stabilized housing, Josie wasn’t all that worried about the perceived safety, noise-levels, neighbors–it was all secondary to being out on her own. 

Until someone followed her back to her apartment. The feeling of being watched–of steady footsteps behind her rush to her door, the chain lock rattling in place, the terrifying knocks at her door sporadically throughout the night–would stay with Josie for the rest of her life. She started sleeping with the switchblade after that. Bought a second one to stash under her couch cushion, just in case. She wedged a chair under her front door handle every day when she got home, and she never left without checking that the pepper spray attached to her bag was still there. 

“Lame,” Gabi harrumphed, unamused.

“Sorry to disappoint,” Josie shrugged. A fond smile tugged at her lips; she tucked it against her shoulder and reached for the remote. “So, Fritz documentary?” 

“Only if you want to watch both parts. I won’t be able to fall asleep tonight if there’s a cliffhanger.”

“Everyone knows what happened with the Fritz cult. I don’t think there’s going to be any cliffhangers.”

It wasn’t like agreeing to watch the whole thing was too radical of a commitment. Josie probably would’ve watched the whole thing alone, anyway. 

Gabi was the best and worst type of TV companion. She talked to the television way too often (unsurprising, considering how often Josie heard her through the wall) and talked to Josie even more. Quips about the Fritz cult, comments about the angles and camera work (her friend Falco was apparently really into media production–she promised to show Josie one of his short films), and she took a bathroom break every half hour on the dot. Between part one and two, she delivered a surprisingly eloquent monologue–even riddled with curses–about women’s rights while she raided the kitchen for a snack.

Just past one am, Josie herded Gabi off her couch towards the door. No sign of Reiner, but Gabi insisted he’d be home within the hour. Thirsty Thursdays , she said sleepily, yet with far too much understanding for a girl her age. Josie waited to yawn until they said goodbye. She lingered in the door until Gabi disappeared behind hers–eyes rolling as she waved from just a few feet away.

And maybe, despite the sleep that clung to the wet corners of her eyes and the call of the comfort of her bed, Josie stayed bundled up on the couch until she heard Reiner’s footsteps in the hall nearly forty minutes later. 

A folded piece of paper was stuck to her door with a hot pink jack-o-lantern sticker that left speckles of adhesive when Josie pulled it off. 

Staying at my friend Zofia’s tonight! 

Gabi’s handwriting slanted across the ripped page in curly letters, and a smiley face accented the exclamation point. Josie re-folded the note and slid it in her back pocket, unlocking the door to her empty apartment. Honestly, she assumed Gabi would be over at some point that night. With her evening suddenly free, Josie didn’t know what to do. 

She still didn’t know what to do by the time she finished her shower, but there was a text waiting for her when she picked up her phone. A friend she hadn’t heard from in a few weeks reaching out with a “hey, how have you been lately? sorry i’ve been mia…” . There weren’t too many people Josie considered friends, but she’d known Hannah since middle school. They drifted after high school–Hannah choosing a college a few hours away and Josie staying in Marley–and honestly, weren’t that close to begin with. 

Josie poured a bowl of sugary cereal for dinner and plopped on the couch, pulling up an episode of a cheesy ghost hunting show she loved to hate. Between bites and rolling her eyes at the ‘eccentrics’ of the way too serious host, she traded texts with Hannah. She was back in town for the summer for an internship at her aunt’s insurance company. They made plans to get lunch at Garrison’s that Sunday. She took a too hot and too long shower that left her feeling pruned but relaxed enough to fall asleep hours before she usually did. 

Instead of a note at her door, the next evening Gabi stood waiting for her. Well, slouched waiting for her. Back to the wall and her eyes fixated on her phone, she didn’t seem to realize Josie was there until she cleared her throat a few feet away. 

“Sweet, you’re back,” she said as a greeting. “Wanna hang out tonight?” 

Josie blinked a few times in a desperate effort to reorient herself to talking to a pre-teen and said, “Sure.” She pointed to the Paradis Mart bag at her side, weighed down with quite frankly a weird assortment of groceries. “Have you eaten? I have stuff for dinner, but I haven’t stopped thinking about brownies for like, four days so–”

“So brownies for dinner?”

“Worth a try, but no, sorry.” Josie nodded for Gabi to follow her into her apartment, instructing her to lock the door behind them. “Is it cool if I take a shower real fast? The bus was packed tonight, and if I don’t get the feeling of dozens of other people’s germs and sweat off me I’m going to hurl.”

