vulpix757

[vulpix757]

YCH Commission

2nd @VulpixChan757

[vulpix757]

KETCHUP [TADC VA animatic]

I thought this bit was rlly funny so I had to animate it

[vulpix757]

Animatic of that one moment from the Digital Circus fast food simulator stream, featuring Ragapom (and giraffe/deer Gangle lol)

( @vixenvtuber , @lizziefreemanva , @justtheclippy )

[vulpix757]

Hoi, may I please ask for Pomni with a fem porcelain ballerina doll reader who despite being physically fragile, still likes to do reckless things like fighting against NPC villains (and Jax if he's being too mean), or dancing too roughly. Even though by the end of it, she still ends up breaking off a limb or two, or another piece of her porcelain body, so she often times needs to be patched up and glued/taped back together by a concerned Pomni

Put me together again

Pomni x fem!porcelain!ballerina reader

Hey! I hope you like this, I tried to include a little bit of everything in the request and also I hope this isn’t too short! There’s also a lil bit of angst but dw it resolved bc Pomni is very supportive and loving. Please send in more requests they keep me motivated, Enjoy! 🫶🏻

You've always been on the wilder side, despite being physically so fragile you always loved being more active, whether you were sent off on an adventure by Caine or stopping Jax's antics. You just loved doing things, unfortunately being made of porcelain wasn't the best material to be made of when you were being adventurous but you didn't mind that much. You just say you’ll be careful and hope for the best, this was enough for you although for Pomni it just caused her to be extremely worried, you didn’t get why, it's not like you've gotten seriously hurt or anything, well until now.

"And you wonder why I worry," Pomni says in a tone that wavers between worried and frustrated, "It's not even that bad!" You say you gotta admit it is kinda bad, "I still got two other limbs don't I?" You knew you were pushing it but you couldn't help but feel the rush of adrenaline every time you did something reckless. Despite Pomni's concerns, you found joy in the thrill of the moment. Pomni sighed, her eyes filled with worry as she scanned over your damaged porcelain body. "You need to be more careful. You're not like the others. You can't just shrug off injuries as easy as they can, you're fragile." God, you hated that word fragile, to be called that felt like an insult, you knew Pomni would never but still it felt so disrespectful. You pouted, about to cross your arms with a huff but you only had an arm and a leg, maybe this was serious. "But where's the fun in playing it safe all the time? I want to experience things, even if it means risking a few chips and cracks, there's barely anything to do here it's like a prison! The fact that Caine lets us go on adventures keeps me sane!"

Pomni shook her head, her expression softening. "I understand, but I can't help but worry about you. You're- you're very special to me, and I don't want to see you get hurt."

You shifted uncomfortably, feeling a pang of guilt at Pomni's genuine concern. She was right; you were different, you hated it but you were and your porcelain body made you more vulnerable than others. "I appreciate your concern, Pomni," you murmured, your voice softer now. "And I'm sorry for making you worry. I just... I can't help myself sometimes. The thrill, the excitement... it's addictive."

Pomni nods with understanding, her eyes holding compassion. "I know. And I don't want to stifle your spirit. It's one of the things I love about you But please, try to be more aware of your limitations. I don't know what I'd do if something happened to you."

You reached out, your remaining hand trembling slightly as you gently touched Pomni's arm. "I promise, Pomni. I'll try to be more careful. For you." Pomni smiled, her expression filled with warmth. "Thank you. That means a lot to me."

As Pomni began the process of repairing your damaged body, being so gentle with you, it didn't feel patronizing or out of pity it was just pure love, As Pomni delicately began repairing your damaged porcelain body, her touch was gentle and caring, each delicate movement, she seemed to mend not only your physical cracks and chips but also the doubts and fears in your heart. It was as if her presence alone could soothe the restless spirit within you.

"Pomni," you whispered, your voice filled with emotion as you looked into her shimmering eyes. "I... I don't say this enough, but I... I love you. Not just for what you do for me, but for who you are. You're my anchor in all this, and I don't know what I'd do without you." Pomni's expression softened even further, her eyes reflecting the depth of her feelings. "... I love you too," she confessed, her voice barely more than a whisper.

In that tender moment, you felt a sense of peace wash over you. No matter how many times you fell apart Pomni was always there to put you together again.

Maybe it was time to reconsider your approach to adventure, but that didn't matter right now. After all, with Pomni by your side, you could only see her.

[vulpix757]

nerd! eren jaeger,

Eren Jaeger doesn’t want much in life. He knows he wants to graduate high school, go to a university his mother would approve of and get good grades. That’s all he’s ever thought about - studying. He would’ve liked to become valedictorian if it wasn’t for his life-long best friend Armin, who’s been dreaming of it since they were kids together. Armin’s a genius - he deserves it.

One day, as he’s scribbling down the notes from mechanics with Mr Ackerman in the library, he raises his head to the sight of someone walking past him. Iris, by the Goo Goo Dolls sounded in his headphones while a girl wearing the uniform of Shiganshina High, his school, and a green tie the same as his. You were in his grade.

You were the prettiest girl he had seen. Your hair cascaded perfectly past your shoulders, and your eyes, they were oh so perfect to him. He wanted to look at you forever, to never take his sights away from you but he would obviously look like some kind of a creep. A light blush crept upon his face at the thought, and he shuddered, willing himself to focus on his work. Right, back to moments. However, he couldn’t help but sneak another peek at you.

You busied yourself in the bookshelf across the room. Too far away from him for his liking. You skimmed your finger along the spines of several books, before you came across what you came for. Scanning the room for a free seat, your face twisted into a frown from failure to find somewhere to sit and read what you chose. He squinted his eyes to try and catch a glimpse, but you were too far for him to read the title.

Lost in his attempt, he failed to realise that you were slowly approaching his direction. When he did, he whipped his head around with the hope that you didn’t happen to see him staring and think he was a strange. He had enough of the name calling from school anyways. School. If you went to his school, you probably knew his reputation. That he was a loser. Who was he kidding, why would anyone know who he was?

“Excuse me, is this seat free?” you asked him, tone angelic like you came straight from the Heavens and landed right in front of him. He looked like a deer caught in headlights - he wasn’t expecting you to come and take the seat opposite him at all. He thought you’d take one look at him and take off in the other direction. He never answered your question.

“Oh- Uh, no. You can- you can sit,” he managed to breathe out. He blinked rapidly, like if he did it enough times, you’d disappear just as randomly and you’d shown up at his table.

He watched your mouth move, but no sound accompanied your words. Only the soft melody of Nervous by The Neighbourhood could be heard, which is when he realised he couldn’t hear you because he had both earphones in. A fitting song choice for his current emotional state.

“Sorry?” he enquired, eager to hear your voice again. He wanted to hear it over and over again. It didn’t matter what you said to him, only that you never stopped speaking in his presence.

“I said, I love the Neighbourhood,” you repeated, referring to his song choice.

He was frozen. He didn’t realise his music was so loud, to the point where outsiders could hear it too. He fumbled to turn down the volume from his phone, when he registered what you had said to him.

“You love them?” he asked wide eyed. Mikasa was more into rock metal music, while Armin listened happily to a mixture of Hozier and the Cranberries. He never had anyone to bond with over music… until you.

“Yeah, I love them. ‘You got me nervous to speak, so I just won’t say anything at all,” you sang softly, in time with the music.

“You’re the first person I’ve met who likes them,”

“They’re great,” you smiled at him, before sticking your nose in that book you picked up.

“‘Romeo and Juliet?’” he accidentally blurted out loud, covering his mouth the second he realised he didn’t say that in his head.

“Yeah. You read Shakespeare?” your eyes lit up at the mention of the story you were reading.

“‘My bounty is as boundless as the sea, my love as deep; the more I give to thee, The more I have for both are infinite,’” he quoted Juliet’s line from the book.

When he looked back at you, your face was frozen - eyes wide in surprise, and you simply blinked at him blankly. He scared you away, didn’t he?

“‘Being in night, all this is but a dream, too flattering sweet to be substantial,’” you finished once you got out of your dazed state.

“Act 2 Scene 2. Juliet can’t believe her feelings are real. She feels as though it’s too good to be true. She’s scared it’ll all come to an end soon,”

“I like to think she knows the end is near. She knows her time with Romeo is limited, but she feels so amazing with him, she can’t bring herself to care. She feels like on top of the world. It’s like a dream being with him because they’re so in love,” you babbled and Eren sat there the whole time, listening to your passionate voice talk about literature with him.

When he didn’t respond, you thought you were talking too much.

“I’m sorry! I didn’t ran to ramble, I just love poetry,” you apologised profusely. “I’ll stop distracting you now,”

“No!” he was way too quick to answer that. “I mean… you’re not distracting me. I like hearing you talk. About, about poetry! I like hearing you talk about poetry,” he was a mess. What was happening to him?

He didn’t care. Whatever that feeling was that erupted in his chest when your smile grew and you started talking again, he knew he didn’t care about what was happening to him. All he cared about was making sure you never stopped speaking to him.

Then, it hit him - he realised what it was that he wanted. In that moment, he wanted nothing more than for you to know who he was.

[vulpix757]

Hear me out...

What if I make an aot isekai story mixed with an actor au story?

With the aot cast coming into the real world... But I have the reader being married to the actor of Eren Yeager?

Thoughts?

[vulpix757]

Eren Yeager and the ways he shows love in his own stubborn way

Eren Yeager who watches you during movie nights, not because the film is boring, but because he can’t help it. When you catch him staring, he just shrugs “I just like looking at you. Got a problem with that?

Eren Yeager who clenches his fists when someone upsets you but lets it go if you say it’s not worth it—his protective nature barely contained, but he respects your peace more.

Eren Yeager who scans the room at every party or gathering, always keeping track of where you are. When your eyes meet, his rare smile tells you everything he doesn’t say out loud

Eren Yeager who brushes stray hair from your face while you’re mid-sentence, like it’s second nature. He doesn’t even realize he’s doing it—too focused on whatever you’re saying, or maybe just on you.

Eren Yeager who gets irrationally frustrated when you forget to take care of yourself, sighing dramatically but showing up with vitamins and water. “You can’t just skip meals and not expect me to say something,” he grumbles, dropping a bag of groceries on your counter. “And you’re taking these,” You know he won’t leave until he’s sure you do.

Eren Yeager who sits by your side for hours when you’re sick or hurt, arms crossed and brows furrowed. He glares at the doctors and nurses like they’re not moving fast enough, but the second you shift or wince, his attention snaps to you. “You need anything?” he asks, as if he hasn’t already offered three times.

Eren Yeager who yells at you for being reckless, fists clenched, his voice cracking at the thought of losing you—because the idea of a world without you is unbearable. Later he will apologize with an embarassed expression on his face.

Eren Yeager who teases you relentlessly for the smallest things—how you fold laundry, your odd snack combinations, the way you hum while working. But if anyone else tries to make fun of you for it? “Don’t.” His tone leaves no room for argument

levi one here

[vulpix757]

LOST WITHOUT YOU, BABY

— Eren Yeager x Female Reader

With Heart And Soul.

*⁠.⁠✧ SYNOPSIS : Eren sometimes feared what he would do if you had not graced his life that one afternoon of mid-march. ・₊﹆ɞ‧₊

*⁠.⁠✧ WARNINGS & TAGS : Boyfriend!Eren, Girlfriend!reader, high school sweethearts, bullying, blood, fight, mob boss!eren, smut, kiss, late night, sex, p in v, 2.4k words. ・₊﹆ɞ‧₊

*⁠.⁠✧ NOTE FROM LOTUS : Feels so good to write after so long. My exams are coming up, of course I will wanna right now 乁⁠[⁠ ⁠◕⁠ ⁠ᴥ⁠ ⁠◕⁠ ⁠]⁠ㄏ

*⁠.⁠✧ — NAVIGATION // ATTACK ON TITAN MASTERLIST

DO NOT PRESS [READ MORE] IF YOU ARE NOT COMFORTABLE. MINORS DNI, IF YOU DO THEN IT'S YOUR OWN RESPONSIBILITY. ・₊﹆ɞ‧₊

𝐄𝐑𝐄𝐍 𝐏𝐀𝐑𝐊𝐄𝐃 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐊𝐀𝐖𝐀𝐒𝐀𝐊𝐈 𝐍𝐈𝐍𝐉𝐀 𝐇2𝐑 at the back of the baby blue two story house. Crossing over the wall wasn't so hard anymore after doing so many times. He ghosted across the back yard and climbed on to the maple tree before he was standing in front of the familiar window that led to your bedroom, separating you from him.

Eren stepped ahead on the rough branch leading right to the window. The glass window was left open as if you knew he would come by. He slid it open and he jumped inside the room with a thud but not loud enough to alert your parents who were fast asleep two rooms down the hallway. You were fast asleep under the fluffy comfort of the duvet.

Eren tiptoed to the bathroom and opened the door with as little noise as possible. You had been whining about the ongoing exam and how much pressure it was giving you. Eren knew he could give you the world you wanted. You only had to tell him with your sweet voice and he would bring the whole world to your feet. But he also respected your decision to do something yourself, to be independent.

Getting rid of any and every piece of clothing, Eren stepped under the shower head. Warm water glided down his body, soothing away all the tension in his muscles. Eren tangled a hand through the wet locks and tilted his head back. Drops of water pitter-pattering on his eyes and lips. His heart was felt with nothing but detest and abhor. He loathed everything, from the waking moment to the last awake second everyday.

Eren sometimes feared what he would do if you had not graced his life that one afternoon of mid-march.

The intense hit of boot against your belly sent a jolt of acute pain through your body. It would leave a ugly bruise you were sure. The blood had already dried under your nose long ago, now the area just  felt tight and itchy. The next hit came down hard on your head, almost knocking you out.

         “Do you have some screws loose in your head?” Your attacker shouted, stomping on your crouched body that stayed laying down on the cold floor of an empty classroom, “I clearly told you to finish my assignment and hand it over to teach. Then why the fuck is he saying I didnt submit my work?”

Two of his minions didn't try even the slightest to suppress the snickers. Standing behind their leader as if he was doing something great.

         “It was your assignment. Why should I do it?” Each trembling word that came out of your mouth, hurt your throat like hell. But it was not worse than the torture you had been enduring for the past two months. Precisely two and half months ago, you moved to this new city because of your father’s transfer. It had been two months since you started attending ‘Heritage High’ and every single student here had made it their job to bully the life out of the new student. Louise Liebert being the leader of them all.

He was the kid who was never told ‘no’ in his entire life. So, when you, being the reserved kid you were, denied to exchange your new fountain pen with his already half used ball pen, it hurt his ego and he made it his mission to fill your days in the school with hurt and sorrow. The pain was special to you, your grandpa had gifted it to you for the new journey you were going to start. He always had it with him wherever he went. He called it his lucky star but it didn't seem to have much luck for your case.

Complaining to your parents got you nowhere when the school staff and children pledged for his innocence. You had a suspicion that it had something to do with his father being the mayor of the town. The only thing you accomplished was proving yourself to be a liar to your parents and increased bullying.

         “Looks like you still have the energy to argue, huh?” Adler, the tall and abnormally skinny guy on his right scoffed.

         “All that beating was not enough for you was it?” Baldur, the shorty onLouise’s left sneered down at you.

         Louise brought his face to your level, a vicious smirk on his face, “Do you need a dick in your mouth to shut up like your mommy dearest?”

