🌸 sunshine, she's here, you can take a break

[mistsplitter]

WHO: Everyone!! :D
WHAT: A get-to-know-you-together!
WHEN: end of August
WHERE: shinrin-yoku, Sunwaning
WARNINGS: None for now!


[ The past week, Ayaka and Aether made an announcement on the network, inviting everyone interested to make friends and meet new people to the shinrin-yoku teahouse the following weekend. Well, this is it! The time has come! ]

Welcome
🌸 shinrin-yoku seems like a simple tea house upon entering, with a large wooden sliding door that's already opened for guests to enter.

Ayaka will be the one to personally greet her guests, offering three possible areas for seating– the traditional Inazuman set up, the space for where you can let your legs down and not kneel while seated, or outside in the gardens. Familiar faces may be abound, and guests may like to walk around and see the interior, perhaps even say hello to the manager who is walking around and sniffing people here and there.

For future endeavours, Ayaka informs guests that they may use the shinrin-yoku for business gatherings and meetings. Members of Ayato's committee are more than welcome to use the shinrin-yoku, and may even become a place for exchanging information and the like. The tea house promises to be a safe place to all.

And for this particular gathering, Ayaka is not only serving tea, but also sake. It never hurts to make things more fun!


Konpeito, Truth, or Dare
🌸 All guests, upon entering, will be given a small clear glass container. They will also be presented with a giant bowl containing konpeito. They must take at least one, and as many as they could possibly want, and put it inside their own container. They are told not to eat any for now, but no one's really stopping them from doing so!

At some point during the occasion, a game is announced. Everyone is told to check their konpeito and count how many they have! Now, they must pick a partner and play a couple of rounds of truth or dare with them. Every time they get a turn, whether they pick truth or dare, they can eat a piece of candy! Or eat three or five at the same time Once they've had five rounds, though, then they have to choose another partner and start over until they've finished their konpeito bowls.

There is an added rule to the konpeitos, but not necessarily required to be followed! A white konpeito must have a truth or dare related to family, green for a "favourite", yellow for love or sex, orange for childhood or childlike-ness, and pink for "hate".

Ringo (Ayaka's Eevee) and Taroumaru will be watching people and make sure they aren't cheating! Though sometimes, they may not be looking, and can even be bribed with snacks. Participants who can finish their konpeito in an hour (which we'll conveniently handwave) will receive a box of sakura mochi to take home.


Introduction Bingo
🌸 Guests are given bingo cards to fill up at some point during the afternoon! Pens are also provided, or if they have their own, then that's cool!

Participants may put someone's name twice on any of the squares, but more than that, and it won't count. The objective is to get a blackout by filling out names of people who fit the description! How one does this is completely up to them. They could even slip it into their conversations during the truth or dare games, or just randomly walk up to people and ask them things.


Two Twists and a Lie
🌸 A card is given to participants for them to write two truths and one lie on it, then they have to pin or stick it to the back of their clothing. When someone wants to play, they must first challenge you to a game of janken. If you win, you get to turn the game around and guess which is the lie on their card. If they win, then they're entitled to one guess! If they get it wrong, you have to play janken again.

So, what happens when the person gets it right? The person can now make a rule that the other person has to follow. Whether it means they have to call you "Master", end all their sentences with "yes, please", or some other rule that you can think of! And in case you can't think of anything, there's a box nearby with cute props that you can make the loser wear: cat ears, a cat tail, bunny ears, a bunny tail, a raccoon kigurumi, and some goofy glasses.


---

( OOC: Feel free to play around with the prompts. Get creative! )

Comments

[dreamsofwings]

Reiner's not wrong; Eren would just bounce if he really didn't want to be somewhere. It wouldn't even occur to him to stay to be polite.

He shakes his head. "Coffee's gross," he says, but he's not really judging. He's had it a few times off and on. It's better from the shops with cream and sugar (and chocolate or whatever) but he still doesn't have a taste for it.

"Good," he says. He doesn't offer anything about people he's met (only Ayaka is new to him, really), but he continues, "They do taste good. Sweet."

Looking down at his own remaining candies, he asks, "You wanna play?"