“You take the bus ?”

“Don’t say it like that. It’s not that weird. A lot of people use public transportation.” 

“Yeah, it’s just… so, you don’t drive?”

“Never learned. My bike was stolen at work a few months ago, but until that happened I biked more than I took the bus.”

She didn’t mention the fact that cars were fucking expensive. To buy, to fuel, to insure, to maintain–the whole shebang. And luckily, Gabi never asked why she didn’t learn to drive. Instead, she muttered something about how she bet Josie had a basket on the front (she did, but she wouldn’t give the little shit the satisfaction of reacting) and reclined on the couch. She was still in that position when Josie re-emerged after a speedy shower. Tinny chatter from a show Josie didn’t recognize played on the screen. It was animated but had a stop motion feel to it, the jittery movements of the characters contrasting with the bubblegum colors of the world. 

“This looks… interesting?” she said as she joined Gabi. 

“It’s weird, but it’s funny.” Gabi slung her legs back to the ground, huffing as she drew herself to the correct position. “Zofia made me watch it and now I’m hooked.”

On the screen, an anthropomorphised snake–who, if Josie was interpreting it correctly, was a bounty hunter with super powers–argued with an alien about the best way to cook humans. This is what kids are watching these days, huh? 

“Did you have fun last night?” 

“Yeah. I haven’t seen Z since school ended. Her parents got divorced last year and she’s supposed to spend the summers with her dad in Dale, but he has some work thing or whatever so she got to come back to Marley with her mom for a week.” Gabi scooted down to the end of the cushion, stretching out to fish something out of her pocket. She stuck her hand out to Josie and opened her palm. “Here. I made this for you.”

It was a braided string. A bracelet , Josie realized, a fluttering sense of endearment settling in her chest. The glossy strands were shades of blues and greens and woven into a candy stripe pattern. One of the tying tassels was adorned with a few sea glass colored beads. 

She held her wrist out. “Help me out.”

“You don’t have to wear it,” Gabi said a little shyly. 

“Don’t be dumb.” Josie wiggled her wrist back and forth. “You made it for me to wear, right? Besides, I love these colors.”

“I know. This place is smothered in plants, and like, everything you own is blue.” 

Gabi rolled her eyes, any trace of vulnerability vanishing with the movement. She tightened the bracelet with practiced, nimble fingers. Josie studied the assortment of beaded and braided bracelets lining nearly half of Gabi’s forearm. Some were solid colored beads, others with letters and symbols. Zig-zag patterns and dangling charms. Badges of honor in her world. 

It only took a few minutes of prodding for Josie to agree to make the brownies before anything of real nutritional value. She was feeling a little soft from the gift, admittedly. They agreed to listen to an episode of a true crime podcast Josie enjoyed while they gathered the ingredients–the recipe made the gooeyest fudgy brownies and she fully intended on swirling a layer of peanut butter on the top of this batch–and cooked. Within minutes of pulling the brownies, half the pan was missing and their tongues were burnt. There was just enough cocoa left to make another batch, and Josie was running on a total sugar high. Gabi’s excited energy was just fuel to the fire. She sent her home just after midnight with an entire pan of peanut butter brownies and crashed face first in bed. The actual mountain of dishes in her sink could wait. 

Josie woke up early with a stomach ache one thousand percent caused by only eating half a pan of brownies the day before. She chewed a handful of antacid tablets for breakfast, glared in the general direction of her kitchen, and decided a walk was the best use of her time that morning. She changed into an oversized tee, faded graphics showing a camping scene at a lake, and a pair of biker shorts, tossed her hair up into a bun she refused to fuss over, and headed out. 

Her neighborhood wasn’t in a dangerous location (an upgrade from her last apartment), just an under-maintained slew of rentals and corner convenience stores just past a highway exit. Just two blocks past the bus station, though, everything was a little… nicer. A row of historic looking storefronts cluttered together amidst the residential neighborhood; a coffee shop slash used book store that served cinnamon rolls the size of your head, a tattoo shop with a beautiful painted rose on the window, a screen printing business with a fading yellow and orange awning, and a chiropractor's office that never seemed to be open. Across the street was a patch of green lawn with a few benches and an octagon gazebo the city, by some stretch, considered a park. 