You didn't know what happened but the second those words left his stinky mouth, you shot up. Your head hitting his jaw as he went back flying, slamming his head on the hard floor. The room echoed the crazy screams of three individuals. A sense of fight or flight knocked you and you were sprinting out of the room, running through the empty hallway with three angry bulls running after you. As much as scared you were, you were also very proud of yourself. You hoped he cracked his head.

You ran and ran fast. If they got their hands on you then you were sure that you would be going home with more than just black eyes. Running up the stairs, you threw the door in front of you with a screech. They were just a few steps away from you as you pushed the door with your whole body and tried to shut the door. But your tired body was too weak against three of them.

The door swung with force, tripping you backwards on the ground. Fuck! They towered over your body, looking like hungry hyenas, very injured hyenas at that.If only you were not about to get beaten, you would have danced with joy. They closed in on you as you attempted to back away.

         “Now what? Where are you gonna run now bitch!” Louise sneered. 

         “Why don't you worry about yourself first, Liebert…….” You see the colours drain from Louise’s face, not only him but also his minions. “......Quite the brevery you’ve got there.”

The more that deep voice spoke a little far behind you, the more shit scared those fuckers looked. Your head turned ever so slowly. The very familiar body of Eren Yeager lying on the hard bench. Suddenly jumping off the roof didn't seem that bad. If Louise was a hyena, then Eren was the lion. Eren was the nightmare of Marley. Notorious, cruel, and brutal were the words that describe him. The only son of Grisha Yeager, the successor of Lupus, the biggest underworld gang. They didn't have to hide in the shadows, no, they wore suits and flaunted themselves in the broad daylight. The government was run by the rats of Lupus.

Eren lived up to his name, Hel, beautiful on one side and cruel on the other. He had everyone in Heritage High walking on eggshells.In attempt of saving yourself from one trouble, you threw yourself in the tiger’s den.

         “E-Eren–” Louise squicked rather embarrassingly, “We–”

         “Since when are we on a first name basis?” His tone was nonchalant but even you could feel the threat underneath.

Eren leisurely brought himself up in a sitting position. His eyes looked this side on the floor and then that side, searching for something, before it landed on you. You could feel your heart in your throat. God! You didnt wanna be anywhere near that menace of a boy. He jerked his head to your right, pointing at something.

What is it? A bat like his last victim? Or a gun like the one before that?

You follow his gaze, landing on a black bag and an unopened can of soda. You prayed to all the gods in existence that he meant the soda can as you hurriedly scooted over to bring it to him. He glanced at your hands holding out the can for him before staring at you with a raised eyebrow. WHAT NOW? 

You glanced at the can before realization drew onto you. Dumbass! You used all the strength you had and opened it and offered him again. This time Eren took the can, taking a sip of the cold drink.

         “Sir Yeager, everything is this bitch’s fault.” Alder spoke up, “Had she not run in here, we would have never disturbed you.”

         “Yes sir, we were teaching her a lesson but this bitch–” Baldur backed him.

         Eren took another sip, “Lesson? What is this great lesson of yours?” 

         The three exchanged worried glances and finally the biggest asshole of the group spoke up, “We were doing this for you sir.” 

         “Yes we caught her bad mouthing you–” 

         “That's not true!!” You almost yelled in fear, “I–”

Eren held up a hand, shutting you up and signed for them to continue. You could see relief sinking on them. Their eyes glinted with smugness.

        Louise continued with all the arrogance in his voice, “She was talking shit about you and we told her that she should not do that, she said that “Eren can suck my dick” that you are a lousy fucker who uses his father to get away with everything.”

         “Is that so?”

You felt your heart sink. Eyes prickled with tears and nose burned like hell as you grasped what was going to happen. The best would be if he straight up strangled you to death. Your head bowed down in the last attempt of saving yourself from further embarrassment. But did that even matter anymore?

You saw Eren throwing the can to the side, out of sight, and stood up and you instinctively backed away two steps. You waited for the blow to come, you waited and waited and waited because the blow never came. But a loud thud along with a piercing scream echoed on the rooftop, scaring away the pigeons there alongside you. Your bread shot up and the scene before you left you gasping.

Dulder’s body stayed slumped against the wooden door with his head shoved into the, now broken, door. Blood pooled around his quivering form and splattered on walls, his friends and most of all, on Eren himself. 

         Eren grabbed Louise’s coller and brought him up to his eye lever, “You think i'm one of your minions or something that i'll believe whatever you say?”

         Eren had a good five inches on Louise. His toes were barely touching the floor and that left him gasping for air, “I’m t-telling…… the…t-truth–”

         “So you are saying that you think–no, believe that I should suck your dick? That I get away with everything because of my father?” Eren tilted his head to the side and scoffed, “Do you also think that my father can stop me from beating you to death? Let’s do a little test.”

The next few minutes were like hell. You could hear every sound of bone cracking whenever Eren landed a punch. Every splash of blood and the groans of pain. You had slouched yourself in a crouched position, facing the wall, in the last attempt of saving yourself. When it finally stopped, you found yourself unable to relax because he was still there. The next could be you.

Sniffles were uncontrollable, you were probably shaking like you were being electrocuted. You heard steps closing on you before stopping right behind you.

         “Oii…” You felt a light kick on the back of your leg, “Are you seriously crying? After I beat your bullies?”

You tried to at least say one word but your throat was clogged with sniffles. He sighed as if you were a lost cause. 

         “So ungrateful. Not even a thanks.” Something fell on your head, a blazer, hiding you from the outside world, “You stink man! Go take a shower.”

With that he left you, alone, on the rooftop, with thousands of thoughts and maybe a little bit of relief. For Eren those were the best minutes he wasted and that he will never regret.

          “What are you thinking about?” You asked with your ever so soft voice as you ran your hands through his long hair from the back.

          “You.” Eren replied without a hint of hesitation.

You dragged your fingers down his neck and started massaging his tensed shoulder and his back.

         “Another meeting with your dad?” you received a hum in response, “Then you must be tired?”

         “Mm-hmm.”

         “Frustrated?”

         “Mmm.”

         “Should I do something…….to take off the load?”

You could feel the smirk on his face without even seeing it, “You know just the thing to relieve me, don't you?”

Eren didn't give you a second to reply as he turned to you, grabbing your neck, and pulled you in an intense kiss. You were just as eager to meet his passion, shoving your tongue his mouth and exploring each and every corner. He pushed you against the glass door of the shower. His hand glided down your chest, brushing on your peaked nipples and down your hip.

         Giving a tap on your thigh, he whispered against your lips, “Jump.”

Your hands find themselves tangled in his soaked hair and he uses his arm to support you in the air. Eren broke the kiss, out of breath, smoke coming out of your mouth and mixing in the middle. You feel his tip poking your wet pussy. Eren glids his tip along your lips, teasing you. 

         “Just put it in.” You whined in a breathless tone.

Oh! How adorable you look, begging for his cock.

         “As you wish, baby.”

He forced his cock in one go, making you moan  as the back of your head hit the glass. His hips slammed against your inner tight in a burning rhythm. Eren placed kisses along your neck that you were sure ws gonna leave dark purple bruises before he took one of the hard buds in his mouth. Sucking and twirling it his tongue.

He dragged his dick out till it was just the tip inside and then thrusted it all back inside. Your clammy walls stretched with every push. You could feel it, the familiar knot in your stomach. Eren increased his pace, closing in. Your hand tightly fisted his hair as you let yourself fall apart in his warm embrace. Not seconds later he shot stings of hot cum in you, filling up your inside. Still inside’ he pulled in a kiss but this time it was soft, delicate and full of tender love. ・₊﹆ɞ‧₊

LIKED IT? THEN PLEASE LEAVE A LIKE, REBLOG & COMMENT. IT WOULD MEAN A LOT AND FOLLOW ME FOR MORE LIKE THESE. THANK YOU ♡

© 𝐋𝐎𝐓𝐔𝐒-𝐍-𝐋𝟎𝐕𝐄 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟓, 𝐀𝐋𝐋 𝐑𝐈𝐆𝐇𝐓𝐒 𝐑𝐄𝐒𝐄𝐑𝐕𝐄𝐃 — all content rights belongs to LOTUS-N-L0VE. do not plagiarise any works and do not repost or translate onto any other sites.・₊﹆ɞ‧₊

[vulpix757]

𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐤𝐞𝐲 | eren jaeger chapter 10

⊱𖣂⊰ | In which you fall into a fictional world with the key to Pandora's box.

⊱𖣂⊰ | masterlist

⊰– prev   next–⊱

𝟏𝟎 | 𝐭𝐨𝐠𝐞𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫

chapter word count: 3.1 k

content warnings: graphic panic attack, very light mentions of body horror, hurt/comfort, blanket warnings

a/n: Double digits!!! Shout out to my beta for picking out the name of the chapter. Hope you like this one! I had a blast writing out the descriptions even though the dialogue was sometimes a pain in the ass lol. Oh well.

Thanks for reading!

𝐄𝐍𝐃𝐋𝐄𝐒𝐒 𝐒𝐓𝐑𝐄𝐀𝐌𝐒 𝐎𝐅 𝐋𝐈𝐆𝐇𝐓 cut the glitter dome that is up above, flowing in tandem with heavenly winds. Small wisps of their bodies drift away from the main path, scattering amongst the stars, becoming the translucent curtains that divide the heavens. 

You float amongst the vastness, mindlessly being carried away by their hold. They whisper around you, unfolding their voices like petals of moon flowering blooms. They are liquid electricity, powering their own existence, as well as holding up your own. What feels like a second, or perhaps a millennium passes, and suddenly the stars and currents are once again high above, leaving you on the surface. 

The air feels silky, as does the ground. You walk – but do you? You walk, walk, walk, and yet arrive nowhere. Everywhere looks the same; still, you're confident you haven't moved. Goosebumps riddle your soul, and you feel compelled to fall over, as threads of your consciousness are rhythmically pulled away from your sentience. 

And it's hot. Is it hot? You were sure you couldn't perceive your own body, let alone the temperature. But it is very much. Hot, that is. Blazing, melting your skin, charring your hair, burning your heart. It spreads, catching ablaze just like dry, cut grass. 

Your heart goes fast, fast, faster. It beats against your chest, that is to say it rumbles far past your ribs, hammering and hammering and hammering until you’re sure it is about to spill out your thorax. The starry dome begins to blur as you are forcibly ripped from your dream world, and your eyes snap open.

You gasp as you sit up, hands clutching the blanket you were sure was choking you. Beads of sweat slowly trickling down your forehead, down your back. There isn't enough air and your chest feels constricted and you're burning and there isn't enough air. 

You have to get out. Out your sheets, out the tent, maybe out the camp. There isn't air inside, but surely there is air outside, right? It doesn't matter what misconceptions the others could jump to, seeing you outside alone at night, right now you're choking on nothing and you have to get out, out, out. 

You trip over your discarded blanket as you clumsily stand up, absentmindedly grabbing a jacket before booking it out the tent. If you stayed, however, you would notice how Mikasa stirs awake, confused by the ruckus you're causing. 

But by the time she wakes up enough to question you, you are already halfway towards a small clearing on the edge of it all. The canteen, the tents, the lights, the crates, they all close in on you, robbing you of your breath. They loom over your path, no less giant than the hills that surround you. 

Still, you push on, no less agitated than when you first woke up, walking and walking and pushing towards the other side of a knoll, hidden away from prying eyes. Not once does it occur to you how miraculous it is that you encountered no Scout on your way here. 

You let yourself fall, your back sliding against the coarse rock as you curl in onto yourself. The cold air had done something to halt your racing thoughts of burning and choking and rumbling and terror, but you were still deep within the clutches of your own panicked mind.

Thoughts slip through your hands like slippery ice, only leaving behind the remnants of your musings, and they unwittingly become the reflection of your insecurities. All that you’ve tried to contain since you first realized the magnitude of the forces at play comes crashing down. The other shoe has dropped, and it's in the tremors it causes in the ground that you find yourself tripping over. 

You're in Paradis, and away from Yelena’s prying eyes, and on your way to making allies, so why are you so afraid? What are you so afraid of? You want to scream, to tear your hair off, to claw your arms red. You have to get out, out, out, but there is nothing to get out of but your own skin. 

You shudder, threading your hands through your hair, lowering your gaze towards your boot covered feet. When did you put them on? You don't remember and that kicks off another wave of dread. 

You can't remember putting on your boots, you can't feel your face, you can't remember your last name. Your clothes are itchy and coarse, like sand on an abandoned beach, visited only by the remnants of forgotten spirits. Clothes, face, name. Clothes, face, name. Clothes, face–

“Y/n?”

Eren. Eren is here. He's calling your name, you notice. You want to answer something, anything to reassure him that you're fine, that it is just a fluke, and to please not tell Levi of your nocturne escapade. But all that comes out of your mouth is a choked sob, which is quickly covered by your hands. 

A hand that is not your own makes its way into your field of vision. It stays there, palm up and unmoving, before you let out a shuddering breath and make a move to grab it, reaching for it with both your searing hands. You expect him to flinch away from the scorching heat, but there is no discernible reaction that you can perceive. 

The first thing you notice in Eren’s hand is its coolness, clashing against the raging fire that burns under your nails. His other palm drops above your own, encasing both in a brisk hold. He holds still for a moment, and when you don't pull away he squeezes, giving you a point to center yourself around. 

His left thumb rubs comforting circles on the back of your hand, pressing callused fingerprints onto it. They are rough like fine sand, gently rubbing away the coarseness of your touch. You focus on that feeling, slowly concentrating on the way his hands differ from yours. 

Expectedly, his are rougher, with more calluses than yours. Yours, on the other hand, are almost silky smooth when compared to his, and you're so perplexed by this you don't notice how your breathing begins to calm down. 

He lets you turn his palms around, chuckling at your puzzled expression. You don’t find it funny, rather you find it intriguing. His life has been marked by hardship and physical labor from the beginning and yours hasn’t, so why wouldn't you find the blemishes of toil interesting, especially when compared to yours of everyday life? Still, you would’ve thought that his nature as a shifter meant that no blemishes would mark his skin. 

You both stay still for a while, only accompanied by the distant waves that crash against the escarpments that give way to the beach down below. The clamor against your ears calms down in favor of the echo of the sea, of the hands that hold your own. 

After a while, you speak. “How’d you know–”

“–Where to find you?” Eren interrupts. “I told you I would, didn’t I?”

You choose to appear disbelieving, because the only other option is to be flustered. You raise your eyebrow at him, and it is in your silence that he amends his statement. 

“Mikasa saw you sneak out. She woke me up when you didn’t return,” he says.

“I woke her up? Jeez, what a great second impression,” you say.

Eren shrugs. “I don't think she blames you. She was pretty worried for someone she only met today.”

You chuckle, wiping away the dampness in your cheeks you’ve just now noticed existed. “You don’t have to lie to make me feel better. I don’t mind that your friends don’t trust me. To be honest, I don't really get why you do.”

Eren is silent for three crashing waves, mulling over his words. For someone with a reputation of speaking impulsively, he seems to think a lot about what he should say. You won’t believe him if he says something along the lines of oh, no don't worry, everyone trusts you now, but if he tells you that yeah, no one really wants to rely on you, then it would be nothing but a dick move on his part. 