[hometown]

Reiner makes a little tsk sound at that slanderous comment about coffee.

"You just haven't had the right cup," he says, mostly joking. If Eren doesn't like coffee, that's fine. But at the same time, Reiner would like to share a cup with Eren sometime. One more thing that never could have happened in Paradis, deprived as they were of the stuff.

He doesn't linger on that topic, though, glancing down at Eren's bowl. Distantly, he's aware that this game could lead to awkward places, causing them to stumble over things they either can't or won't share. But at the same time, how can Reiner resist?

"Sure," he says, plucking a piece from his own bowl without looking. "I'll pick truth first."

The konpeito held between his fingers is pink.

[dreamsofwings]

Maybe coffee also makes Eren think of Zeke. Of Marley, the hospital, cold bitter coffee sometimes left. It's complicated.

Also coffee is just gross, gosh.

"Uh-huh," is all he says.

The game invitation is as much challenge as recklessness. No one can make him tell the truth, after all. No one can make Reiner tell the truth. Eren isn't even good at the truth. But it's just a game, right?

Because their last game went so well.

What a note to start on, though.

But for once in his life, Eren decides to play it safe. If he starts this out going too hard they'll just end up in a bad place.

"What kind of weather do you hate most?"

[hometown]

It's only when Eren asks the question that Reiner bothers to glance at his konpeito. Pink? What a note to start on, indeed. He's grateful that Eren doesn't go straight for the jugular—metaphorically speaking. That could've kicked this game off in an ugly way.

And they like it better when they're not pissed off at each other, don't they? As much of a struggle as it is sometimes, Reiner thinks it's worth it.

"Lately? Anything cold." Reiner doesn't think he needs to explain why. He still despises that unnatural cold they had to endure, freezing from the inside out. But that's not a precise answer, so he elaborates.

"I can't stand sleet. You know, that crap that isn't quite rain or snow? It pelts your face with tiny specks of ice and stings like hell. I used to hate training in that."

He flexes his free hand, remembering trying to uncurl it from his rifle, his skin bright red and so tender that it may as well have been one big blister.

"I don't like freezing rain, either. Everything looks pretty when it's coated in ice, but then you have to try and walk on it."

Shaking his head, he pops the candy in his mouth, making a contented noise as the sugar hits his tongue.

rng is CLOWNING ME

[dreamsofwings]

Eren gets more than he expects from that answer. He kind of guessed it would be cold because of the recent stuff, but…then there's all of that.

"Sleet is pretty bullshit. You're right."

They hadn't had as much of that where they were on the island, but it happened sometimes. The blizzard was worse in Eren's mind, but that's largely circumstance. Zipping around doing ODM drills in bullshit freezing rain, though…yeah, he remembers that. Gross.

"Good answer."

He picks up a candy and holds it out.

Shit, pink for him too? Well he's not going to pick some dumb thing like dare. What would that even entail? (He doesn't understand this game very well, it's fine.)

"…Truth."

rng demanding that they fight LMAO

[hometown]

Truthfully, Reiner is surprised there weren't more injuries during those days when they had to use ODM gear in freezing rain. Wasn't that just asking for disaster? He vaguely remembers something about 'soldiers needing to be prepared under any circumstances,' but he can't remember who said it. (Hell, it might've been him, spouting it off to reassure Connie or someone.)

His eyebrows rise as Eren, too, picks a pink candy.

"What are the chances?" he comments. Then he hums, thinking for a moment before he settles on something.

"All right. Out of all the new foods you've tried here, what's your least favorite?"

He doubts there's any food that Eren outright hates. But "least favorite" is close enough.

[dreamsofwings]

Eren was also surprised. People did die in ODM training, though no one he's close to ever did. Did the shitty weather make it worse? He doesn't know.

If Eren himself had gotten injured, his body might have healed itself even before he knew what he was. But determination made up for lack of skill and he was fine. Still, in the freezing rain was a bit much.

Not that weather stopped titans, so it made some sense. He's glad they never have to do that exact thing again.

Eren looks down at the candy again, considering the question. He almost says coffee just to be an asshole. But that isn't actually the truth.