Josie took her time walking to Magpie’s Book & Cafe, where she skipped the cinnamon roll in favor of the biggest size of iced coffee they could legally sell. It was fairly busy so she opted to sit outside, somehow managing to snag a lone picnic bench under a leafy oak tree. She scrolled social media and people watched until her coffee was gone and the warm summer morning sheened her skin with enough sweat to make her uncomfortable. The thought of walking all the way back to her apartment was almost cruel–the temperature had gone up and 32 ounces of coffee was squeezed in her bladder. 

By the time she got back to the weedy cracked parking lots at Rose Hill, a sheen of sweat covered Josie from forehead to forearm. She was so focused on getting back to her apartment that she didn’t realize Reiner was walking towards her until she ran straight into him. 

“I’m so sorry, oh my God,” Josie cringed, fingers wrapping around his forearm while she wobbled on her feet. The tendons flexed beneath her grasp, and she forced herself not to think about how nice it felt. 

“Whoah.” Reiner steadied her with a hand to the shoulder, fingers brushing against a small patch of exposed skin. Her shirt had slipped a little during her walk, the stretched out collar slipping down her shoulder enough for a collarbone to start to peak through. “Josie, hey.” 

“Hey,” she parroted a little breathlessly, looking up at him with possibly the reddest face known to mankind. “I can’t believe I just did that.”

Of course she would run into Reiner–literally–when she looked like a haggard damp rat. Nobody ever looked good coming back from a walk, she told herself, but that didn’t stop the ‘please let a hole open in the floor and swallow me’ levels of embarrassment of being seen all sweaty and sloppy by her neighbor. Honestly, she should’ve been more embarrassed to still be clinging to his arm like a wet paper towel. She loosened her grip and shot him a wobbly smile. 

Reiner’s fingers brushed her shirt collar as he let go of her. If she wasn’t standing directly in his personal bubble, Josie would’ve missed the flush creeping up his neck–disappearing in the fine blonde hairs of his scruff. 

“Don’t worry about it. I’m actually ah, glad you ran into me. I mean, I was hoping to catch you today before I head to work.”

“Here I am,” she said, kicking herself internally for sounding so awkward–no for being so awkward. Why was every interaction with Reiner suddenly an opportunity to make herself look like an idiot? Josie got enough of that in her normal day-to-day life. “What’s up?”

“Gabi hasn’t been bothering you the past few nights, right?”

“She’s been fine. Really, Reiner. I’d say a ‘perfect little angel’ but…”

He laughed a little. “Yeah, I know. You’re sure though? I know you said it was okay, but I feel like I’m… I don’t know. I’m taking advantage of your offer.”

“You’re not.” Josie found the intensity of his golden eyes suddenly too much. She flitted her gaze down the hallway and admitted, “I’m not the most social person–most of my friends left after high school and it’s hard staying in touch. So it’s nice…having someone around.” She scrunched her nose and looked back to Reiner and corrected, “Having Gabi around. She’s a cool kid.”

Josie meant it. Growing up, she always wished she had a sibling. Someone to trade whispers with in their bedroom while their parents were resting. Someone to fill the space when they were gone–watch cartoons with, split off-brand toaster treats with, someone to be friends with. 

Eventually, Josie was old enough to escape the suffocating apartment. She made friends with kids so she could go to their homes after school. Rode her bike up and down the cracked sidewalks around Marley until she found something to entertain her. Joined the basketball team because it was something to do. Took a job at Paradis Mart because she was expected to. At night, though, she returned to an empty bedroom in an empty apartment. The loneliness was as suffocating as it was freeing. 

“She is,” He agreed, a soft smile lifting his lips. 

“And,” much like she’d done the night before, Josie stuck out her arm and wiggled her wrist back and forth, “I got this sick bracelet out of the deal, so really, you don’t need to worry.”

“She was nervous to give that to you. Don’t tell her I said that though.” 

“Oh God, no. I value my life too much to do that.”

Reiner laughed again, a low rumbling noise, and Josie realized it was the most she’d heard him laugh in the entire year they’d been neighbors. Which tracked, considering this was the most they’d talked in that time, too. 

“Saturdays are late for me every week, but there’s some fraternity reunion at Liberio tonight and Zeke–my boss–has not stopped talking about it for weeks, so I’ll be lucky to be home before the sun comes up. Gabi will probably be over at some point tonight, if that’s okay…”

“I just said it was,” Josie reminded him. There was an easier way to do this, she realized, swallowing a lump of nervousness. “Hey, why don't we just exchange numbers? You can just text me if you’re going to be late or whatever.” She steamrolled past any opportunity for him to say no, digging her phone out from her bag. “If you’re cool with it, Gabi can have my number, too.”