“I never fooled myself into thinking that everyone was going to trust you just because I told them my future memories made it easy for me to do so,” he says. “But I do think that eventually they will learn that you are someone who can be relied on.”

“...Thanks Eren,” you say, fighting against the tears that seem to form in your eyes without your permission. 

“Do you want to… talk about it?” he says, cringing at his hesitation. 

Your laughter is a little wet, and you pull one of your hands away from his to once again wipe the tears that fall over when your body shakes. 

“No, but thank you,” you say, giggling harder when his shoulders relax at the prospect of not listening to the cause of your panic. “Got a little too tense there, huh.”

Eren’s ears redden slightly, as do his cheeks, embarrassed. “I’m not good at this comforting stuff. Armin’s the one that usually does this.”   

“I figured,” you say, glancing at him with a small smile. 

Crickets sing with the sea’s waves, forming a chorus along with the gentle sway of grass around you. All of nature’s orchestra is lit by moonlight, and you can see the way it bounces off the distant water, swimming with the silver ripples that form on its surface. The sea comes and goes, and comes and goes, ruled by the magnetism of the lunar pull. 

You sigh, reclining so your back sits flush with the coarse rocks of the small alcove you’ve taken refuge in. Eren follows suit, and you both gaze at the landscape before you, intertwined hands resting between the two of you. 

“What's the plan then?” you ask, easing into the silence of your voices. 

“Plan?” Eren turns to look at you questioningly and you mirror his movements, falling deep into his aquamarine eyes. 

“Yeah,” you say. “Like, what are we going to do with the whole… future thing.”

“You sure you’re up for that?” he asks. 

“We won’t get another chance for a long time, I think,” you say, straightening your posture. “What do you know?”

Eren cracks a small grin, but you don't miss the way his eyes flash with anguish at your question. “Shouldn’t I be asking you that?”

“I could go first, if you’d like,” you say. 

Eren’s eyes move from you to the horizon, and he sighs. His fingers twitch in yours as he contemplates the memories he has received from his future self, more likely than not arranging them in a coherent way. You feel dread at the way his pupils waver, preparing yourself for the worst.

“Maybe you could start with what you’ve told others,” you say. “So I know where to thread.”

A beat passes. 

“There's… my dad,” he starts, “at the Reiss church, or rather below it. He kills everyone but the father.”

You nod slowly, remembering how freaked out he looked on the posterior days of entering the basement of his old house in Shiganshina. Back then everyone, including him, simply thought that Grisha lashed out at the family, eager to take control of the Founding Titan in Freida’s possession.

“And then there's you,” he continues.

Unlike the previous revelation, you have no point of reference for a memory in which you appear, given you were the audience rather than the ones being watched. It's weird, to hear your future experiences from his perspective. 

“You're mostly hunched over what I think are blueprints or maps. I can never hear what we talk about, but there is always a feeling of camaraderie. I don’t think I would’ve sent those memories if you were someone I couldn’t trust.”

That leaves you a bit speechless, but also a tad reassured. You still seem to fight for what you think is right in the future, if the planning Eren says you’re a part of is anything to go off of. Maybe all your plans pay off and you succeed. 

“And the Scouts know about this,” you say, looking for confirmation.

“And the main government branches,” he says sheepishly. “I had to tell them though, because I didn’t know if I would be there when you arrived, and they’re not exactly on the best terms with strangers now.” 

“That's reasonable,” you say. “Although it did throw me for a loop when you greeted me by my name back at the beach.” 

“Sorry about that.”

“No, it's fine,” you say absentmindedly. “Yelena called me Ymir the first time we met.”

Eren chuckles. “What? Do you have some sort of connection to her then?”

You scoff. Things would definitely be infinitely easier if you did. To your dismay though, you arguably were the least connected to her than anyone else on the island, barring the non-Eldian Volunteers. 

“Apart from knowing she exists? Not really,” you say. “Your own connection comes from the Founding and Attack titans, yeah?” You continue when Eren nods. “Like I told Sasha earlier, I’m not a shifter. I just… kinda read? Yeah, I read about this.”

“And Zeke?”

“Well…” you exhale. “He knows. Not everything, per se, but he knows I know potentially more than what I’ve told him. Which was basically his plan for the island.”

“You told him?” he says, disbelieving. “What for?”

“I needed to get to the island somehow,” you retort, oddly defensive against your own plans. Was it the best thing you ever came up with? Hell no, but there also wasn’t much you could do in your situation. “Which brings me to the next point. At some point in the future, you’re going to access the Paths with Zeke.”

His eyes snap to you, alert. “A titan of royal blood.”

“Yeah,” you confirm. “You knew, right?”

“I had a hunch.”

“I know,” you say. “Anyway, I have a favor to ask of you when that happens. I’m not… from here originally, and I think Ymir is my only shot at getting home.” 

Eren glances at you, eyebrows raised in inquiry. “Where are you from, then?”

“Nowhere you would know,” you say, cracking a small grin. “But it's not somewhere I can simply return to.”

“Does Zeke know about this?” he asks. 

“To an extent,” you say. “But I wouldn’t put it past him to list it lower than his own goals. And the titan of royal blood? Have you told anyone about that?”

“No one else knows,” he says. 

You nod. “Good. Don’t mention it until Hange does at the hearing.”

“You know about that too?” Eren says, surprised. “We are due tomorrow at the walls to discuss the whole Anti-Marleyan Volunteers thing with Historia and the other branches. I think you’ll be coming with us, since the Captain isn't very keen on leaving you here.”

That is awfully nice of him. Or absolutely terrible, it all depends from what point of view you were analyzing the situation. For you it is nice, because it means less time near Yelena and more with the main cast, who you need to get to trust you. On the other hand, it could also be a symbol of the general distrust towards you, and the need to keep you under their watch. 

“Okay,” you say. “I can work with that. Will I be called to speak or something?”

“No clue.”

You sigh, bringing your unoccupied hand up to massage the bridge of your nose. Honestly, you prefer your mind games and eccentric conversations with Zeke to this. At least he had some semblance of care towards you. The government wouldn’t extend the same grace, so you needed to get all your cards right, or risk saying something you shouldn't. 

“Okay,” you say, counting with your fingers. “So, your father and the Reiss family, myself, the royal blood and Founding Titan. Is that everything?" 

“All I’ve told them. But for what I haven’t…”

You wait for him to speak. Your clothes rustle when, after a minute, you turn to look forward, thinking that maybe your constant gaze is putting unnecessary pressure on him.

“There are… explosions,” he says after a while, wetting his lips to continue with his tale. “My dad at the Reiss church, but this time I'm also there. Someone lying dead on the floor. And… hundreds of thousands of titans marching away from the island.”

Your stomach drops. A hollowness makes its way to your guts, sharp and cold. All your blood rushes to your feet, except that it doesn’t because suddenly all your extremities are freezing. You both stay still– even statues would be more animated, more alive. 

His eyes follow yours when you look at him, and you can see the same dread that was lurking under his eyes come alight, certainly mirroring your own. You know and he knows, so you’re both plunged into a monstrous storm when faced with the possibility (inevitability) of the future. 

The confirmation of the unavoidable in your eyes just adds to the burdens already placed on his shoulders, and even if you’re here now to alleviate the weight. 

“We'll figure it out,” you murmur.

“You know as well as I do that we can’t change something that is meant to happen,” he says.

“It's not predetermined,” you argue. “There’s gotta be some other way, and we’ll find it. Together.” 

Eren stays silent at your reassurances. You falter, scrounging for any piece of information in his future memories that could lead to hope, but it is all eerily similar to that which he saw originally. 

The explosions could very well be the conflict that rose in light of the Jaegerists, and his vision of himself at the Reiss church at least confirms that he will make it to the paths, but the lack of mention of you or Ymir has you a little worried. Sasha originally dies while laying on the floor of an airship, and the Colossal Titans marching from the island can only mean one thing: The Rumbling. 

So yeah, all in all it's looking pretty bad for the both of you. 

“At least we have time, right?” Eren speaks, breaking his silence. “Time to figure out what to do.”

“We do,” you say. “Enough to find a way that doesn’t result in the scorning of the island, nor the island's revenge on the world.”

Enough to secure a way home, and on the way, ensuring that Eren’s doesn’t go up in flames. Yet there is not much to do at this very moment, so for the meantime you both return to tranquil stillness, and it is only dawn that reminds you to go back to your tent. 

a/n: Super quick fun fact, Y/n tracing the lines of Eren's hands is supposed to be a callback to  earlier chapters, where she starts fiddling with stuff when she gets nervous, more specifically in chapter 2, dissection – “There's a small crack in your mug that you trace over and over again, the repetition helping ground your attention instead of spiraling.”

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𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐤𝐞𝐲 | eren jaeger chapter 9

⊱𖣂⊰ | In which you fall into a fictional world with the key to Pandora's box.

⊱𖣂⊰ | masterlist

⊰– prev   next–⊱

𝟎𝟗 | 𝐬𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐭𝐬

chapter word count: 3.5 k

content warnings: blanket warnings

a/n: Hi everyone, its been a whilee. The hell that is exam week is over, so I finally had time to sit down and write. I had a lot of fun writing the main cast's reactions, and I swear by now I've seen the episode 'Brave Volunteers' like fifty times. Every line of dialogue in that episode is branded onto my brain. Anyway, I hope ya'll like the chapter and characterization! Another thing, I don't know if it was clear or not but last chapter Yelena did NOT tell them all of Zeke's fifty year plan. In 'Brave Volunteers' its stated in the government scene that they should accept Yelena's offer so they can hear the plan So that's that lol. Like always, a big shout out to my beta reader, who not only proof read this chapter but was also the reason I understood calculus. Everyone say thanks P. Also title mention!

Thanks for reading!

𝐈𝐓 𝐌𝐈𝐅𝐅𝐒 𝐘𝐎𝐔 𝐓𝐇𝐀𝐓 they don’t use your name. The girl is not the worst thing you’ve been called –no, that honor went to unnamed Marleyan guards– but your name is one of the few things you have left from your home.

Your name, your face, your old clothes. Your name and your face are always with you. The first is always implicit, a faucet and a pillar of your identity, a reminder of who gave you the title. The latter is a statement of who came before you, and even if they were nonexistent in this universe, you still bear the likeness of their figures.

On the other hand, your clothes are the only thing that you can be physically separated from. The risk from bringing strange garments to the island far outweighed the small comfort they would bring you, and so you were outvoted in your request to bring them with you. Zeke kept them, somewhere under the floorboards, or wrapped in darkness at the end of an old closet, or in between the house’s foundations.

Eventually moths would eat away at them, your face would change into something your family has never seen. But your name would remain constant, a brilliant flare for those that knew you in the before.

So yes, being called the girl miffs you a little bit.

“I’m afraid we can't do that,” Yelena says, keeping up the pretense that being separated from you is detrimental to the volunteers.

“No, no, we insist!” Hange says with a smile, and you’re not the only one that notices a slight edge to their voice. “I can only imagine her merit, given it was you who insisted on waiting for her at the beach.”

With their cheery smile, Hange manages to bring attention to the fact that you were important to the volunteers, while also indirectly stating your status as a perceived pawn. Levi is less discreet with his facial expressions. He has been glaring at Yelena ever since she started singing praises about Zeke. It's cold, quiet, and could be easily passed off as being part of Levi’s general distrust of strangers, even his resting annoyed face, but it stems from something much more personal, given her ties to Zeke.

“As her guardian, it would be unbecoming of me to abandon her so soon after our journey,” Yelena says.

“Guardian?” Hange asks, turning to you. “Were your parents victims of Marley too?”

“They’re… not around,” you say. “Anymore.”

You don’t confirm nor deny the causes of your family’s absence. In a way, it was you that was taken by Marley, not the other way around. It felt as if the universe was playing a big joke on you, stripping you of your family, bringing you to an unfamiliar territory, loading your back with the burden of knowing. You are well on the road to becoming a shonen protagonist, and hopefully one who got what they wanted in the end.

“So you see,” Yelena says, “I couldn’t possibly leave her to fend for herself.”

“What they were trying to say,” Levi says, toeing the line between interrupting and being patient, “is that she would be much more comfortable were she to comply.”

The unspoken threat and implied future whereabouts of the Volunteers hangs in the air. You know Yelena is letting it simmer for a moment, before she inevitably agrees. She and Onyankopon share glances, discussing something that has already been decided.

The plays that are now being created in the chess board have been scrutinized already, chances and paths to the end have already been calculated, and most if not all valuable players have already been scouted. Both Yelena and Onyankopon have very different ideas of what the endgame entails, but the road to getting there is similar in both iterations.

“You can’t fault my faction for being cautious. We trust your people to take our plans and transform them for the betterment of the island, but Y/n is a special case. I trust you understand, given your own young charges.”

Yelena places her teacup on the table, reveling in the unobstructed march of the circumstances she has weaved. This woman knows the strands and how to thread them, and her strengths lie there and in her almost complete view of the full tapestry.

“I would like to request that she is free to seek us out, should she wish to.”

“She’ll be escorted,” Levi counters. “One on one rendezvous will not be permitted.”

“I expect nothing less. We look forward to working with you, for the betterment of the nation of Paradis. Please make sure to opt in sooner rather than later, as it would be a shame to not share the plans we carefully designed before arriving.”

Yelena smiles that unsettling grin of hers and a deal is struck. She and Onyankopon rise from their seats, and you, Hange and Levi accompany them just outside the tent flaps. Onyankopon turns to you, putting a hand on your shoulder and squeezing in a comforting fashion.

“It won't be long, okay?” he says. You've only known him properly for a day, which most of it was spent separately, him on the deck as a soldier, you hidden away with the cargo. But you assume he must feel some sort of responsibility towards you, someone young whom he must leave with strangers in order to ensure the help they are offering is accepted. You nod as he retreats, giving Yelena space to approach you.

And you understand his worries and his concerns, and you know they are well founded even if they aren't exactly accurate. If what Eren told you and if Hange’s and Levi’s reaction is of any indication, then you have some sort of tentative immunity in the eyes of Paradis.

The question is, what does the island’s government expect in return? How far does Eren’s knowledge of you extend? How much has he shared?

You are taken by surprise when Yelena pulls you into a hug, dwarfing your figure with her thin frame. You hesitantly return the gesture, and put your arms around her. If Zeke’s hug felt secure and grounded, hers feels suffocating and cold.

Your head starts to hurt again, and you squeeze your eyes shut so your brain has one less sense to process. It helps somewhat, and only adds onto your guardian–charge charade with Yelena.

“Stay focused,” she murmurs in your ear, before pulling away. “I’ll see you soon” is her final farewell, and she and Onyankopon are taken away by other Scouts, about to be reunited with the other Volunteers and unfortunate soldiers.

You look at their retreating figures when Levi’s gruff voice interrupts your thoughts.

“Get inside,” he says. “It's almost dawn, and you need to report to us before the brats arrive.”

You mouth brats? while you follow them inside, grunting when Hange decides to tackle you gently, putting their arm around your shoulders.

“I'm sorry we didn’t ask you directly,” Hange starts chirping, their voice moving faster than their mouth. “We didn’t know you would arrive so soon, and less so with people from the other side of the sea…”

Their voice trails off as they stare at you expectantly, making you squirm. Their half hug is nice though. Comforting and full of energy you seem to be quickly depleting from.

“Get off the kid, Four eyes,” Levi says, taking a seat and bringing his cup, holding it by the rim. “We need her report.”