"I had this...fake meat. It was like something pretending to be meat? It kind of looked like meat, smelled the same. But it was plants or some shit. And...why? Why would you do that when you could have actual meat?"

The gacha restaurant probably just clowned him, but apparently some people like stuff like that? He would never understand vegetarianism as a thing you do on purpose and not just because there's little to no meat around.

"It wasn't bad once I knew it wasn't meat, I guess."

He pops the candy into his mouth as if to clear the memory of weird fake meat. The brief sweet crunch of it is nice enough.

"Four more rounds, I think."

[hometown]

Honestly, Reiner wouldn't be surprised if Eren did say coffee. But Eren appears to consider the question carefully, looking down at the bowl. Reiner watches Eren's face, dark lashes slightly lowered over vivid green eyes. It doesn't take much for Reiner to feel like he's falling into those eyes these days. He can't say he minds.

Then Eren answers, and Reiner looks as confused as Eren no doubt feels. "Fake meat?" he repeats. He shakes his head. "You're right; that doesn't make sense. There's plenty of real meat here. Why would anyone opt for something fake?"

He's still thinking about it as he reaches for another konpeito. "Maybe it's for people who are allergic to meat."

Is that a thing? It seems like it could be a thing in this weird world.

Then Reiner looks down at the konpeito he plucked from the bowl. He immediately makes a face, as if its orange-ness is a profound insult. "I was gonna pick dare, but I don't know how that would work with this color."

What would Eren do? Dare him to act like a little kid? How would Reiner even accomplish that? He couldn't act like he was as a child; for one, the first thing he'd have to do is freak out about his lack of an armband. No, it's better to avoid that potential situation entirely.

Reiner returns his gaze to Eren as he adds, "So … truth."

[dreamsofwings]

"People are allergic to meat?" Eren asks, confused by the idea. Of course people can be allergic to pretty much anything, a fact he's aware of. But wow, sucks for those people!

He watches Reiner's face change, reacting to the orange candy. He's glad Reiner doesn't pick dare, too, because what would he even say? Go buy a kid an ice cream?

He chews on his lip absently while he thinks. It's not an easy one; he could tip this into an argument or something too revealing too easily. One or both of them could get pissed off and then what? This is a bad place for a fight.

He doesn't even want a fight. He still surprises himself every time he realises that.

"Where was your favourite place to go as a kid? Before, I mean."

Before the island. Before you knew me. Before you became a murderer.

"You can describe it to me however you want."

He almost says I'll probably know it, but bites his tongue before he can. Reiner knows he knows Marley exists, but Eren hasn't told him he's been to Liberio. That would give too much away. Another time, maybe. Probably. Not today.

[hometown]

It would be easy for Reiner to spin a lie, using only a kernel of truth to concoct a story that suited his needs. He did so often back in Paradis—knowingly and unknowingly. But he recalls that desire he had on their date: a sudden, powerful urge to tell Eren about his life back home. To share truths, not lies. So Reiner resolves to answer as honestly as he can.

He watches Eren chew his lip, letting his mind wander a bit. Thinking about those lips on his. The press of Eren's teeth. The hot, wonderful heat of his mouth.

Then Eren settles on a question, and Reiner pulls his attention back to the game.

"That's tough," he admits, eyes drifting to the side. "I didn't go many places."

Because of the walls in which he grew up. Because he needed a pass to step foot outside of them, flashing it every single day he left for training. Because when he thinks about it, it was less about the places he enjoyed and more about the people, most of whom he hasn't seen in six years.

"… I liked visiting my uncle and aunt's house after Gabi was born. She was a handful even back then." His eyes soften, a smile stealing across his lips. "I'd sweep the floor so she wouldn't get any dirt on her, then sit there and play with her. She never seemed to get bored; she'd just wear herself out eventually and fall asleep.

"I couldn't visit as often as I wanted." Too busy training for war. "But I always liked going there, even when I stopped being able to stay for long."

tbh rng smiled on me hehehe

[dreamsofwings]

Ah, right. It's not like they had a lot of freedom in Marley; after all, Grisha's sister had been murdered as punishment for leaving the walls they were forced behind.

But then, Armin's parents were killed for trying to go outside the walls on Paradis.

