Eren raises an eyebrow. He hadn't actually accused Reiner of anything, and he's unaware of the friction between him and Levi other than the tense awkwardness of this whole thing. He thought he understood why, but maybe there's more to it than that.
"You think the captain picked a fight with you?" he asks, carefully. He doesn't really think of Levi as someone who picks fights, but he does piss people off, and he — like all of them, really — is prone to violence. He bites back the question what did you do. It's unfair and he knows it and he's making an effort (that can't possibly last) not to be unfair.
His eyes follow Reiner's hand but he has no reason to move away, so he doesn't. Like at the beach, pushing unruly strands away. Only Reiner's hand is cold this time. Eren decides he hates that, that lack of warmth. He knows he must feel the same, cold like a corpse instead of hot like a furnace.
Aren't they both the bad guy here? Though Reiner doesn't know and Eren can't bear to tell him now, other than the strange incomplete hints he drops about them being the same or the future being terrible or whatever. Who will stop them from whatever this is between them? They aren't trying to kill each other or anyone else. That's surely enough.
"It wouldn't be as bad the second time," he teases, but point taken. He's forgotten how stressful it is to deal with Levi's cleaning OCD the first time around. Reiner wasn't with them when they had to scrub that stupid castle, or any of the other times. He's surely seen the captain covered in blood and gore, at odds with this obsession. Eren's always figured that's why. He keeps everything spotless and sterile because what he does is so dirty and gross all the time.
After how far Eren purposefully swung in the other direction, lack of proper care even in a hospital, blank and dirty and distant on the airship, he can almost appreciate this. Not quite, but almost.
He turns back to the sink and finishes the last teacup, sets it on the rack to dry, drains the water. He doesn't have any excuse to linger in the kitchen now but he stays anyway.
"I hope whatever Hange-san is making fixes us," he says, too low for anyone else to hear.
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"You think the captain picked a fight with you?" he asks, carefully. He doesn't really think of Levi as someone who picks fights, but he does piss people off, and he — like all of them, really — is prone to violence. He bites back the question what did you do. It's unfair and he knows it and he's making an effort (that can't possibly last) not to be unfair.
His eyes follow Reiner's hand but he has no reason to move away, so he doesn't. Like at the beach, pushing unruly strands away. Only Reiner's hand is cold this time. Eren decides he hates that, that lack of warmth. He knows he must feel the same, cold like a corpse instead of hot like a furnace.
Aren't they both the bad guy here? Though Reiner doesn't know and Eren can't bear to tell him now, other than the strange incomplete hints he drops about them being the same or the future being terrible or whatever. Who will stop them from whatever this is between them? They aren't trying to kill each other or anyone else. That's surely enough.
"It wouldn't be as bad the second time," he teases, but point taken. He's forgotten how stressful it is to deal with Levi's cleaning OCD the first time around. Reiner wasn't with them when they had to scrub that stupid castle, or any of the other times. He's surely seen the captain covered in blood and gore, at odds with this obsession. Eren's always figured that's why. He keeps everything spotless and sterile because what he does is so dirty and gross all the time.
After how far Eren purposefully swung in the other direction, lack of proper care even in a hospital, blank and dirty and distant on the airship, he can almost appreciate this. Not quite, but almost.
He turns back to the sink and finishes the last teacup, sets it on the rack to dry, drains the water. He doesn't have any excuse to linger in the kitchen now but he stays anyway.
"I hope whatever Hange-san is making fixes us," he says, too low for anyone else to hear.