“Oh!” Hange exclaims. “Of course! Come on, come on, take a seat–”

They lead you to the middle chair, and you sit down in front of the pair, not quite knowing what to expect. You need to report to us versus we need your report. Something you are required to do versus something they are looking for. Choices in spoken words often talk louder than the voices expressing them, so you hope this is a spark of future mutual trust.

They ask you to confirm Yelena’s plan and you recite back the small spiel in its entirety. Specific questions are posed and you answer them to the best of your ability, still carefully abiding only by the limited information brought forward by Yelena. You purposely stutter on some, if only to keep your cards close to your chest. Nonetheless, sometimes you trip over your words truly just because you’re nervous.

“And what's in it for you?” Levi asks. Hange makes a move to scold him for his lack of tact, but you wave off their concerns.

“I want the same as you,” you say. “The island’s safety.”

“And why you?” he presses.

That throws you in for a loop. Their questions made it seem like they knew something was up with you, but now you don't know if they’re referring to why you, as in why you a teenager, or why you as in what tools you have at your disposal that made you the ideal asset.

“Didn’t Eren already tell you?” you ask, because it's better to fall short of the question than to reveal extra information that will surely make its way to their higher ups.

Levi narrows his eyes. “So you know.”

“I met him at the beach, just when I got off the ship,” you confirm. “We didn't talk for long, but he told me to tell you my name. I assume that's because you already know about me?”

“Right on!” Hange says. “Eren hasn’t spilled a whole lot, but it was enough to convince us that you were someone who wanted to do right by Paradis.” They finish off their explanation with a grin, and you revel in the way it calms you down. Even Levi, who plays the bad cop in the interrogation, is surprisingly not as antagonistic as you expected him to be.

“I do,” you say. “I know you have no basis to trust me but a few words, but I really do just want to help. And i understand if you want to keep me at arms length–”

“Don’t be silly,” Hange says. “You’re our ally now! And you didn’t hear it from me but there's no reason to be worried for your guardians–”

“Hange,” Levi says, warning in his tone.

“Anyway! I’m sure it would be better for you to stick close to Levi’s squad while we figure out where to place you.”

“Levi’s squad?” you ask.

You whip your head towards the front of the tent when chatter is heard from outside, growing louder and louder, footsteps accompanying them as they approach the entrance. You distinguish teenage voices overlapping the others, seemingly discussing, constantly one upping the others’ contributions. Your heart leaps out of your chest as a hand reaches under the entrance flap and opens it, letting in the soft light of the early morning.

Six teenagers dressed in Scout uniforms come inside the tent, some more apprehensive than others. Jean Kirstein and Connie Springer –if they’re anything like their animated counterparts– decidedly don’t trust you, but their distrust for Yelena is bigger. Sasha Braus looks like she'd rather be snoring on a cot than gawking at you and Mikasa Ackerman is doing her best to prevent her from falling asleep, even if the girl is starting to look more awake.

Mikasa is also pointedly standing in front of Armin and Eren, shielding them as much from your line of sight as she can. You don't take it personally; you know they're her family and you're someone who could pose a threat to them. Still, it is kinda funny. Those two, being the only titan shifters on the island, are probably the ones who should be doing the protecting. But instead, Mikasa takes on that role, and you can't help but admire her for it.

Armin Artlet is looking at you half in awe, half analyzing you. You remember he always advocated for peace, for hearing out the unexpected allies they encountered, and for trying to find a middle ground in the midst of bloodshed and uncertainty. For someone with the tallest and most disastrous titan, he sure does look smaller in real life. His blond hair is still styled into that bob though, and you marvel at how the trio's hairstyles are somewhat similar at this point in time.

Finally, Eren is the last person to set foot inside the tent. Technically, you've already met him, even if you only exchanged ten stilled sentences at the beach. He is the only one that is not the least bit apprehensive of you. Now though, with the light of the day and the lantern combined, you can distinguish bags under his eyes and a strange tension on his shoulders. If you looked in a mirror, you think then maybe you’d see similar attributes in yourself.

“Who’s this?” Jean asks when the group approaches you.

“Y/n,” you say, extending your hand. “Nice to meet you…?”

“Jean Kirstein,” he says, shaking it. “No last name?”

“Oh, it’s…” you trail off.

Many times you have dealt with slow wifi in your world, where computers suddenly forgot they were supposed to be fast and innovative technology, and instead took ages to process or retrieve information. Your brain seems similarly frozen, and you start to panic when you can’t reach the information you seek. You'd have better luck digging a hole in shifting sands with only your hands as tools, than remember it.

It feels like when you are running in a dream, where you sprint as fast as you can, and yet there are invisible ropes holding you back, tying your wrists, your torso, and the air around you feels like jelly, preventing your every move.

The panic and hesitation must show in your vacant gaze when you are too preoccupied with remembering, because Jean awkwardly clears his throat and looks at Levi.

“Where do we take her, sir?” Jean asks.

“I don’t know, show her around. Show her the facilities and don’t cause a commotion or you can expect extra drills extra early. Looking at you, Braus.”

The girl in question splutters, flailing her arms around in defense. Connie snorts and punches her lightly on the arm as they exit the tent. Armin flanks you as you follow the duo outside, eager to know more information on the outside world. Mikasa lags behind for a moment as Levi tells her something, but she joins the group soon enough.

“You said your name was Y/n, right?” Armin asks and you nod. “Do you really come from the other side of the sea? What’s it like?”

“Uh, I dunno? There’s people, buildings, cars…”

“Cars? Do you mean carts?” Connie asks.

“Kinda, but with no horses to pull them. I think it has something to do with pistons and ignition?”

Armin’s eyes get impossibly bigger, impossibly brighter. His face is pulled into an awed expression, and it makes you want to sit down with him and explain everything the new world has to offer. Besides the –you know– animosity towards their race.

“Do you know about the fields of ice? Or the fiery waters?” Armin continues.

“Not personally,” you say. “I’ve never gone to a volcano or frozen plains, but I’ve seen them in photographs.”

“Like Eren’s dad’s picture,” Mikasa says when Sasha pulls a confused expression.

You find yourself nodding. “Yeah, that one.”

Jean narrows his eyes. “You know about that?”

“Uh–”

You messed up. The trouble you have remembering your last name (what the hell, what the hell, what the hell), and the unexpected introduction with the main cast, as well as the lack of proper sleep hits you over the head. You hastily catch Eren’s eye, wordlessly asking him what you should answer. What you’re allowed to answer.

He simply shrugs. “I told you guys she knew things.”

“Oh! Are you also a shifter?” Sasha asks. “Do you get those memory thingies too?”

“I can’t– I’m not,” you quickly amend, “a titan.”

“Bummer.”

“Sasha!” Connie whispers.

“What?”

You chuckle awkwardly trying to diffuse the tension as you walk. They point out various structures, most of them tents. There's the field canteen, the lavatories, the grounds and the tent barracks. “It's fine,” you say after a moment. “It would be easier to explain if I were a shifter.”

“What are you then?” Connie asks.

I’m just someone who likes stories is what you want to say, but you know that will only serve to confuse them further. You quickly go through a list of possibilities that include lying about having royal blood, lying about your parents being shifters, or lying about being part of experiments. The first one can be easily disproved by anyone with eyes, the second is not something that makes a lot of sense, and the third one is just plain reaching.

“Isn’t it obvious?” Eren says, not missing a beat while you’re weaving a lie. “She’s the key to whatever locked up memories I have. I don’t think it's a coincidence I remembered one yesterday, just before the ship arrived.”

“I don’t understand it myself fully yet,” you say, falling into a rhythm with Eren’s explanation. “I just know things I shouldn’t. That's how I knew to find Zeke, and to come to the island.”

The mention of Zeke’s name brings forward a slight tension in everyone’s shoulders, and they exchange glances, as if only just remembering you were someone who was allied with an old enemy.

“You’re with the tall woman then?” Jean asks.

“Officially yeah,” you say. “But Yelena’s always creeped me out.”

“But you’re on their side, is what I'm saying.”

You shrug, trying to be as nonchalant as possible. “My… future memories, if you can call them that, have shown me primarily what has happened here. You’re welcome to believe me or not, but I do feel a sense of duty to you all.” If they notice how you changed the island for you all they do not mention it.

“I trust her,” Eren says, breaking the silence.

“We know,” Jean says, rolling his eyes. “You’ve made that very clear.”

Eren shrugs, and you all stop walking on the edge of the tent barracks. Everyone but Mikasa is on cleaning duty for the morning, given she was the one to win some kind of training game the day before. So they send you off with her to the barracks, where you are promised a cot and time to digest everything. You wave at them, and they promise to come back to escort you to the canteen when you wake up.

Mikasa starts walking to the far left, checking behind her once to ensure you are following her. You jog after her until you reach her, and you fall into an uneasy step next to the girl. Birds fill the early morning air with their chirps, occasionally flying from tree to tree when you get too close to one in your path.

“I don’t know if I should trust you,” she says after a while, and you flinch, expecting her sentiments all the same.

“But I trust Eren,” she continues, “and he trusts you. Armin thinks you are allies that will help the island, but not all of us are as optimistic.”

“I get it,” you say, giving her a small smile. “I know what happened, so I get it, really. I don't expect you all to trust me so quickly either.”

“Don’t let him down.”

“I won’t,” you promise. “Nor will I let you down, if you'll let me.”

She stops in front of a small tent sandwiched between others. You see two cots when you walk in, parallel to each other. There are a few personal items on the one directly to your left, while the right is bare with the only exception of thin sheets and a thin blanket.

“That one’s yours,” Mikasa says, pointing to the one on the right. “I’ll be back in a while to check in on you. Don’t leave without someone from the squad.”

“Okay. See you later?”

Mikasa nods and leaves, leaving behind a slight breeze from where she opened the tent. You step closer to your cot, dropping your satchel at one of its legs. You only had water and a little bit of rations left on it, so you were allowed to keep it. It rattles as it hits the floor, but you’re too preoccupied with finally laying down to properly care.

You groan in satisfaction when your tense back hits the fabric of the cot. It's not the most comfortable place you’ve slept on recently, but it is a welcome luxury after spending more that twenty four hours on the cold floor of a ship’s cargo hold, so it's really no surprise when your eyes close the moment your head touches the pillow.

The first part of your plan, arriving to Paradis, is completed. The second, earning everyone's trust, is going better than expected, thanks to the curveball that was Eren’s knowledge of you. So you let your consciousness rest for a moment, going to sleep in between flashes of stars.

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@yuuuumii @kermittears @binluvsu

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[vulpix757]

could I beg of you, an Eren fic of him being needy and trying to get their affections in titan form? I can just see him trying to "puppy eyes" but noting works and they get licked by a huge tongue, trying to be mad at him doesn't quite work when he's cute

💜Puppy Dog💜

He knew he had made Y/N mad before his experiment. He had seen the look in her eyes as she turned away from him. He couldn’t let it cloud his mind, he needed to stay focused on his goal to be able to trigger his transformation into a Titan.

The explosion and smoke had cleared, leaving behind Eren’s 15 meter Titan form. He was supposed to be working on his ability to maneuver smaller objects, but he had another goal before he could get started on that.

Captain Levi had given him a certain amount of leeway. He knew that when the Titan shifter and knelt down that he was in control of himself as he looked at his girlfriend. He wouldn’t have to cut him out of his nape and possibly sever his limbs...yet.

Y/N kept her eyes turned away as she heard his large form shift behind her. The ground shook slightly as his knee hit the earth. There was a grunt from him and she felt him poke her with one of his large fingers. More like almost knock her down. He still didn’t have complete control of his strength as a Titan.

“Hey!” She turned and gave him a glare. He knew what he had done. He just needed to do his experiment and recover so she could yell at him later.

He tried to use puppy dog eyes. Those green eyes were twenty times bigger than they were in his human form. But she wasn’t going to let him sway her. It was kind of cute to see a big scary Titan try to give her a frowning face. Didn’t quite work as well with no lips over his teeth.

She turned back around, ready to ignore him again. She heard the Captain yell at him to get his ass up, and she thought the movement behind her was him doing just that. It wasn’t.

Eren had gotten down on the ground, laid down with his arms tucked up under his head. He had moved closer to Y/N while doing so. He opened his mouth and stretched his neck out to his angry girlfriend.

Captain Levi’s grip had tighter on his swords, his anchors shot into the air as he feared the worst was about to happen. He could only shout out as he realized he wasn’t going to make it in time.

Y/N was suddenly wet. A giant Titan tongue had licked her from the ground up to the top of her hair. She shrieked and turned around to be met with another pass of his slimy muscle.

Captain Levi dropped down beside her, relieved that the shifter hadn’t descided to make a meal of the girl he had been seeing. The twitching of his lips at her appearance was as close as he would get to laughing, but inside he was dying at the image.

“Ugh, disgusting.” He commented as Y/N wiped her face and flung drops of Titan spit off of her.

“EREN!!!!” She shouted as she looked up at him.

His eyes had turned sad as she yelled at him and she finally gave in and laughed. She closed her eyes and sighed at her boyfriend. He was giving little harsh grunts, his on version of amusement in Titan form.

“I’m going to get you for this, you big dummy.” She threaten as she walked up and punched his nose affectionately. Wasn’t like it had a possibility of hurting him in that form anyway.

Y/N rolled her eyes at him as those large green orbs lit up with humor. It was so hard to stay man at the big bad Titan when he was acting like a puppy dog.

Mobile MasterList

[vulpix757]

𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐤𝐞𝐲 | eren jaeger chapter 8

⊱𖣂⊰ | In which you fall into a fictional world with the key to Pandora's box.

⊱𖣂⊰ | masterlist

⊰– prev   next–⊱

𝟎𝟖 | 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐫𝐨𝐝𝐮𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬

chapter word count: 3.3 k

content warnings: blanket warnings

a/n: So we are doing this again, where I say that I'm too busy and the next chapter will take a while and then I turn my back and upload on schedule. Anyway. I hope ya'll enjoyed last chapter's cliffhanger!

Thanks for reading!

𝐓𝐎 𝐒𝐀𝐘 𝐓𝐇𝐀𝐓 𝐘𝐎𝐔 are taken aback is a gross understatement; you’re utterly stunned. Your eyes widen a fraction, and for a millisecond the air, the ocean, and your heart all still. 

Never in your dreams –well, maybe some of them– would you have thought that your name would come out of his mouth seconds after meeting you. There are no introductions to serve as prelude to his words, no past interactions to serve as crutch for rationalization. 

The gleaming moonlight is suddenly much more brilliant, bathing you both in silver rays. Your hair sways in the salty ocean breeze, and so does his, matching yours in a gentle rhythm. The wind is much calmer than the storm that heralded your arrival, air strangely warmer despite the environment that would suggest otherwise. 

Your name in his lips is not a question, but rather an answer. 

He, somehow, knows who you are, as his tone does not ask if that is your name, but instead states it with the certainty only someone familiar with another can. It is strange, how his eyes speak of understanding, how his stance speaks of kinship.

You are frozen in place for what seems like eternity, but is likely just a couple of seconds. Hange’s enthusiastic voice is lost in the pulse of the sea’s waves, in the drum of your heart, in the whisper of breath of your unasked questions. 

How? Is the first one your mind asks.