It's not as different as they all might like to believe. Eren grew up with more freedom by far, but it was always a cage.

"You really care about her," Eren says softly. It's not a question, just an observation. He doesn't know how he feels about Gabi. She's a murderer to him, but he's so much worse. He heard the things she screamed at them, but she didn't know any better. She'd been brainwashed like everyone in Marley, like Reiner and Bertholdt and Annie.

And now she's friends with Levi or something? Unclear.

But Reiner loves her. That's good that he has someone he can call family. Eren has no idea how he'd have lived as long as he did without his, without Armin and Mikasa, not just because Mikasa literally kept saving him.

"That's a good answer," he says, tilting his head a little. It's also a pretty safe one, especially considering the question wasn't entirely safe.

He pulls one of his own konpeito out.

This one is yellow. That feels way less loaded. But it also feels harder to talk about.

That telltale little smirk creeps onto his face, not quite as challenging as it had at the beach. But it's got a little of that flavour.

"Dare."

cw references to sexual content

[hometown]

It's not a question, but Reiner is still surprised to hear Eren voice that observation. Was it something Eren didn't realize before? Was Reiner's future-self too busy to spend much time with Gabi or talk about her? (Would Eren even know about that?)

But no, that can't be right. Maybe that future-self didn't discuss Gabi for her own safety. Hell, if everyone here hadn't already known about Gabi, Reiner might have pretended they weren't related purely for her safety. Instead, here he is, trying to forge a non-aggression agreement for her sake. Trying to be Reiner, not Marcel.

"Of course I do," Reiner says mildly, leaving it at that. He loves Gabi unconditionally—even when she confuses and worries him.

Then Eren pulls a yellow konpeito from his bowl. Reiner's thoughts instantly change course, eyes snapping to Eren's lips just as that little smirk appears. The smirk that makes Reiner want to win, leaving Eren unable to do anything but cling to him and moan.

Reiner hums, his lips curling into a smirk of his own as he considers his options, eyes rising to meet Eren's gaze. He could dare Eren to do all kinds of things. He could even make it something in the future—a dare that begins with, "The next time I'm inside you…"

But Reiner is a little too impatient for that. And he can think of one thing he's wanted to do but hasn't found it in himself to ask for just yet.

He steps forward, free hand rising to Eren's chin, thumb and forefinger tilting it slightly up. Then he leans in to kiss Eren, slowly and deliberately, tasting those wonderful, maddening lips. He could linger there for hours, but he has another plan in mind.

Gently, he tilts Eren's head to the side, lips dropping to the side of Eren's neck. Without speaking, he kisses the skin just beneath Eren's ear. Then he nips. Then he sucks, clearly intending to leave a mark.

[dreamsofwings]

Eren isn't even sure when he realised Gabi and Reiner were related. A lot of that is confused; he must have heard her name from Falco but didn't place her until later. Then he just didn't care. He's known here, and he knew Reiner mentioned her to him back in the flat's kitchen.

It's not really about her; it's about Eren not knowing if Reiner had family that cared about him. Not everyone did. Eren's blood family is dead. The chosen family he's gathered, Reiner already knows. There are things he knows about Reiner without having to ask, ways they are the same (or aren't). But the things that make up a life, a history...he doesn't know all of them yet. He surprises himself by wanting to.

Those things can come later, in a minute or a week or whenever.

Eren makes that smirk. Reiner watches his mouth. Familiar, repetitive, exactly what he wants.

He's surprised when Reiner straight up kisses him, right here in front of however many people. There's no shyness or pretence. There's no reason to hide, but they have hidden it (not well) up to now. And then Reiner kisses him and he takes a second to catch up. He only gets the barest taste of Reiner's lips before Reiner moves away from his mouth.

He doesn't resist, letting Reiner tilt his face. Then there are lips against his skin, then teeth. He has to bite his lip to keep from making an embarrassing sound loud enough for anyone other than Reiner to hear.

"What the hell kind of dare is this?" he asks, voice low and tight. Of course that combination of lips and teeth will leave a mark, but so what? It will fade quickly...

Oh.

Oh. It doesn't have to fade. He thinks he gets it, but he wants to hear Reiner say it.

