Eren can't work out at all why this is so difficult, other than that there's some Marley shit involved in whatever that move is.
He can feel his teeth clench tighter at that tone. Eren, like saying his name like that will calm him down. Reel him in. Of course it doesn't; it never would, not from anyone, certainly not from Reiner with all the shit between them. There's a lot that's complicated, but right now there's just Eren's anger and his need to stop losing so badly.
"What the fuck do you mean all you're doing is—"
Wait.
He snaps his mouth shut. He's not as dumb as he was at 15; he's always been able to learn things from fights, even if he gets his ass handed to him because he flies off the handle or goes off on his own.
He knows that part of a rifle is called a butt. He's seen the way Marley soldiers walk and run and move on a battlefield, carrying guns that he's only handled a little bit. He still can't envision using a gun that way. What would be the point…? (He just learned that twice, though, didn't he?)
It is Marley shit. But it's the kind of thing Reiner gets all fucked up in his head, like when he seemed to be confused about half the shit he was even saying. That was years ago. Eren has no idea if Reiner in the future still has issues like that. He has other issues, sure, but whether this kind of thing stopped happening? No clue, no way of knowing.
"Just who do you think I am?" he asks, tone softer, almost dangerous. Eren at 15 wouldn't have known how to use that tone; all he did was yell. Eren at 20 is colder, more ruthless.
This is just a game, which they both momentarily seem to forget.
"Where are we, Reiner?" he asks in that same tone. He rights his stick in front of him.
"Sure, I remember how to counter it," he says, which is obviously bullshit. He has no idea how to counter it. But he's about to try to learn, to twist Reiner's confusion around so it works in his favour. He might be slightly sorry for being such a dick later. Or not! Who knows!
"Do you remember?"
He takes the visual and physical experience, now that he's seen it twice. When he charges forward this time, he does a reasonable approximation of what Reiner did. Buttstroke. It's not perfect, no long-practiced technique here. He's good at picking up things like this; he'd learned quickly from Annie how to use her moves.
Even if he gets tossed in the water again, he's willing to take that loss if it teaches him the counter. If he sees Reiner do it, then maybe he can replicate it.
Or if he's got Reiner enough off his game, maybe he can just win. That would be fine too.
no subject
He can feel his teeth clench tighter at that tone. Eren, like saying his name like that will calm him down. Reel him in. Of course it doesn't; it never would, not from anyone, certainly not from Reiner with all the shit between them. There's a lot that's complicated, but right now there's just Eren's anger and his need to stop losing so badly.
"What the fuck do you mean all you're doing is—"
Wait.
He snaps his mouth shut. He's not as dumb as he was at 15; he's always been able to learn things from fights, even if he gets his ass handed to him because he flies off the handle or goes off on his own.
He knows that part of a rifle is called a butt. He's seen the way Marley soldiers walk and run and move on a battlefield, carrying guns that he's only handled a little bit. He still can't envision using a gun that way. What would be the point…? (He just learned that twice, though, didn't he?)
It is Marley shit. But it's the kind of thing Reiner gets all fucked up in his head, like when he seemed to be confused about half the shit he was even saying. That was years ago. Eren has no idea if Reiner in the future still has issues like that. He has other issues, sure, but whether this kind of thing stopped happening? No clue, no way of knowing.
"Just who do you think I am?" he asks, tone softer, almost dangerous. Eren at 15 wouldn't have known how to use that tone; all he did was yell. Eren at 20 is colder, more ruthless.
This is just a game, which they both momentarily seem to forget.
"Where are we, Reiner?" he asks in that same tone. He rights his stick in front of him.
"Sure, I remember how to counter it," he says, which is obviously bullshit. He has no idea how to counter it. But he's about to try to learn, to twist Reiner's confusion around so it works in his favour. He might be slightly sorry for being such a dick later. Or not! Who knows!
"Do you remember?"
He takes the visual and physical experience, now that he's seen it twice. When he charges forward this time, he does a reasonable approximation of what Reiner did. Buttstroke. It's not perfect, no long-practiced technique here. He's good at picking up things like this; he'd learned quickly from Annie how to use her moves.
Even if he gets tossed in the water again, he's willing to take that loss if it teaches him the counter. If he sees Reiner do it, then maybe he can replicate it.
Or if he's got Reiner enough off his game, maybe he can just win. That would be fine too.