Zeke, you reply, before discarding the idea. It is neither logically sound nor something coherent with the instructions and warnings you were given. The Scouts never knew about the Volunteers before they set foot on the island, never considered such an organization's existence in the first place, and much less one that Zeke led. 

Invariably, you know him. 

Unexpectedly, he knows you. 

“What?” you instead ask out loud, when you notice that he is searching your response for confirmation.  

You hesitate with your question, not unlike when you first asked Yelena who she was. It is terrifying how, just when you feel you have a grasp on what is happening, the rug is pulled from your feet and you are left dazed and confused on the floor. 

It makes you think that when you reweave a new carpet from your loom, when you believe you can see the whole picture it depicts, a loose thread will ultimately be pulled by an unknown force, sending you tumbling down once again. 

You are a bit embarrassed of yourself when he gives you a small smile and your stomach flutters just as your cheeks heat up. Maybe this is a dream you think, and it's not the first time that you are hesitant to accept reality, but it is the first occasion that you don't compare it to a nightmare. 

“Don’t pretend like you dont know me,” he says, further baffling you. “We both know way too much for that.”

“We do?” you ask, before correcting your tone. “We do.”

Eren tilts his head slightly, transferring his weight from one foot to another. “Yeah.”

You’ve noticed that there is a lot of space for silence in your life. Whether it contains unsaid secrets, unasked questions, or unresolved doubts, it always lingers behind you, never broken, never explained. 

And yet now, even with the uncertainty with which you approach the newborn conversation, there is implied solidarity in his words, in his actions. Eren didn’t try to pretend he was ignorant of you for the sake of having aces under his sleeve, nor did he attempt to trade that tidbit of information for another. 

Instead he came down the hill –because you are certain he was given explicit orders to not approach the ship’s crew– and talked to you, making it known that you had a connection. One that may only be just brought forth, but that came to life months before your first meeting, when he received his medal and his memories and his burden, and when you watched his story and his rage and his salvation.

You hear a whistle in the distance, and you whip your head towards its source, the sand and rock shore where the two Volunteers and two Scouts remain. You glance at them, too far away to distinguish their faces, their number, but knowing anyways who it is that stands there. Or maybe not, but you couldn't bear to think that your information was now obsolete. 

“I have to go,” you confess as if it is a great sin. 

Eren, who also turned his eyes to the shrill whistle, looks at you again. You swear his eyes soften, and gleam with something akin to… beholding? As quickly as these thoughts enter your mind you dismiss them, because, even if he could claim to know you through his future memories, it doesn’t excuse what you think you see. And so, you conclude it must be a trick of the light and of your perceived closeness to him through his story. 

He nods, not moving from his place between the dunes. You swallow, also not wanting to withdraw, but then you blink and the spell is broken on your end. The sand once again crunches underfoot, but then you stop when he calls your name again in a soft voice that is carried your way by the salty breeze. And so you cast your eyes upon him again, humming questioningly.

“Tell them your name,” is what Eren says after a moment. “They don't know,” he continues, infusing the word with weight, “but they learned.”

And it should be painfully awkward, how blunt questions and half finished answers are being thrown about, but there is no discomfort in the exchange. You know, and he knows, and you hadn’t realized how refreshing it was to just be, not relieved from the burdens but breathing in spite of them. You wonder if he has come to the same realization. 

“I will,” you say. “Thank you.”

“I’ll find you later,” he says. 

“Yeah,” you answer, almost tripping over your words. “Okay.”

You dont think to ask why until much later, when your feet have already taken you to the other side of the pier, sand crunching rhythmically under your robotic footsteps. Why he would tell you, and why now, and why in that way. But the more you delve into it, the more obvious it becomes. 

Eren knows what is supposed to happen (giant footsteps and crunching bones and the spray of blood and–) and is, in his eyes, powerless to do anything but follow the path already established by his future self, who is likewise chained by the same revelations. Perhaps you are as well, if the haunted look in his eyes is any indication of the unstoppable future that will be realized in a little more than three years. 

Still, everyone seeks salvation, even those who sacrifice themselves in order to save others. You and him are no exception. 

You will save him from his preordained fate, determined by his past, by his future. He will save you from your uncertain destiny, shrouded in mystery and paradoxes. 

Maybe you don't need to reweave a new tapestry just yet; maybe it's enough to only untangle the yarn. 

Hange Zoë is no less enthusiastic than the character you used to watch on Tv. Levi Ackerman is no less distrustful than the man you read manga about. They haven’t greeted you yet, as you’ve only just arrived to stand behind Yelena, next to Onyankopon. 

He glances at you when you arrive, silently asking with his eyes what held you back. You shake your head almost imperceptibly, imploring that neither he nor Yelena press the issue. 

“Is that her?” Hange chirps, curiously referring to you. 

You almost want to look behind you, to see if there's anyone else they might have been talking about, but you know there is no one else in your vicinity, and you're the only one who has approached recently enough to warrant the question. 

“She is the last one.” Yelena says. “Please excuse her tardiness.”

“Oh! Well, in that case it's so nice to meet–” 

“Four eyes,” Levi interrupts. “Now's not the time for chit-chat.” He turns to glance at you, before returning to look at Yelena, the de facto leader. “Expect the ship to be searched while we escort you three to our base.”

“I would expect nothing less,” is what Yelena responds. “Your caution is commentable.”

“Sure,” Levi says dryly, not an ounce of belief in his voice, signaling unnamed Scouts to march onto the ship and its crew. “Get walking.”

You all file in, walking amongst the dunes and rocks, with Yelena at the helm of your little group. You feel eyes on you, but when you turn to look no one in your direct vicinity is watching. Instead, you trip when going up some slippery rocks, too preoccupied with searching for nonexistent eyes, but fortunately Onyankopon catches you, grabbing your arm to prevent your fall. 

The rifle slung over his shoulder rattles with the commotion, and you feel how the others turn to look at you, before registering both your actions as non threatening. 

“Careful there, kid,” Onyankopon says. 

“Thanks,” you say breathlessly, heart still reeling from your near slip. “Sorry for the, uh, tardiness.”

“It's all good,” he reassures you, although you know your notoriety for being late is only growing. 

You also know –well, maybe not know, but you are smart enough to deduce– that Onyankopon does want to ask you about your reasons for not heading directly to the pier after the Volunteer in charge of letting you out of your small cabin reported to his post. 

But he won’t pose the question right now, where there is a great chance of being overheard, and where exchanging secrets would only cause more suspicion from the Scouts. 

There is no idle chatter as you make your way to the multiple tents that make up the Scout’s base, scattered around an open field in an orderly fashion. Small yellow dots light up the entrance flaps of each green structure, and there are multiple barrels strewn around. 

You once again feel eyes on you, only this time you are aware of who those eyes belong to. It is a given that the other soldiers would be apprehensive about the Volunteers sudden appearance, but you notice how their attention lingers a tad too long on you. 

You force yourself not to squirm under the weight of their curiosity, of their judgment. Yelena and Onyankopon get noticed as well, but it is you that garners the most attention. Because, well, adults are what they expected Marley to send, but a teenager? Even if you are older than some of the recruits and Marley didn’t actually send you, it was still something they didn’t account for. 

So it is strange, even to you, who was made aware of this prematurely, how you are included in the small group with the proclaimed leaders of the Volunteer faction. Yeah, you can see why all eyes are primarily on you. 

Hange reaches a tent that seems larger than all of the others, and enters through the flap, and the rest of you follow, flanked by Levi. They grab at the knob of the hanging lantern and the space is coated with light. On the inside there is a table and red chairs, two on one side, two on the other. Hange brings a third one from a corner, raising the total to five.

“Sit, sit!” they usher you, taking their place on the other side of the table. 

“Weapons on the table,” Levi says, less enthusiastically. 

You don't have any weapons to turn in, so you walk towards the chair on the far right and sit, fiddling with your thumbs before you remember to quash the anxieties bubbling inside of you. There is a strong sense of deja vu when you reach for one of the teacups gingerly placed on the table, noting with some sourness how bitter tea always seems to follow you in interrogations and introductions. 

You disassociate for a moment, choosing to retreat into your thoughts, rewinding your earlier interaction with Eren over and over again, not unlike what you used to do with his older brother. 

What sets it apart is the intention with which you are dissecting it, turning his words upside down to squeeze more of that refreshing understanding (You know, and he knows, and you hadn’t realized how refreshing it was to just be—) out. 

There is silence again, but this time it is filled with tension. You blink, unsettled by the lack of discussion between the two Volunteers and the two Scouts, only to find the later ones looking at you expectantly, Levi’s expression disguised with more finesse than Hange’s.

“…Sorry, what?” you ask. 

“Your name,” Hange clarifies. “I asked for your name.”

“Oh,” you say. “It’s Y/n.”

There is something almost imperceptible in the way Hange fiddles with Yelena’s gun, a recognition in both their and Levi’s eyes that you might’ve missed were it not for Eren’s insistence in presenting yourself with your name. 

You risk a glance at Yelena but her eyes are on you, not them, as are Onyankopon’s, so you let yourself breathe, halfway convinced they didn’t notice.

Hange does not miss a beat. “It’s nice to meet you Miss Y/n!” they say, drowning out your protests of Just Y/n please— and placing the gun back on the table, next to the rifle.

You nod, hesitant. “It’s nice to meet you too, uh, …?” You trail off, not remembering if they already introduced themselves or not.

“Hange Zoë, at your service!” They say, nudging Levi when he doesn’t say anything.

“Levi Ackerman.” And if you notice the distinct lack of add on like Hange’s introduction, well, that is to be expected.

Yelena takes the opportunity to steer the conversation away from pointless (to you) introductions and unimportant (to her) dialogue.

“So, about our proposal…”

She launches onto the plan you rehearsed and memorized with Zeke, drilled into your mind enough times as to prevent any slip ups of the scheme only him, Yelena, and you know.

It’s not different at all from the one presented in the series, and although you now have it branded deep in your mind, back home you had to watch several videos and read several posts in order to understand. 

The beauty of Attack On Titan was in the convoluted yet intriguing plot and themes, yet sometimes you needed outside help to comprehend half of the stuff that was going on. The fact that each character has their own motivations and their own secrets on top of the changing allegiances do nothing to help.

Still, hours and hours spent scraping the wiki and watching compilations finally pay off, and you’re confident in your ability to not only remember each plan, but also the people involved and the moments in which their loyalties shifted.

The motions are well rehearsed; Zeke will contact the nation of Hizuru, and Hizuru will contact the outside world, advocating for Paradis, as well as provide the blueprints necessary to help advance the island’s technology.

The plan would take around fifty years to reach completion, the amount of time that is estimated as enough to take to bring Paradis to a similar level technology wise to the rest of modern society. There would be a small-scale Rumbling to show off the island’s power, acting as a deterrent for nations with wishes to invade. 

Hange takes the gun again, pointing it directly at their face. It is unloaded, but it still unnerves you. You weren’t a gun savvy by any means, but the first thing you had been taught by Zeke when going over gun safety was to never ever point the gun at yourself, not even when it had the safety on, not even when it was unloaded. 

Yelena lists off the numbers of personnel in the army, counting all the divisions; the infantry, the navy, and aerial forces. Despite Hange’s and Levi’s best attempts, it is evident how frazzled they are by the revelation. 

One million foot soldiers, three fleets of twenty one battle ships each, new technologies and aerial weapons. Those are the new enemies that they must now fight against, a stark contrast to the mindless but brutal titans they are used to dealing with. 

“If Marley had such capabilities the whole time, why haven’t they attacked in over a year?” asks Hange. 

“There are two main reasons,” Yelena begins. “One; the Pure Titans. Even with the latest weapons available to Marley, they would hinder a land assault. Quite ironic that the very thing that is used to confine Eldians to the island also protects it from outside forces.” 

“Yeah, well, ain’t that funny,” Levi says. 

Yelena sips her tea. “Still, I’m impressed.”

“Impressed?” Hange asks.

Yelena doesn’t answer, choosing instead to take a sip from her cup. She looks at her right, directly at you, as if she wanted you to answer in her place. And you can't and won't ever be able to read her mind, but you’re pretty sure you can guess what she is playing at. 

“It's almost dawn,” you point out. “And we are sitting in a tent drinking tea. There is no commotion outside, no one hurrying to their fighting posts. There are also no protective structures around the base, suggesting that you have exterminated almost if not all titans on the island.”

It's clear they weren't expecting you to speak. Even if Eren told them something, the most logical approach to your presence in the tent was as a buffer, something for the Scouts to pick at, to find weakness in. Yelena is helping you overcome that, because, even if it would be easier to infiltrate them if you are deemed as non-threatening, the trust that would be placed upon you should you be assessed as capable makes them want to take the gamble. 

“And the second reason?” Hange asks. 

“Currently, Marley is at war with multiple nations,” Yelena says. “The loss of the Colossal and Female titan, as well as the defeat of their Warrior unit has given many of their enemies the chance to unite and retaliate against Marley.”

“If you guys are secret agents who infiltrated Marley, I’m guessing you came from conquered nations?” Hange asks. 

Yelena’s and Onyankopon’s faces harden– one fake, one true. 

“Oh, I’m right?!,” they exclaim after. “I bet you’ve got some pretty big backers to go up against Marley then.”

“Not quite,” Yelena says, and after a moment she clarifies. “Onyankopon and I are from conquered nations, but Y/n is Eldian.” There is only one truth in her whole statement, a new record. “We were powerless, forced to play soldiers for the nation that took our homes, but Y/n was deemed a devil the moment she was born.”

The fake backstory you're using makes you a little uncomfortable, but it sure was convenient. They wanted to paint you as smart, but not too intelligent as to outsmart Paradis. Dependable, but not a pushover. Eldian, just like them, facing obstacles even when outside the walls. 

You tune out Yelena praising Zeke for organizing the Anti-Marleyan Volunteers, calling him a god amongst mortals. You hoped that small, subtle discomfort showed in your face, so the two members of the Scouts present would notice that you weren't lost in reverence for Zeke. 

“We are the Anti- Marleyan Volunteers,” she finishes. “Our goal: To free the Eldian people.”

Levi and Hange share glances, no doubt discussing the answer they would give. 

“We would like assurance of your allegiances,” Levi says. “You will not be able to contact Eren, or any of the others for that matter, but we want the girl to come with us.”

taglist: @dressycobra7 @xngelsau @bloodchapell @i-think-im-adorable13 @luna4mnoon @yuuuumii @kermittears @binluvsu

ask or comment to be added!

[vulpix757]

𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐤𝐞𝐲 | eren jaeger chapter 7

⊱𖣂⊰ | In which you fall into a fictional world with the key to Pandora's box.

⊱𖣂⊰ | masterlist

⊰– prev   next–⊱

𝟎𝟕 | 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐚𝐜𝐭

chapter word count: 3.4k

content warnings: blanket warnings

a/n: Lied again! I have no clue where I pulled this chapter from lmao. I was deadass giggling writing the last scene, I've had those two last lines written since the Beginning. Leave comments!! Please please please I love reading yall's reactions <3

Thanks for reading!

"𝐑𝐀𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍𝐒?"

"Packed."

"Water."

"Yes."

"Well, what about–"

"Oh my god," you say, exasperated. "Stop acting like a mother hen. I'm crossing the sea, not going to war."

Zeke sends you an unimpressed look, making you roll your eyes. Yes, you were going to take part in what might be the most tense and dangerous conflict of the era, but it would be great if Zeke stopped acting like you hadn't gone over every detail multiple times this past week. Five times, to be exact.