[hometown]

In some ways, it's a reflection of that first kiss in the rain. Reiner's lips were on Eren's jawline back then, not his neck. (Although Reiner had wanted them on Eren's neck even then, that single raindrop driving him to madness.) One hand was clenched in Eren's, the other tangled in long, rain-damp hair. Reiner thought they were seconds away from violence; he thought he was losing his fucking mind.

Maybe he did lose it, in a way. Maybe he loses it a little more every time they're together, consumed by a craving (need) for Eren. Or maybe this is a different kind of madness, the sort that leaves him warm and tingling. The sort that people write and sing about. The sort that normal people can have.

Even Eren's words begin the same way as that first time: "What the hell." Only this time, there is an entirely different brand of tension in Eren's voice.

Reiner closes his eyes and gives a pleased hum, staying right where he is until he's certain there's a good mark. Then he places a gentle kiss on the mark—more of a peck, really, as if to seal it for luck—and lifts his lips to Eren's ear, another echo of that first time.

"Eren," he says, just to feel the name on his tongue. "I dare you to keep that mark for as long as you can."

It won't be forever, of course. Not even normal humans can keep a hickey forever. Just as long as Eren can.

[dreamsofwings]

Eren feels goosebumps rise along his shoulders at the way Reiner says his name. If only they weren't in public, then…

But they are, and he's not that desperate. A little, maybe. He can even admit it to himself, recognise how much he wants Reiner's touch. He told himself before it was just anyone's touch, some drive to feel alive and like a person and in his own body instead of a million miles away.

He can't lie to himself that well, though. He knows what he feels for Reiner, and Reiner's touch, isn't something he'd have for anyone who paid him any attention. It's different, somehow, because they're the same in too many ways. Maybe it's more than that; what does he know? He just knows this craving is specific to Reiner.

"I will," he says, not even bothering to mess around or tease. It does take work to not heal, even a small thing like this, but it's fine.

He pops the candy into his mouth, a burst of sugar like the others, then leans in to kiss Reiner again, his mouth still sweet for a moment.

[hometown]

No protesting, no teasing, no demands to know why Reiner chose such a dare. Eren simply accepts it, saying, "I will," as clear as day.

A profound sense of satisfaction swells in Reiner's chest, joined by a fierce brand of pride. He isn't entirely sure why, nor does he know precisely what appeals to him about this particular dare. Maybe he just wants to look at Eren and see evidence of what they are to each other—whatever that may be. Maybe it serves as proof that Eren wants to keep him, at least as long as the mark remains. Or maybe it has something to do with how difficult it is for such marks to remain on their skin, and the deliberate effort it takes.

Whatever the reasons, Reiner greedily accepts Eren's kiss, deepening it just enough to taste that burst of sweetness. Then he hums again, brushing the tips of their noses together, feeling loathe to pull away.

"Guess it's my turn, huh?"

Reluctantly, Reiner releases Eren's chin and takes a small step back, though he stands closer than before. He fishes in his bowl and holds up a green konpeito.

Well, that makes for a much easier dare than orange would. So that's what Reiner picks, meeting Eren's eyes as he says, "Dare."

cw implied sexual content

[dreamsofwings]

Eren is often self-aware but there's a limit. He doesn't know why he agrees so easily, without argument or challenge. It's a rare thing to keep a mark; the last time he kept any injury at all, it was because he had to, self-inflicted wounds he couldn't afford to let heal, leaving lingering pain for endless months.

This mark doesn't hurt. He can't really even feel it, but he knows it's there. And with his hair up, like it is now, like it usually is, other people will know it's there. Reiner chose a place his shirt won't cover. Maybe no one will know or bother to guess who put it there. But Eren and Reiner will both know. There's something about that, the blatant open secret of it, the sense of belonging, of flaunting the heat of Reiner's mouth on his skin.

Any deeper implications in his head will have to wait until later, alone in the dark or the shower or whatever. He thinks idly of how to do it back. Just asking Reiner to let him with no stakes isn't as fun. He'll think of something eventually.