They exchange phones long enough to punch in contact information. Reiner had an older model Android, much like Josie, but unlike the cute pastel floral case she rocked, he had one of those military grade all black protection cases. He entered his name as “Reiner B. (neighbor)” – like she knew any other Reiners or spoke to any of her other neighbors. It was cute, she thought, he was cute.

“I’m usually home by 7, so tell Gabi she can come by anytime after that… or just have her text me? Either way.”

“Okay, sure.” 

“Cool.” Josie was, by no stretch of the word smooth , but this was embarrassing–even for her. She rocked back on her heels, suddenly very aware of how grossly sweaty she was; it wasn’t the most ideal state to be in while talking to anyone, let alone someone who made her get all heart-eyed and swoony. She hooked a finger over her shoulder towards her front door. “I should probably get ready for work.”

Reiner’s eyebrows jumped, head bobbing a few times. “Right, yeah. Sorry for keeping you. I’ll let Gabi know to text you later, if she wants to come over.”

“Okay.” 

A second passed. Then another. Despite her–in her opinion, flawless–exit strategy, Josie didn’t make any attempt to leave. Neither did Reiner. He stared at her, face scrunching with that brooding, permanently troubled look he wore so well. She stared back, gnawing on her bottom lip. It was a nervous habit she’d long since given up on trying to ever change. 

A Mount Salta of dishes waited for her in her apartment. Her plants were past due for a watering. She was in desperate need of a shower. Her bladder was almost alarmingly full. And the bus always ran late on Saturdays, so she needed to get to the bus stop earlier than normal to catch the lagging twelve-thirty shuttle. 

“Well–”

“Thanks–”

Sheepishly, Josie smiled and prompted, “Sorry, go ahead.”

“Ah, I was just going to say thanks for the brownies, by the way. It probably wasn’t a good idea to have chocolate at two in the morning, but I couldn’t help myself. They’re dangerously good. I ate way more than I should have.”

“Same,” she laughed. Something warm bloomed in her chest at the complement. “I’m glad you like them.”

“I don’t think Gabi wants to share, but I’m definitely going to sneak another piece before work tonight.” He cupped the back of his neck in a chastened way, shrugging one shoulder. 

“Eh, that’s the benefit of being an adult. Just tell her it’s, like, a tax or part of rent or something.”

“Something tells me Daz would be pissed if I tried paying rent with baked goods.”

She couldn’t help but snort. Their landlord was a registered, card-carrying asshole. Every interaction with him required at least a forty-minute pep talk beforehand and a minimum of one beer and an epic mental monologue of curses and threats of violence afterwards. 

“Can you imagine? It’s almost worth trying just to see the look on his face.”

“Do you think he can control the vein on his forehead? I swear, one time it looked like he was purposefully flexing it in front of me.”

“I wouldn’t put it past him,” Josie said, bemused. “Ugh, okay. I’m going to for sure miss the bus if I don’t start to get ready soon.” Josie glanced at Reiner, gauche smile pulling her lips when she realized he was on the verge of apologizing. “I hope your night isn’t too bad. Honestly, a frat reunion sounds… miserable. Absolutely miserable.” 

“Tell me about it. I’m bar-backing, so I’m sure I’ll be washing glasses and cleaning up spilled whiskey and Natty Light all night.”

“Oh God, yeah,” she winced, “Best of luck to you with that one.”

“Pieck usually tips out pretty well, so I’m trying not to dread going in, but…,” he trailed off into a shrug. Josie tried–and failed–to not stare at the place where his hand rested on his shoulder, fabric wrinkling under his digits. A flush bloomed beneath his beard again; she followed it up the column of his neck, around his jaw, past the few freckles on his cheeks that were almost invisible in the harsh fluorescent hallway lights. His eyes, big and gold, followed her movements. (And suddenly, she was the one wearing crimson all over). “Anyway, I’ll um, I should let you go. Have a good day, Josie.”

When she closed the door behind her after a quick ‘you too’ , Josie pressed her forehead to the cool steel frame, closed her eyes, and gave herself exactly two minutes to replay the highlights of the entire interaction while she mentally kicked herself for being so awkward. Was she really this socially inept and hadn’t noticed? Or was it a Reiner-induced-foot-in-mouth thing? 