"Maybe not now," he says. "But in the future there will be... conflict."

You gesture with your head that yes, you're aware that the goal of the plan is to incite it. Violence is not something you feel comfortable encouraging, or even witnessing, but your way home hangs on how well you use it as a tool.

Over the past year, you've had many opportunities to think about just how far you would be willing to go. Zeke was –is? Was– willing to sacrifice comrades, foes, himself, to achieve his goal. Eren all but killed four fifths of humanity to ensure his friends' freedom.

What are you prepared to do, if an occasion to kill or be killed rises to challenge you? Will the ends (home home home) justify the means?

"I'll be okay. They're good people."

You wonder if Hange will offer you tea. If you'll be allowed to accept it.

"All the more reason to save them." Zeke smiles, and you know he truly thinks what he is offering is salvation. It doesn't matter that his salvation is synonymous with atonement, just like Eren's is synonymous with slaughter.

Today you don't quite trust your voice to agree with the sentiment without wavering, so you just offer what you hope is a supportive smile, and pray that whatever lingering anxiety present in your expression is attributed to common nervousness before a journey.

Many times you have expressed your approval of Zeke's plan, and yet today you find yourself faltering. Maybe it's because it's today that it will start to take form. Maybe it's because it's today that you will have to perform in accordance to your perceived agreement, not just dish out empty words.

So you find your words, ones that can be assimilated into your own idea of salvation. Ones that have only the meaning you give them, and yet can be camouflaged to fit Zeke's agenda.

"I will."

And you mean to try. Even if they don't take you seriously, even if they suspect foul play on your part. You will try to save those on Paradis from the salvation of Zeke. Even if it means betraying him before he betrays you first.

Zeke smiles, and you smile back at him, together taking a step back to admire the tapestry of framework that has been woven since before your arrival. You know Zeke has woven his own agenda into it, strings blending into what seems to be an inconspicuous enough plot.

You know you will take the loom and make your own yarn, with which you will strive to replace the horrors that are implicit in the hidden embroidery. Maybe your hands will be an irritated red from doing and undoing tight knots, maybe they will bleed again when the threads pierce your skin.

But what is a little blood in exchange for your salvation?

Zeke continues with his farewell, ushering you both out the door into the silver rain of moonlight.

"And for what it's worth, I am very grateful for your willingness to proceed. I know it's not an easy thing to do, what I've asked of you." He pauses. "What you've offered."

You let his words sit for a while, debating on how to respond to his sentiment.

Saying 'You're welcome' doesn't feel right for the context, and saying 'No problem' would be a complete lie. But gratitude can be reciprocated with itself.

It's hard to pin down one thing to thank Zeke for, when you know that almost everything that you've done together is something you plan to unravel later. So instead, you settle in a general thought, one you can twist and edit to your liking.

"Thank you," you end up saying. "For everything."

There's a million things that everything encompasses. His guidance in learning the new languages. His kind words on days you didn't feel like getting out of bed. His patience and understanding of your situation.

You don't doubt that there's part of him that, in the heat of a moment, will still view you as a tool directly tied to the completion of his plan, but you can't help and wrap your arms around him when he initiates a hug.

Zeke engulfs you completely, his sturdy frame hiding you from the world's eyes in the handoff point.

It is odd how, when you forget yourself, he causes you to look further into misplaced words, and yet he is also a comforting presence at the other side of the table every evening.

You both let go after a few moments, gray meeting your gaze when you exchange unspoken sentences through your eyes. You grip your rucksack's straps, suddenly feeling very nervous.

"So am I supposed to talk to them or–?" you start.

"No," Zeke interrupts you. "Not here. She'll give you the details."

You mouth a confused she? before remembering Yelena is also a player in the game that is about– no, that has already started.

The silence rests like a boat on still waters.

"Is this a bad time to admit that I'm terribly scared of the ocean?" you say, hesitantly teasing, wanting to break the somber atmosphere.

"I know you are not," Zeke responds. "And even if you were, you are resolute enough to still make the journey."

You don't know whether he means it as a compliment or a grievance, but you still take it and fold it deep, deep in your heart. Just like you have water and rations for your one day journey to the island, you must also have the fortitude for the many month long pilgrimage you're about to embark on.

"And Y/n," Zeke says as you start to walk away.

You turn to him, illuminated by nothing more than the bright moon in the sky. There were no lampposts in the street, nothing to guide you but some carefully taught instructions and the memory of a now destroyed map.

"See to it he understands. And have a safe journey."

You nod, retreating into the shadows, the echo of your footsteps serving as your only companion.

Oh, you will see to it that Eren understands, yes. But not Zeke's salvation. Not his own. But one where he is saved too.

You find Yelena at the outskirts of the internment zone, standing ominously in the alley you remember was circled in crimson red. She is already looking at you when you turn the corner, adding to the creepy atmosphere she exudes.

"You are two minutes late," is the first thing she says to you after a year.

"I don't have a watch?"

"Not relevant," Yelena says and you grit your teeth to avoid snapping back. Making enemies with your new overseer will make you more problems than not, so you must attempt to at least keep the cordiality on your end.

Yelena is not... mean, so to say, but rather incisive, cutting around kind words to deliver sharp statements. She is efficient, ruthless, and razor sharp. One must be careful in order to not get cut around the edges. And too bad if you do, because she is not going to apologize. At best you'd get ignored, and at worst taken off the operation.

When she walks into the faint spotlight produced by a small emergency lamp in the wall, you catch a glimpse of the white uniform in order to pass through more inconspicuously. It is very off topic for the situation, but you can't help but question whoever decided that white was the best color for people with very messy jobs. Probably the same person that decided that the Scout's pants were tight and white.

She walks in the direction of the wall delimiting the end of the zone, towards a small door, which you assume is used for maintenance. You follow after her, two paces behind, entirely too aware of the sound of your steps.

The noise that would normally be ignored, is now the only thing that echoes in the night, and you flinch when your foot hits a stray rock. It rolls further and further away from you, finally stopping against the door. No one but you notices, and yet you feel watched, every move you make accounted for.

Yelena stops at the threshold of the closed door, and you frown, confused. Wasn't she just grilling you because of unpunctuality?

"How long are we supposed to wait here?" you ask, ninety percent sure you were supposed to just go through the door.

"The window caused by the change in guard was lost due to your two minute delay," she says sharply.

Huh. Maybe she had the right to be pissed off then. Still, you don't think that it will be an issue. There were many backups to the backups, and room for flexibility. You doubt Ms Creepy gaze appreciates it though.

"I'm sure Zeke has given you a general overview. I'll give you the details now, so pay close attention," Yelena says, flicking open a pocket watch.

"Yeah, I have a question about that," you say. "Why couldn't he tell me that, instead of us talking about it here and risking getting caught?"

Yelena shuts the pocket watch after looking at the time, her hand reaching for the handle of the door. "Zeke is one of the most closely watched individuals in this country. Would you like to take a guess as to what would've happened?"

You come to your defense, not liking the carelessness she's implying. You don't need to be undermined by Yelena, not when your cooperation and knowledge is the only guarantee she has. Speaking of, Zeke never mentioned if he ever told her of the nature of your information. But you know better than to ask.

"We've talked plenty before and nothing has gone wrong," you say, falling into step next to her as you walk inside.

"Recently?" She asks pointedly, voice hushed but no less stern.

Your silence speaks for you.

No, you haven't talked with Zeke about the plans or about Eldia in general, not without hiding your words in double speak.

No, you haven't discussed anything more than the bare minimum about your preparation.

No, you weren't even allowed to talk about it in public or beyond the whispers in the kitchen after a particularly worrying meeting at Headquarters, one that focused on attempted sabotage to the nation of Marley.

"There wasn't an active conflict then. You'll understand that circumstances are different now."

Yelena continues walking along a cramped hallway, guiding you to, once again, another door. This one opens before either of you can grab the handle however, and your heart drops before you realize who it was that unlatched it.

"I counted one more change in guard than what was planned. What happened?" asks Onyankopon.

He is dressed in similar fashion to Yelena, fully cladded in an Eldian soldier uniform, complete with the helmet and sturdy black vest. He hands Yelena a similar helmet and vest, which she fastens on her head and torso after receiving.

You will be hidden in an unused storage room, so there was no point in risking getting another uniform for you. Even if you were wearing it, it would do nothing to dissuade suspicion in the event you got caught, your age and dubious place of discovery taking care of any leeway you might get.

So instead you are dressed in dark clothes, perfect for hiding out in the shadows on your way to the ship, and comfortable enough to not bother you on the day-long trip to Paradis.

"There was an unforeseen delay with the girl," Yelena answers Onyankopon.

His eyes turn to look at you, not reproachful but cautious. He has never met you properly and his first impression of you is one where you jeopardize the beginning stages of the operation. At this point the ground should just swallow you whole.

"It's nice to meet you," he says. "Again, I mean. You gave us all quite the scare when the tornado appeared." He smiles reassuringly, only just fully comprehending that you are just a kid.

"Likewise," you mumble, before Yelena nods with her head towards the cargo truck that will take you closer to the coast. Your group dutifully climbs inside it, and Yelena knocks two times in the metal dividing the drivers cabin and yours.

"I need you to memorize the plan," Yelena says when the engine starts. " I won't be repeating it, so commit it to memory."

Well, that answers the question of whether she knows the full scope of your knowledge and its origins.

Your brain scrambles for an imaginary pen and notepad at her signal, dutifully writing out the parameters of the plan. Thanks to the series it is nothing you don't know, but the way the information is presented and your role in executing it is new.

Like in the series, the plan you're instructed to relay to Paradis' envoys is the one in which Paradis grows their own technology over the course of fifty years, with the Rumbling as a deterrent from attacks of other nations.

The threat of the Rumbling will be enacted by Historia and her hypothetical children, bred exclusively for that purpose. You feel sick, and don't know whether to attribute it to the way Yelena is presenting it as cold facts or to the sway of the truck in the poorly paved streets.

Yelena also notes that it is imperative no one knows about the actual plan. You know she'll approach Eren when the time is right, when he has already resigned himself to the tragedies he will trigger, when the faction of the Jaegerists has already been established by Floch.

Onyankopon chimes in a couple times, mostly to provide reassurance. Your stress must be showing on your face way more than you planned then, you muse. Still, you think it's sweet how he tries to put you at ease.

"And in the event it gets too dangerous or you get found out, find either Yelena or me. There are contingency plans in place for specific situations," he says.

"Don't get caught," is all Yelena says.

You fight the urge to roll your eyes, settling for a huff. "I'm not planning to."

The truck skids to a stop, and you follow Onyankopon out, grabbing his extended hand when stepping down. As soon as you are all out, it makes a half turn and drives away, headlights off.

You follow Yelena and Onyankopon as they guide you to the pier, steps gradually stopping when you approach the carts that are used to load provisions into the ship. Wordlessly, you climb onto one of them, concealing yourself with the cargo inside of it.

You brace yourself when the cart begins to move, pushed by one of the Volunteers, and you mindlessly fiddle with your sleeve while being hauled into the ship. It feels a little like a spy movie, and you wish you had more energy to fully enjoy the experience, if only to distract yourself from reality.

It was ironic how, in your world you read stories to avoid the dull present, and now that you were finally in one, you dissociated to avoid what is now your reality. You can't be blamed, though, you wanted adventure, excitement– not the constant threat of horrific death over your head.

The cart stops, and you are helped out of your hiding place by a no name Volunteer, who unlocks the door to a small cargo area where you'll spend the rest of the trip. He leaves after locking you in, and you move towards the right corner further away from the door.

The place you choose to spend the rest of the trip is blocked from view by crates, giving you a small semblance of comfort. Even if somebody, for some reason managed to enter, you would have time to react.

You exhale shakily, suddenly feeling ridiculously unprepared. It feels all too real, all too fake.

You clench your hand in an effort to stop its trembling motions, adjusting the grip on your satchel as you sit down. Your back slides against the wall, and you rest your head on the containers to your left.

The ship won't leave until the first light, and you know Pieck will be part of the farewell party for the crew, so you can't risk looking out the small window high in the wall. Light eventually shines into the room, marking the sunrise and, like you were told, the ship begins its journey to the neighboring island.

There is nothing much to do in the ship, not when you only barely have access to a cramped lavatory, unused by the crew and thus safe for you to use. You eat some of your rations when you get hungry, drink water when you feel thirsty, and get lost in daydreams when you get bored.

Sometime around halfway through the journey you give up on trying to entertain yourself, falling into interrupted sleep when the anxiety of someone walking through the door startling you awake.

You sleep and wake up, and sleep and wake up, and when the sun has long since set, it is then when the ship halts.

You don't immediately process that it stopped, but when you do you quickly brace yourself for the earthquake that Eren will bring when he lifts the boat. Weirdly enough, nothing happens, and you strain your memory for the reason.

You groan when you realize that you still have a few hours to go, enough time to go ashore for the teams that are supposed to, where they'll be held hostage by the Scouts.

Oh shit.

The realization comes crashing down. You'll be meeting the main cast soon, and you have no clue what you are going to say. Will Yelena even let you speak? Or will she be convinced you'll somehow mess it up and gesture you to be silent?

You fall on your rear when the ship shakes, gripping tightly the secured cargo around you to avoid sliding across the room.

The ship is moved in a stable tempo towards the shore, and roughly deposited into what you assume to be where Levi and Hange are waiting.

Shots are heard. You know it's nothing to worry about, but it still makes you uneasy. Your head swivels towards the door when you hear the incriminating jingle of keys, but it is just the Volunteer that was tasked with letting you out once they hit land. You nod at him when he turns the other way around, and you follow until the salty air of the sea greets you.

He guides you down the ship, leaving you alone to walk to where Yelena and Onyankopon are on the beach. Eren's titan is nowhere to be found, and you guess he has already detransformed and gone to hide out with his friends.

Your heart thunders in your chest, sand softly crunching under your feet as you make the trek to where four people are conversing. You can't distinguish the facial features of the two Scots, and yet you are one hundred percent sure that they are Hange and Levi.

A twig snaps behind you, and you quickly twirl around to catch whatever the origin of the sound was. In the milliseconds before you discover the culprit you are convinced that you are overreacting, and that it is simply a wild animal that you scared away.

You are proven wrong, however, when you turn around and all you can see in the dark night is a pair of aquamarine eyes, framed by the red lines that mark all titan shifters.

Eren Jaeger stands before you, dark brown hair swaying in the cool wind. You stare, unmoving, not sure what to do, what to say.

And yet, your initial shock is nothing compared to the bafflement of hearing his next words

"Y/n," he breathes out.

taglist: @dressycobra7 @xngelsau @bloodchapell @i-think-im-adorable13 @luna4mnoon

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[vulpix757]

𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐤𝐞𝐲 | eren jaeger chapter 6

⊱𖣂⊰ | In which you fall into a fictional world with the key to Pandora's box.

⊱𖣂⊰ | masterlist

⊰– prev   next–⊱

𝟎𝟔 | 𝐫𝐞𝐥𝐨𝐜𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧

chapter word count: 3.2 k

content warnings: blanket warnings

a/n: I lied. Inspiration struck and I got this done much sooner than I expected. Next one will probably take a while though so sorry for that in advance lol. This one comes out earlier in honor of my philosophy class discussing freedom in today's class.