Eren is loathe to let him pull away. He's so good at being unmoored in his head. There could just be no one else here but them. The rest of the world could catch fire around them and he wouldn't even blink. He'd keep right on staring at Reiner's golden eyes and nothing else, keep demanding more of his kisses and words and attention while everything else fell apart.

As always, in the end it's probably a good thing they weren't on the same side. Eren's destruction is bad enough when it's only him causing it.

His eyes flick down to Reiner's mouth to watch him say that one predictable word. Then they drift back up, one side of his mouth setting back into that smirk again.

He doesn't think before he talks, because he often doesn't bother to.

"Tell me what your favourite thing is that you've done with someone who isn't me," he says, "then let me do it better." Ah, right. He whispers the last part, "Dare you."

cw more implied sexual content

[hometown]

Reiner's eyes widen, desire as plain as the flush that touches the tips of his ears, spreading rapidly over his cheeks. Maybe he should have predicted something like this. But any such predictions would have involved words that made Reiner the active party, so to speak. Dares that involved him doing things to Eren, not having things done to him.

Instead, Eren flips it around. Makes it about Reiner's favorite thing, and Eren wanting to do it better. Not to mention the smirk and that damn whisper at the end.

Fuck, if they were alone right now…

It isn't often that Reiner becomes visibly flustered. Apparently, Eren has discovered at least one method of causing it.

"It sounds like you're getting a truth and a dare out of that one," Reiner points out. Not that he's objecting; not at all. His gaze drifts to the side, clearly thinking about it. Trying to remember something that stood out as a favorite.

Something comes to mind soon enough. Yet saying it feels … what? Selfish? Vulnerable? Reiner pushes those emotions aside, returning his eyes to Eren's.

"All right. Once, a guy took the time to find all the places on my body that drive me crazy—aside from the obvious one. He got me really close just from that." Reiner toys with the candy held between his fingers, then cocks his head to the side, cheeks still pink. "You still want me to accept that dare?"

[dreamsofwings]

Eren shrugs a shoulder. He knows exactly what he did, getting both things at once. Take, take, take.

But it's a win before Reiner even tells him what he's going to pick, with that blush on his face. Eren hasn't really managed to fluster Reiner the way Reiner flusters him. Reiner doesn't have the internal hangups he does, after all, and he's pretty sure Reiner has more experience. But for some reason, this thing trips him up. Interesting.

Eren's eyes flick down to the candy in Reiner's fingers. He tries not to mirror that flushed look, thinking about how he could go about doing what Reiner describes. Really, it's a good choice, and it's nothing weird or strenuous (not that Eren would care).

"Of course I do," he says, letting their eyes meet again.

He only looks away as long as is necessary to fish out a konpeito without dropping it. He holds it up between them. At least it's not pink again; that would dampen whatever mood this is.

Orange still seems impossible to do any dares with, so he's stuck saying, "Truth."

[hometown]

Reiner nods and pops the konpeito into his mouth, savoring the sugar that hits his tongue. It feels like sealing a promise. It is sealing one, even if that promise takes the form of a dare. At some point, Reiner will let Eren explore, touch, and tease as much as he pleases, and Eren will do his best to outdo Reiner's previous experience.

If not for the dare, would Reiner have ever shared how much he enjoyed that experience? Probably not. He tends to focus on his partners far more than himself; it wouldn't have occurred to him to share such a story.

Reiner doesn't share the fact that he's confident Eren will easily outdo that other guy. Namely, because Reiner can't even remember the guy's name. Anything Eren does will undoubtedly be better. Being with Eren, period, is just better.

As Eren picks out another konpeito, Reiner's blush gradually fades, his expression turning thoughtful. Another childhood question… Reiner knows how many potential pitfalls await him there. So he thinks for a moment before deciding on a question that he hopes won't sour the mood.

"All right," he says. "What was your favorite game to play as a kid?"

Did Eren even play games as a child? This seems like a good chance to find out.

[dreamsofwings]

Eren lets himself get a little distracted thinking about Reiner's dare. He played himself a little there, since now it's a challenge. Whoever that other guy is, he has to do better because he said he would.