Her allotted wallowing time ended before Josie came up with a solid answer. 

God, she was totally and completely fucked, wasn’t she? 

[lunaekalenda]

Hi! Can I request Reiner x fem!reader who loves baking? Like she's constantly making sweets and breads and she also has a sweet personality and is a bookworm? Oh! And in third person please! Thank you 🥰

ofc! i swear reiner makes me so soft! i hope you like it!! <3

❁❁❁❁❁❁❁❁❁❁❁❁❁❁❁❁❁❁❁❁❁❁❁❁❁❁❁❁❁❁

❁ reiner

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- she started baking by accident

- her boyfriend’s cousin, gabi, was turning eight, and her mother left her with the two of them because of an emergency.

- well, she also left there her daughter’s bestie, falco.

- so the two kids wanted to eat cake because of gabi’s birthday, and reiner told his girl if she could prepare something while he adjust the guest room for the kids.

- the cake was amazing and gabi loved it.

- "Reiner your girlfriend makes really good cakes! i want her cake all my birthdays!"

- That's how she discovered she enjoyed it!

- Reiner always gets her cooking books with a lot of recipes, from simple cakes to lollipops.

- she likes to try new recipes on her free time, asking him to try them.

- "Could you try this one?" he smiles and takes a little bite of the cake spoonful she's holding.

- "I feel spoiled with all this tasty things you make..."

- when she's not cooking, she's probably reading at the little sofa she bought.

- Reiner knows how much she likes reading, so for her birthday, he made her a little reading nook near to a window, to get natural light.

- He likes to have her snuggled up in his chest, while she reads. He thinks he has everything he needs to be happy in that moment.

- his forehead kisses while she reads are the best of the world.

- He likes to help her while she bakes, trying to be as helpful as possible.

- "Now sugar?" she nods silently, smiling.

- he loves her voice. That's why sometimes, when she's reading, he asks her to read for him.

- "but i'm at the end, you'll be lost."

- "I just wanna hear your voice."

- she blushes and reads for him, her voice being a sweet lullaby for him. every time she says his name....

- "we have been together for a while, i call you everyday"

- "but every time you do it, it keeps making me shake."

- she's not going to say it, she's too shy, but she feels the same when he calls her "love"

- if she fails a recipe, she keeps trying, even knowing sometimes she ends crying of frustration.

- "love, you should take a break, hm? should we watch a film together?"

- she nods, wiping her tears. he smiles sweetly at her.

- "i'm sure you'll end doing it."

- he's right the 99% of the times.

- she always analyzes his reactions when he tries the sweets, knowing wich ones are they favorites to surprise him when he arrives late.

- "i made you some strawberry lollipops and a bit of chocolate and vanilla cake"

- he shares with her, being eternally grateful for having such a pure human by his side.

- when she enters the bed, her hands smell like vanilla. Reiner loves that.

- "you smell so good..."

- she feels secure between his arms, like nothing can hurt her.

- he also likes to hug her stronger against him, making sure she's not going to leave.

- "do you really love me?"

- he had such a bad confidence in himself... but she reminds him how much she loves him, and she doesn't care if she has to tell him every night.

- "i love you, Reiner Braun. i love you so, so much..."

- he feels so happy, he needs to kiss her gilfriend's full body, get drunk of her voice.

- "i love you, love."

- he would like to be a dad.

- but he makes no pressure on her, just shares some ideas about it.

- "i would listen to you reading to them"

- at the end of the dsy, she sometimes sleep on the sofa while reading, so he takes her in his arms and moves her to the bedroom, wrapping her with his arms.

- "thanks, reiner." she says, sleepy voice against his neck.

- "sleep, love. you need to sleep."

S C E N A R I O

Reiner lends towards her, the spoon full of red velvet cake. He captured it between his teeth, his girlfriend looking at his reaction. He smiled.

"Wow, love, this is incredible" he says. She smiles and keeps making a little decoration for the cake. "How am I so lucky to have such a gorgeous, pretty and talented girlfriend who spoils me with cake?" She laughs soflty, her body lending a but towards his. He kisses her sweetly, her fine hands dropping the spoon and hugging his neck. His lips taste like chocolate. She melts towards him when he caresses her cheeks.

"Oh, love, I bought you a book today." he says.

"Oh, you didn't have to..."

He smiles at her.

"You're my girlfriend. Can't I spoile you back with books you like?"