Thanks for reading!

𝐀 𝐘𝐄𝐀𝐑 𝐏𝐀𝐒𝐒𝐄𝐒 𝐁𝐘 in a flash, and life continues on as normal as it could be in Liberio. You don't take any more impromptu trips to the Warrior’s Headquarters, never going further than the entrance when waiting for Gabi to exit the building. The Warriors only appear sparingly as the months pass by, with some, such as Pieck, leaving for long periods of time to support the front lines in the developing war.

You continue with your studies, learning written Marleyan on your desk, and hiding your Eldian notes under loose floorboards in your room. You bury yourself in mastering both, thanking whatever deity made it so you automatically understood the spoken language. Maybe it had to do something about how in the series everyone spoke a common tongue, and yet had different writing systems.

You didn't think too hard about it though. Any more questioning about the laws and nature of this universe would have you up at ungodly hours. Again.

Your steps are lighter, the river of your consciousness less turbulent. It is still nowhere near calm, but the dam constructed with the reassurance of your soon to be made trip helps keep it at bay. The change in your attitude is apparent even to Gabi, with whom you've quickly grown close to.

“You seem… less tired, somehow,” she says when you're out on a stroll, HQ getting smaller and smaller in the distance as you walk away from it.

“Do I?” you hum, tilting your head to the side.

Gabi nods, swinging her arms around as she matches your stride.

“Colt has the same eyebags you had months ago. How come yours are gone and his are still there? Is that like,” –she skips over some rocks– “a teenager thing?”

You snort. It's more of a ‘forcibly ripped away from your home universe and stuck into one with masacre woven into its story’ for you, and a ‘pressured into becoming the successor of the Beast Titan to remove your family from the suspicious eye of Marley’ for Colt. Gabi doesn’t need to know that though.

“Sure. It's just a teenager thing.”

Gabi nods, satisfied with your answer.

You pass by the wall of the hospital, revealing its courtyard full of both patients and the nurses attending them, as well as blooming trees that sway with the gentle breeze. You wave at Dr Jaeger when he spots you and Gabi, his red armband marking him amongst the crowd.

A ball is chased by two children, their grandfather slowly following their trail as they run over the blades of grass. A nurse in a light blue blouse hands a clipboard to one of the doctors, signaling something with her pencil. A young blonde girl stands in a corner, clad in white.

Long, brown hair stands out in your peripheral vision, belonging to a figure hunched on a bench. The wall dividing the street from the patio had hid them from your vision, and your heartbeat speeds up without your permission.

You almost mutter his name, before remembering that it is far too early for his appearance in that very bench. Falco is nowhere to be seen, and neither is Eren and neither is the Rumbling. Everything will be okay. For a little while.

As if sensing your gaze, shining black irises meet yours from under the dark locks and you avert your eyes. The woman in baggy clothes you were looking at simply turns away, and your moment of brief panic dissolves with the cool wind.

“Have you thought about joining the Candidate Program?”

Gabi’s voice snaps you back to the conversation at hand, and you frown when you process her question.

“I don’t…” you falter, not knowing how to explain your disdain for the program without offending her. “I’m not sure our values align.”

“What does that mean?”

“I'm just not too convinced I can achieve the level required,” you laugh nervously, waving her off. “Besides, I’m far too old to enter.”

Gabi nods. “Makes sense,” she says. “Not everyone can be on my level, after all.”

You sigh, already used to her antics. “Sure, squirt. I'd have to kneel to get on your level, after all.”

Gabi splutters, stopping abruptly. “Hey! That was uncalled for!”

“Was it?”

The girl goes on and on about how you're too mean to her, when she hasn’t done anything to deserve it. You nod at her complaints absentmindedly, too caught up on enjoying the mild breeze that runs through your hair. While Gabi flails around, a member of the Warriors approaches you from the courtyard.

“Reiner? What are you doing here?” you ask when you notice him walking in your direction.

Reiner raises up his hand in greeting, which you return after a moment.

“Y/n. Gabi. Didn't think I'd be seeing you guys here. Don't you have an exam tomorrow Gabi?”

You narrow your eyes at the girl. She had told you that she was free for the afternoon, and that all her activities had already been taken care of. The liar in question averts her eyes, and tiny beads of sweat appear on her temples.

“Well– I mean–” Gabi stammers. “It's not a difficult exam exactly…”

“Did you study for it, at least?”

“Of course I did! Who do you take me for?”

You sigh, shaking your head faintly as Reiner chuckles at the exchange. The times you two had met could be counted with both hands, and yet the both of you had bonded over looking after his cousin.

“Y/n’s kinda right on this, Gabi. I had to study hard to acquire the Armored.”

If it were up to you, Gabi would never inherit the Armored Titan. And yet, her being in the program, reaching for the privilege, was the very thing that put her in the right place to survive.

So for the time being you would voice your agreement with Reiner, reminding the girl to not slack off on her studies and training sessions, hoping that, even if things went to shit, she would have the closest thing to a happy ending this world had to offer.

“When I said I wanted you two to meet it wasn’t so you could antagonize me.”

You shrug as Gabi crosses her arms, pouting. Such is life, kid. Such is life. You turn your attention to Reiner next, whose answer hadn’t been delivered to your initial question yet.

“Were you meeting with Dr Jaeger then, Reiner?”

“Oh no, just… got some prescription,” he says, fishing a small cardboard box out of his coat.

That was a surprise, but you suppose that even Marley would care if one of their Titans wasn’t performing at their best. Modern therapy and medications would work better, but they aren’t accessible for a tiny reason:

They don’t exist. Fun!

That is also partly why your old headaches were coming back, and, while you hadn’t fainted since the day you had arrived, you still constantly had the nagging feeling in the back of your skull.

“That’s… nice,” you say. Even if you know more about Reiner’s trauma than probably anyone here, it still wasn’t your place to comment on it.

I’m glad you’re working towards healing your traumas before they catch up to you with suicidal ideation in like four years wouldn’t cut it.

“Are you sick or something?” Gabi asks like she normally does — without tact.

“Just feeling a little under the weather.”

Reiner waves off her concerts after answering, returning the small container to his pocket. You take a peek at the side of the box, noticing part of the font that reads Inhaler. Maybe it was just a cold then, and Marley actually didn’t care about the mental health of its soldiers. Shocking.

“I hope you feel better,” you offer.

You really do hope he does. The boy (because that is what he is, what they all are, a boy just a little older than you) that you had forged a tentative friendship with had earned a small corner of your heart, which was squeezed a little tighter with every droopy smile he sent your way.

The end of the world would come, and it was only by preventing it that he would be able to reach self forgiveness.

“Thank you,” he says. “I've definitely felt better before.”

Gabi lets out a disbelieving sound. “Where? With the devils?”

Yeah, probably, you think. But it would be a crime to voice such an opinion, so you refrain from commenting. Reiner doesn’t flinch, but something indecipherable passes through his eyes, akin to guilt.

“No, definitely not with them. They were, uh, barbaric.”

Gabi nods in agreement, and you stay quiet.

Reiner sighs, and surveys the courtyard one more time, before bidding you and Gabi goodbye, and heading off in the direction of Headquarters. He ruffles his cousin’s hair before leaving, and you both wave at his retreating figure, before falling into step in the opposite direction.

You are glad for the constantly growing distance between the hospital and yourself, your small spook earlier not forgotten.

“...He’s been getting sick a lot recently,” Gabi says.

“What makes you say that?”

Gabi looks back at the hospital, catching your gaze when she turns around. “I see him at the wards sometimes when I’m walking from headquarters.”

You mull over how to respond. You could lie and reassure the girl that her cousin probably caught a cold, or that the newfound pollen of the changing seasons was affecting him. Hell, you could even poke fun at Reiner and say that he’s got a hospital sweetheart he’s been visiting.

“He’ll be fine,” is what you end up saying.

And he will. Eventually.

Dinner is always a quiet affair in the house. There's only the clinking of the utensils against the plates and the occasional comment about the day’s activities. Eating is something that captures all of your attention, at least with Zeke. It was a ritual of sorts, a way to share space while still allowing for both people to recover from their day to day interactions.

When dinner is finished, however, conversation would start, and you would both stay at the table for a little while longer, working on whatever needed to be worked on for the evening, talking about whatever needed to be talked about during the time.

“How’s the… foreign language coming along?” Zeke asks, returning from the foyer with his briefcase. He unlocks it and retrieves a small stack of papers from its insides, laying them on the table.

“I like to think I’m almost fluent,” you answer, already with your own work in front of you. It wasn’t worksheets or learning material, but an old Eldianhistory book you had unearthed from the bookcase in your room. “The book’s been getting easier to read.”

“Quite a feat for someone who’s only had a year to learn it.”

You shrug. “It was significantly easier than Marleyan, that's for sure.”

“Are you still struggling with grammar?” Zeke looks up from the turning pages as he asks, reminding you of the endless tutoring you had to endure in order to even understand a lick of written Marleyan.

You huff, throwing your hands up in the air. “It's not my fault you guys use half the alphabet in a word and then decide to make the unused letters be written basically the same.”

He chuckles, penciling in something in his documents. “Well, that's an exaggeration.”

“My bad. I meant to say that you use half the alphabet in a word, and manage to mispronounce all of it.”

“The other has significantly more grammatical norms than Marleyan. How come you haven’t been struggling with those?

You shrug. “I don’t know. It's just easier.”

Zeke takes a minute to look away, letting out a noncommittal hum when he finally does. You raise an eyebrow at his behavior but decide not to comment on it, already used to Zeke’s oddities.

“That’s good,” he says after a beat. Another passes, and he continues. “The boat is leaving soon.”

The boat, of course, refers to the one Marley would send in a recognition mission to Paradis, in order to know what was going on in the island after the failure of the mission to retake the Founding Titan.

In other words, it was the one the Volunteers would hijack. The one you would be smuggled into, with the intention of making the journey across the sea.

“How soon is soon? Because I promised Gabi and Falco I would take them to the new candy store that is opening–” Zeke cuts you off.

“A week.”

Your mouth slips shut, your brain processing Zeke’s words. A week?

“So no candy shop?” you say weakly.

Zeke shakes his head. Silence falls in the room, not stifling, just firm. Unyielding.

“What will…” you falter. “What will I– we– tell the others?”

Zeke rummages through the stack of papers, bringing out a file which he then places in front of you. You grab it, eyes flitting between it and Zeke, before reading its contents.

There is no picture on the identification papers, but you recognize a single name. It is not the one that belongs to the person it is describing, but one placed in the table depicting the kinfolk. The name of the dead soldier you had adopted as your dad when you arrived sits in the middle of it, with a small annotation to its right, which in turn reads 3rd cousin once removed.

“We’ll tell them we found a closer blood relative, near where you supposedly lived before.”

“Just like that?”

“Just like that,” Zeke confirms. “It was easier than expected, I must admit. Marley liked the excuse to take your red armband away.”

He smiles, but there is no amusement in his gesture. Thinking about it, it does make sense that Marley would want the least amount of Honorary Marleyans possible, given it was not only resources that, in their eyes, they wasted, but also a way of uplifting the morale of a community they thought below them.

“Okay.” You read quickly through the information, not noticing anything relevant. “Okay,” you repeat. “And is this person… real? Do they know?”

Zeke chuckles, extending a hand to grab the paper. You hand it to him after memorizing the name of your supposed cousin, returning to nervously fiddling with your book.

“Oh, it was a miracle that they were found at all. Nobody knew of any other relatives up until two days ago.” He winks. “Lucky, right?”

“Yeah,” you exhale. “Lucky.”

Your unenthusiasm bordering on indifference causes Zeke to frown, and he tilts his head slightly, questions swimming in his gray eyes.

“I thought you’d be happier. Wasn’t this what you asked for, all those months ago?”

A baseball. A conversation. A deal.

“I didn’t expect to get so… attached?” You shrug helplessly. “I don't know. It feels weird. What I’m about to do. Where I’m about to go.”

Zeke leans back on his chair, analyzing you. His gaze doesn’t make you feel like running anymore, but there is still an undercurrent of cold, calculating intention in the gray storm of his eyes.

“Are you getting cold feet?” he asks.

“No!” you exclaim, almost shooting out of your chair. Your feet are slightly separated beneath the table, ready for you to stand up. You force your muscles to relax and quickly arrange your posture to something more casual.

“No,” you attempt again. “I’m just nervous, is all.”

You are tempted to add an And I’m one hundred percent on board with the plan! Fuck the kids, am I right? – but that would be laying it on too thick, and it wouldn't take a genius to notice your too-eager grin, or the almost desperate look in your eyes.

Zeke accepts your answer, and you both go back to a (nearly) comfortable silence.

You break the news to the others on the following days, and you receive a multitude of different reactions. Reiner sends you off with a pat in the back, Colt with some heartfelt words and a hug. Falco gets a little emotional when you tell him, but nothing compares to Gabi’s response.

You thought that, while you had forged a strong friendship with the girl, her tenacious personality and pride would prevent her from taking it to heart.

The night before your departure, however, she shows up in a storm determined to make you stay.

You open the door at the frantic knocking, wondering who it could be at these hours. It is not midnight, per se, but the sun has already left its place in the sky, and so it is not a time where you could excuse it as a random visit from one of your friends.

You know you are wrong when you open the door and a small hand reaches for your skirt, the small figure of Gabi colliding with your torso. The sudden impact takes your breath away for a moment, before you understand the situation at hand, and your arms snake around Gabi, returning her bone crushing hug.

“Gabi?” you start. “What are you doing here so late?”

You feel as Gabi starts to move her head from one side to another, further hiding in the folds of your clothing.

“You can’t leave,” she says, her voice close to breaking. “I don’t want you to leave.”

“Gabi...” you pause, taking a moment to find the right words. “I’m very sorry kid, but the arrangements have already been made.”

“But why do you have to go away?” Gabi stammers, her words tangled in tears, making your heart clench painfully in your chest.

“Squirt–” you sigh, bringing your hand to the top of her head. “Gabi. I'm very, very, sorry I have to leave, but I want to go home. I miss my home.”

Your voice comes out in a comforting whisper as you soothingly thread your fingers on Gabi’s hair, feeling the echoes of her cries against your body. She squeezes you tight, as though letting go for just a second might make you vanish. You can't help but think that there’s some truth to it.

“Liberio could be your home–” she hiccups.

“Gabi–”

“Stay!” she finishes with a sob.

Tears threaten to fall from your eyes. Who knew a year-long friendship could tug and rip your heartstrings like this?

“I’ll write you letters, okay? You’ll respond, and it’d be as if I never left, won't it, squirt?”

You try your best at comforting her, but her fists just seem to get tighter around the fabric of your clothes. Gabi almost slumps against you, before she inhales shakily and softly releases you from her hold. Her hands immediately come up to wipe her tears away, and she looks furiously at the floor.

You know the letters are just a temporary solution. One that, given her age and profession, she would slowly forget about. And then, little by little, the letters from you would stop too. Zeke would tell her you moved, lost contact. That is, if by that time he is alive to do so.

You embrace her again and let her cry until her tear ducts dry out, holding her close, because you know you won’t be able to do that for a long, long time. Or at all, if your plan succeeds.