It takes him a bit to pull himself together enough to consider the answer. But then he's not even sure. They did play games, but his childhood gets lost in the mire of memories. Is he thinking of his own childhood or someone else's? As a kid he ran wild a lot, got in fights, all of that. Somewhere, there must have been a game.

He's staring past Reiner at the wall for a long moment, that icy distance creeping onto his face as he sifts through whatever he can manage. Eventually he comes back to the present.

"Do you ever get anyone else's memories mixed up with your own?" he asks. He has no idea how titan shifters who don't have to deal with the Attack Titan manage. He knows Armin was affected by Bertholdt's memories, but that's about all he knows. He also has the War Hammer, though. He can't see the Founder's memories (usually? Unclear?) but he can see the War Hammer's in some vague sense. Hard to say which is which.

"When we were young we used to see who could steal something from Hannes. He and the other soldiers were drunk a lot since there was nothing for them to actually do. Only the Scouts really did anything."

There's bitterness in his tone at the end there, but that's old news.

"We'd always give things back but it was like his lunch box or a bottle or his keys or whatever. It was my idea but back then I could convince Armin or Mikasa to do stupid shit. I wasn't very good at being quiet, so I didn't usually win. If he caught us we just had to run real fast, but that wasn't hard."

He knows this is both stupid as hell and also not a real game, but he looks back on it fondly anyway. The world was simpler then.

Hannes was alive then.

"Good enough?"

[hometown]

As distance creeps into Eren's gaze, mesmerizing eyes staring past Reiner instead of at him, Reiner's stomach sinks. He must've picked a bad question. Must've tripped and fallen into one of those pitfalls despite his effort to avoid them.

It comes as no surprise, really. Reiner put a sudden and violent end to Eren's childhood, crashing into Eren's world and destroying whatever sense of security may have existed. It's probably fucked up for Reiner to ask any questions at all. He probably should've left it alone, regardless of what the konpeito indicated.

And yet, Reiner can't help wondering. He can't help wanting to know more about that time in Eren's life—and every other time. He can't help wanting to learn everything he can.

When Eren focuses on him again, the question that comes out of Eren's mouth takes Reiner by complete surprise. He's silent for a moment, long enough for Eren to begin answering properly. And while Reiner tries to pay attention, he's admittedly (and understandably) distracted as hell.

A game with a drunken soldier, Hannes. Soldiers who had nothing to do before the Warriors came. Eren coaxing Mikasa and Armin into mischief. Running. Playing.

A brief glimpse into a childhood that Reiner destroyed.

"Yeah, that's good," Reiner says. He's still watching Eren, gold eyes searching green, wondering how much Eren knows about inherited memories. Would explaining it help Eren? Hurt him? Fuck, does Eren even know who he ate?

Reiner's gaze drifts to the side, trying and failing to figure out how to explain his own issues with memory. It isn't that his predecessor's life presses in on Reiner; it's that Reiner can't keep track of his own life. Eren knows about that, at least in part. ("Just who do you think I am? Where are we, Reiner?") But does Eren understand how much time Reiner spends desperately trying to keep hold of who he is?

No, that's not what matters right now. What matters is that Eren is getting mixed up, confusing a predecessor's memories with his own, and he might not even know why it happens.

"… I don't know how much you know about those memories," Reiner finally says, his eyes meeting Eren's again. "Or how much you want to know. It's not pleasant."

[dreamsofwings]

For once, Eren isn't even thinking (much) about Reiner's involvement in his childhood. He was too busy trying to answer the question, trying to separate himself from Grisha/Kruger/Lara/countless others. He managed that much, it just took a little too long.

He tilts his head a little, eyes focused again as Reiner looks at him like that. Questioning. Shit, what did he do? He hadn't slid out of time for long, had he? He knows it happens, he just…well, if time is already sticky, how can he correctly gauge how long he drops out of it? He can't, not really.

He drops his own gaze. Now he's not sure what to reveal. They're at odds about this, how much to say, unsure of what the other knows.

"I know more than you think," he says, which is almost diplomatic for Eren. "Don't worry about telling me how it works. I just…wanted to know if it got confusing for you too, I guess."

[hometown]

Eren's first words aren't much of an answer at all. Far too vague for Reiner to do anything with them. How is he supposed to know how much Eren thinks he knows? It's a headache waiting to happen, likely leading to frustration sooner rather than later.

