Eren isn't sure what label he'd put on them. He can't make some insane leap from enemies to lovers, not yet. That's too loaded for what they are and should be. Are they friends?
Reiner could be someone he could protect.
He thinks that again, past and present juxtaposed like they always are. Absurd. Reiner has not ever needed his protection, would reject it, would rail against it. His protection comes at too high a cost, and Reiner is still married to his idea of a mission.
They're not not friends, though. This fight isn't exactly like anything else. They aren't fighting like enemies, like they're trying to kill each other or even really hurt each other. The goal is knock each other into the water.
But something shifts in Reiner anyway. Eren sees it, senses it, can't react to it quite quickly enough. On land, maybe he could do it, jump away faster than Reiner could hit him with that stick. There's nowhere to jump to here anyway. He takes the hit, which isn't soft but hurts only a little. With a real weapon, it would have been brutal.
"What the fuck—" he says, because his own rush hadn't been anywhere near that serious. Okay, lesson learned, except—
Except when he takes that hit, he overcompensates for it and swings again, the end of his own stick coming back. It probably even connects, but his center of gravity is so far off that it doesn't matter. Not only that, but the beam they're on is wet and slippery. His off-balance foot slides out from under him. He tries to tilt the stick to right himself, but the beam tips, threatening to dunk both of them.
It's just Eren who hits the water, though, too fast to even register that it's happened. This is when he learns two things at the same time. First, saltwater fucking sucks to get in your eyes, though it won't damage him (wouldn't damage a regular person, but the redness will fade from Eren's eyes fast). But it still stings and sends his vision blurry. Second, the water moves, not at all like a lake, dragging at his body. It would be fine if he were upright, probably, but he's not.
It's disorienting as hell for a few horrible moments before he manages to pull himself up again, clinging to the floating stick he's still holding onto.
He glares up at Reiner.
"That was cheap as hell," he says, spitting salt water out of his mouth. Ugh, disgusting, no wonder Levi doesn't want to swim in the ocean. (He doesn't know Levi can't swim.)
"Again."
He reaches for the beam to climb back onto it, but that's harder than it looks due to the bob of the waves.
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Reiner could be someone he could protect.
He thinks that again, past and present juxtaposed like they always are. Absurd. Reiner has not ever needed his protection, would reject it, would rail against it. His protection comes at too high a cost, and Reiner is still married to his idea of a mission.
They're not not friends, though. This fight isn't exactly like anything else. They aren't fighting like enemies, like they're trying to kill each other or even really hurt each other. The goal is knock each other into the water.
But something shifts in Reiner anyway. Eren sees it, senses it, can't react to it quite quickly enough. On land, maybe he could do it, jump away faster than Reiner could hit him with that stick. There's nowhere to jump to here anyway. He takes the hit, which isn't soft but hurts only a little. With a real weapon, it would have been brutal.
"What the fuck—" he says, because his own rush hadn't been anywhere near that serious. Okay, lesson learned, except—
Except when he takes that hit, he overcompensates for it and swings again, the end of his own stick coming back. It probably even connects, but his center of gravity is so far off that it doesn't matter. Not only that, but the beam they're on is wet and slippery. His off-balance foot slides out from under him. He tries to tilt the stick to right himself, but the beam tips, threatening to dunk both of them.
It's just Eren who hits the water, though, too fast to even register that it's happened. This is when he learns two things at the same time. First, saltwater fucking sucks to get in your eyes, though it won't damage him (wouldn't damage a regular person, but the redness will fade from Eren's eyes fast). But it still stings and sends his vision blurry. Second, the water moves, not at all like a lake, dragging at his body. It would be fine if he were upright, probably, but he's not.
It's disorienting as hell for a few horrible moments before he manages to pull himself up again, clinging to the floating stick he's still holding onto.
He glares up at Reiner.
"That was cheap as hell," he says, spitting salt water out of his mouth. Ugh, disgusting, no wonder Levi doesn't want to swim in the ocean. (He doesn't know Levi can't swim.)
"Again."
He reaches for the beam to climb back onto it, but that's harder than it looks due to the bob of the waves.