So you stay for just a moment more, relishing in the feeling of being cared for so deeply that it spills tears.

a/n: Reiner jumpscared me ngl. I was writing, as one does, and he just appeared, demanding he be written. I hope I did him justice hsajshd I had a difficult time writing him. On a completely unrelated note, did ya'll know that Amphetamines, sold as Benzedrine Inhalers, were used medically in the 1930's to treat depression? Neat. Anyway, guess who makes his first appearance on the next chapter.

Thanks for reading!

taglist: @dressycobra7 @xngelsau @bloodchapell @i-think-im-adorable13

ask or comment to be added!

[vulpix757]

Boyfriend Texts With Eren

Warnings - suggestive talk , mentions of smoking , mentions of armin x annie (not rlly relevant) , swearing , reader being jealous, eren being horny , l bomb dropped 2 times , i think that’s it

Pairings - Eren Jaeger x Fem!Reader

Genre - Crack

Note - I haven’t really been active at all so i’m going to try to post more and i have tons of eren brainrot

[vulpix757]

Birthday Gift Ghoul!Eren x Reader

TW - slight gore, mentions of scars, self-isolation, biting, blood, mentions of bones breaking, the author might've gotten some things wrong about tokyo ghoul and he is sorry. Authors note will be added at the end.

Words - 2.5k

Your life completely fell apart because of a date. You lied in a hospital bed on the verge of dying because of a date. You were supposed to die at least, it was expected of you from everyone including your own family. But there you were, alive–your brain showed signs of activity despite the comatose state you were in and your wounds healed near perfectly despite the unflattering scar that covered your throat. You beat the odds within a week after the accident, but at what cost?

Simple, you lost every right to call yourself human. You appeared human but the naked eye could easily tell you were anything but that if they truly observed you, from your sickly appearance to your strange habits you have developed shortly after the freakish accident; such as the way you go to the bathroom between every few bites of food without explaining why and the sudden aversion you had towards anything that involved sitting and eating with others. 

‘Ghoul’ was the name society has given to people in your predicament. They were the uncanny creatures of the night, they survived off human flesh and blood; they were the biggest threat to society. Man's true predator. You became the predator, and you hated him for putting you at the top of the food chain. 

He was your boyfriend, Eren Jaeger; he was a young man you had a project with in your first year of university and by the second semester you were dating. Two years have passed since that project and you’ve loved each other unconditionally the entire time, he knew you like the back of his own hand and as did you, up until the accident. 

It was your birthday that day and Eren said he made reservations for a restaurant you had wanted to try before it even opened. You were ecstatic about this for a plethora of reasons but the most important reason was you were having dinner with Eren, for the two years you have been dating you could only recall having two dinners… maybe three together. He always avoided the possibility of having dinner with you, he never explained why and you eventually gave up on asking him and decided that he must’ve had a medical condition that he didn’t feel too keen on sharing with you; you respected that even though you spent some days yearning for those 3AM trips to the convenience store for snacks with Eren, something that you never got to experience with him. The past was officially behind you now however when there’s finally a plan to have dinner with him, it was a perfect birthday gift for you. 

The evening you shared at the restaurant was nice, there wasn’t a dress code meaning you were able to dress comfortably but still look your best for pictures you wanted to take with him to showcase this once-in-a-lifetime ordeal with your boyfriend. He ate very little and excused himself once or twice, this was a habit of his when you did have dinner together. It never bothered you though. 

Dinner concludes for the night, you and Eren took more than enough pictures for memories of such a special day, and you both had a good time overall. You were more than thankful for the night Eren provided.

The two of you walked hand and hand down the streets of the city, it was 10 PM by this point and you both walked in silence. This was a moment of peace for you, if you could relive any moment it would have been this one.

“Let’s take a detour, wanna show you somethin’.” Eren broke the silence all while walking down a completely different path, pulling you from the direction of your apartment where your friends and family were waiting to sing happy birthday and cut you the first slice of your favorite cake. 

You didn’t think twice about his decision to go to a different location, he was spontaneous at times and you loved that. There was an element of surprise to these sudden detours he had taken with you, perhaps he had a gift for you all things considered? The idea of a present after dinner excited you.

You two ended up at a bridge not too far, the water underneath sparkled beautifully before you, and the moon was as full as can be. It was a beautiful sight to share with your favorite person who stood closely by your side the entire time.

“You love me right?” He snapped you out of your thoughts, he rarely asked for reassurance, it wasn’t like him to do so. It felt strange to hear him ask such a question but you’d never let him second guess for a moment that he went unloved. 

You chuckled and pulled him into an embrace, one that he returned happily. 

“Of course I do,” you nodded before burying your face into his sweatshirt and inhaling his scent, he smelled slightly like coffee paired with his usual laundry detergent; it was a scent you’ve loved ever since you’ve been able to hold him close and smell it, you were obsessed with how the scent of coffee beans were practically attached to his skin, clothes, and even lingered in his home at times. It provided the familiarity that you loved in your life.

He let out a small hum and nodded all while keeping a secure hold on you, “no matter what?” he questions again. 

“No matter what,” you assured him once more, you were growing worried for Eren now. You desperately wanted to know what it was that was making him feel insecure, maybe it was tonight's dinner, it was such a rare occurrence that it was possible that something that happened caused this level of sudden insecurity, “are you okay Eren?”

Eren nods again, tightening his hold on you to where it was growing slightly uncomfortable, “yeah,” he spoke in a whisper. 

You let out a squeak when you felt your ribs ache from the pressure of his tight embrace, you tried to pull away and break the hug once and for all but he only held you tighter than before. 

“Eren…” you spoke in a certain tone to signal that he was taking it too far right now, “c’mon you’re gonna snap me in half.” you tried to chuckle despite the current restriction you experienced, you knew he didn’t mean it but sometimes it felt like he wasn’t even aware of his strength some days, there were many instances where he hugged you with more strength than you were comfortable with. All it took was a nudge back into the right direction though, this was surely one of those moments where you had to redirect him. 

“I know,’ he confirmed, “just relax, yeah?” His tone felt something beyond lighthearted, he was supposed to mirror you–like always–but this time felt different; his tone was flat and there was nothing sweet about his awareness. 

You had felt his arms pull you as close as humanly possible against his chest, his heartbeat was faint but it could still be heard considering how uncomfortably close you were to him. You tried to push him away once again but it quickly proved to be futile, it was almost suffocating for you.

“Eren…” your tone was strained since he was slowly but surely squeezing the air out of your lungs. 

“Relax.” He repeated, “relax and I’ll explain it all later.” his hand finds its way to the back of your head to smoothen out your hair, an act that was supposed to provide comfort for you but this was beyond comforting.

Before you could say anything else or ask what was wrong with him you felt him squeeze the air out of you one last time, you heard various cracks go down your back, it was relieving for a split second till you felt your chest burn horribly. 

You took a sharp breath due to the ache and it burned even more, something wasn’t right. The burn worsened and you heard sounds that weren’t cracks coming from your tense back… they were the sounds of your bones snapping. He was breaking your ribs.

Your trembling hands found their way to press against his chest and you finally got a look at his face once you created an inch of space between you and him, the man that was snapping you in pieces wasn’t the man you’ve loved more than anything else. He was a monster, a ghoul in its truest form. Huge red irises with black scleras met yours. Though his eyes held no hunger in them the way the media describes the looks a ghoul would give a human. You couldn’t see anything in his typically expressive eyes in fact, only he knew his own intentions with you and that was something he was more than happy to keep to himself.

Your mouth opened but no scream alerted anyone who may have been walking by or in the vicinity. Only heavy, shaky breaths found its way to fill the atmosphere between you both. All you could do was meekly slam your hands into his chest to defend yourself, you were growing weaker by the second the more you became aware of your current state and anything else to protect yourself from him was impossible to do.

“I love you.” He stated like a fact before he bared his teeth at you, his teeth appeared normal but it sent a wave a dread through you knowing that might pierce your flesh and provide Eren with his fill for the night. This was your birthday night.

His declaration of love was the last thing you heard before he sunk his teeth deep into your throat, before you blacked out completely you felt his tongue run against the bloodied skin of your neck. 

You remember nothing after that point, you plummeted straight into darkness for the next week. Everyone in your life was horrified and the authorities never caught the ‘unknown’ ghoul who almost took your life that night. This was a stressful time for both your loved ones and your newly developing body that forced you to survive your injuries. 

It’s officially been a month since the accident, a month since your birthday, and a month since you’ve seen or heard from Eren. 

He dropped out of university shortly after and there was no word on when or if he’d return, his closest friends Mikasa and Armin told you nothing and avoided you in fact. It was like you two never dated in their eyes. You felt angry and lost by this point, you had to withdraw from your old life similarly to the way he withdrew from his own. You barely spoke with your loved ones and you hated leaving your house and smelling all the disgustingly delicious scents that lingered amongst your peers distressed you. You had to go as far as to switch to online courses till you knew how to control your appetite in public. You had to quit your job on top of that, luckily your parents were willing to pay for your necessities and rent, you were eternally grateful for their support. Had it not been for them you could’ve been left on the streets or stuck in their house while you were barely adjusting.

This was all until you adjusted to your new lifestyle; that’s how you eased your otherwise restless mind when it became tough. As much as you hated Eren, you could respect him for managing class, work, friends and a long term relationship while he was most likely craving a taste of his peers. It made you wonder how he made having sex possible in the first place, the thought of your mouth near a human made your stomach hurt, your heart race, and your mouth water all at once. It made you wanna know why he would put you through this and then disappear from your life indefinitely. No one knew of your predicament and you didn’t know anything about interacting in ghoul society–if they had one at least. You were growing distressed at this point.

The question of his choices was something that frequently crossed your mind, an array of why’s echoed in your lonely home. Especially when you got hungry, you never ate a person–you refused–you had to settle for raw meat as an alternative, it only kept you satisfied for a small period of time. Your hunger would simply worsen as days went by though, and all you could do is sob in your kitchen asking Eren ‘why?’. You were always met with the hum of your pathetically empty fridge for an answer whilst you held a half eaten chicken breast you bought that day.

You went to do your weekly meat pickup at a local supermarket today, it was the middle of the day on a Tuesday and there weren't too many people to trigger that horrible appetite of yours. It was a great opportunity to shop and everything was going well till an employee cut herself with a boxcutter while trying to open a box that contained the product. 

You were in another aisle at the time but the smell of her blood was overwhelmingly strong, it was a mixture of metal and your all-time favorite meal that effortlessly filled your senses. It made you sick to your stomach all while making it rumble loudly in your ears, a signal of hunger you ignore far too often. You could feel your muscles flex and tense while you tried to maintain your composure, you squeezed your knuckle till you felt your nails dig into your skin–anything as a means to stabilize yourself. But like your prior attempts to prevent your ‘accident’ it was all futile, your body was against you and you heard a voice practically commanding you to tear her piece by piece and freeze the leftovers for later. You had to drop everything you were planning to buy and rush out of the store and straight home due to the stress of it all. At least you could be surrounded by your own scent and nothing else that could be tempting to you. 

As you entered your home you felt a little bit more at ease but you knew something wasn’t right, you smelled him. The faint scent of him was in the air and you felt your blood boil the more you smelled it.

“Where are you, bastard?” you called out into the dark apartment, you didn’t want him to feel welcomed in your space after he ruined you and left you to figure out your new life on your own. 

You were met with no response, you figured he left till you entered your room and he was at your desk, as if this was a study date you both planned. Anger and relief hit you all at once but you wanted to hit him harder.

“Get out.” you commanded and pointed to the doorway. 

He turned around, his eyes were green just like before. It felt like a cruel joke to see him appear human again when you both knew he would never be one. Neither will you and you both knew that too.

“Let me explain myself and I’ll help you.”

A/N- hiii cherub here with something that isn’t just a random post… haha… i hope you guys like this bc i rlly rlly wanted to write something for my boy again </33 i love him smmmmmm!!!! also i have not finished tokyo ghoul (i buy the physical manga to read bc i don’t like reading on my phone and the anime isn’t even worth it) so im super sorry if i was a bitttt inaccurate ｡ﾟ(ﾟ´ω`ﾟ)ﾟ｡

but i hope you made it this far and enjoyed, i want to try to write on here again but it will def take time considering my lack of creativity, i had to listen to the same song on loop for an hour and watch the same tokyo ghoul edit for two days to rlly get in the mood to write this… i love ghouls, cannibals, and eren so this was tons of fun to write! see ya next time!! <3 - Cherub

[vulpix757]

i fear there are only few of us left who gaf about eren :/ do u think anything else about him im so deprived

ofc ofc ofc that’s my baby ://///// i think about him all the time always <33

His niche of skills is based in homemaking and actual home-making as in construction because when he would act up as a kid, those were the punishments Carla gave him LOL. He got into a fight at school and she’d make him chop wood and start a fire. He was rude to her or Mikasa and she forced him to iron everyone’s clean laundry and fold it after. He made a mess being reckless when she told him to do his homework and she sent him outside to go lay new bricks around the well. All of which reigned him in by the time he was 12ish, and then he started just… doing it for fun or doing it preemptively before his attitude got out of hand. He’d have a bad day at school, and his mom would come home to him mowing the lawn or planting new trees or fixing the plumbing or fixing that broken leg on the chair or cleaning the gutter or harvesting the vegetables or fixing that crack in the wall; it becomes a sort of outlet for him. So now, occasionally you’ll see Eren run his fingers across a cracked wall or chipped piece of furniture and him mumbling some home depot jargon to himself about how he could fix it and whatnot. And he can. He proves to be very useful when your landlord is a deadbeat, and very attractive when he just decides to sit in the living room and put your furniture together.

He’s not a terrible cook, but he’s not a great one either. With effort, he can follow a recipe but there’s always something off. Except maybe one or two dishes from his childhood that he can make perfectly. They’re the first things he ever cooks for you. He’s not that bad when it comes to baking, much to everyone’s surprise. He makes a pretty decent cupcake. Also, whenever he does cook, or just helps you cook, he wears an apron.

If you asked him, he’d say cheek kisses are his favorite. He likes giving them, but he likes receiving them even more. There’s just something so sweet about it… you’re so gentle with him sometimes it stuns him, and something about kissing his cheek is so pure that it makes Eren stop and wonder how one person could make him so happy. His favorite kind of kisses to give you are forehead kisses, especially if he’s taller than you. It makes him feel like he can protect you, reminds him he has something to fight for.

Terrified of thunder and lightning but he refuses to admit it. Whenever it’s raining, he finds himself curled up on the couch, preferably laying on top of you and sleeping away as much of the day/night as he can. Sometimes he just wants his head on your lap and your hands in his hair; something else to focus on other than the sounds outside. But, admittedly, he likes it when you play with his hair on any day.

Has your last name saved as his last name in his phone. Also definitely doodled your name with his last name in his notebooks as a kid with hearts and kisses around it.

Not a morning person in the slightest and he will make it everybody’s problem. He can be such a scrooge in the morning, no matter what or when he eats or wakes up. You just have to ease him into the day, let him flop on you and lean against you and a kiss or two couldn’t hurt.

He’s a terrible gossip. And he likes to start drama. Messy in every sense of the word. He wants all the tea, he wants names and dates and receipts, and if he has the chance to stir the pot just know that he WILL! The boys are all bitter that Eren is the one who gets invited to girls night but he simply makes himself one of the girls (and he’s so willing to sell out Jean or Connie if it means he gets a seat at the table). Plus, he makes pretty good tea and supplies the desserts, and is everyone’s handyman—he built this gossip session brick by brick.