Thankfully, Eren continues talking. Questions bloom in Reiner's mind, one after the next. When did Eren find out about the memories? How did he learn about how they work? Does Eren genuinely know, or is he running on assumptions and guesses?

If Eren were fifteen and spitting vengeance, Reiner would assume he was full of shit. But despite Reiner's questions, he believes what Eren is saying. Or at least, he believes that Eren believes it.

So Reiner wets his lips, momentarily hesitating as he figures out how to phrase things.

"Sometimes," he admits, "back when I was younger and wasn't used to it. I'd turn down streets thinking I was walking home, then find that my key didn't fit in the lock. Or I'd see someone I thought I recognized, but they only knew me by my armband."

Does Eren even know about Eldian armbands…? Reiner shrugs as if brushing it aside, his eyes growing distant. It's been a long time since he thought about those initial months after inheriting his Titan.

"It was all 'within expected parameters,'" he continues. (The quote is audible; Reiner remembers that line well, even if he can't remember who said it.) "Inheritance is structured and closely monitored. We weren't allowed to stay confused for long; we had to adapt."

Failure to do so would have meant removal from the program. And at that stage, it would be a literal death sentence.

"It got easier after a while. I didn't really know my predecessor, so there weren't many common memories to get confused." Reiner pauses, then huffs with something like amusement, gaze drifting to the side. "Not until I was field-tested, anyway. It turns out the Armored Titan has soaked up artillery fire for a very long time."

He falls silent, then shakes his head, eyes returning to Eren. "Sorry, that was long-winded. Two rounds left, right?"

sorry this is so tl;dr

[dreamsofwings]

Eren might answer some of those questions someday, but for now he's glad Reiner doesn't grill him. They're playing a game, after all. He just got lost in time like he sometimes does. He's better now, probably.

He thinks back to the blackout amount of time that existed after he ate his father in the woods. There's a whirling mix of blame, fear, misunderstanding, rage. He knows it's his own fault. He knows that. He just doesn't know how, exactly. There's a hole in his memory, a purposeful one, but he can't do anything to reclaim it, to walk through a door he has chosen never to walk through.

What did he really know in those hours afterward? Who did he think he was? Maybe that's all unrecoverable anyway. Maybe there is no way to know what it was like to have all that time and memory shoved into his brain. Monster or otherwise, he had been a child then, woefully unprepared for what would come next, haunted for years by his father's actions (and inaction), the way his father cried, the way he was alone afterwards.

Something he has that Reiner does not, of course, is the power of the Attack Titan kept secret from Marley for all these generations. He knew the future from that day. He just didn't know he knew. It had been kept from him. He had kept it from himself? There's no way to think about it that doesn't end in a circle he still only mostly understands.

He thinks about Lara Tybur's memories, hitting him all at once because he was already a titan shifter. There was no period of uncertainty or not knowing, just the rush of two thousand years of other people's shit flowing into his already tired brain. Has he ever actually dealt with that? Jury's out!

Reiner and the other Warriors at least knew something about what they were in for. But there's something almost relieving to know that it was confusing for Reiner at first, too. It wasn't just some deficiency of Eren's, something he'd done wrong, or even something that happened because he'd had two titans from the beginning. People are not designed to hold that much memory all at once. No one can hold all that horror, generations of families cannibalising one another for power, whether under their own desire or someone else's. All that horror made Eren what he is, whether he sees it or not.

"You have to remember a lot of damage," Eren says, only half-aware he said it out loud. Aren't they a pair, as usual? Eren, remembering destruction upon destruction from the Attack Titan and the War Hammer, though the War Hammer was such a well-kept secret for so long and the Attack Titan had slipped through Marley's grasp long before Grisha had it. Reiner, remembering countless generations of people serving as shields as much as anything.

He shakes his head in answer.

"I asked," he says, simply. And now he knows. He doesn't mind the long explanation. He doesn't offer anything up in return, though. Of course he doesn't.

"I didn't mean to make things weird," he adds, which is true. It just sort of happens to him.

"Your go. Pick a colour."