Not forever, Reiner says. Eren takes that at face value. How do you process this weird sort of grief, anyway? Eren isn't sure. There's a friend he misses, back in Folkmore, whose loss in his life he has never dealt with. He's the one who left, technically, but that doesn't mean he doesn't think about Gideon. Does she miss him? Will she care that he's not there? No way to know.
"I know. How could you expect it?" he says, softly. "That happened to me a bunch of times back in Folkmore. Someone was there and then you just woke up and…they weren't there anymore. I wasn't as close to anyone there like you were with them, though."
That's true, but it doesn't mean he never wondered after any of them.
He turns his face into Reiner's neck, also breathing him in. He knows Reiner's scent well, the lingering ozone tang of what they are, that soap he likes, and just Reiner. Neither of them has to smell like blood anymore, like war and death. In Eren's mixed up memory he remembers the scent of the harsh laundry soap on their training uniforms, the leather and gas from the ODM. Reiner doesn't smell like that anymore either. Eren hasn't in years.
"You better not turn to stone on me," he says. It could be a threat, because he's Eren, though he doesn't mean it with teeth. Isn't that leaving, too? He doesn't really know what happens after you turn to stone. Is it like Annie in a crystal for years, aware enough to hear Armin's voice? Or is it like the quiet solitude of death? Is that what happens when you die? Eren still doesn't know. He can't imagine death is peaceful, when so much of it around him has been violent.
Eren is in less danger of becoming stone himself, because Armin wouldn't let him. Reiner wouldn't let him, either, if Reiner wasn't caught up in his own shit.
"You can call me," he says. "I'll come."
He doesn't quantify it. He was willing to follow Reiner into the segments even when he wasn't sure Reiner really wanted or needed his company. Eren is all in or he's radio silence. He never does anything by halves.
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"I know. How could you expect it?" he says, softly. "That happened to me a bunch of times back in Folkmore. Someone was there and then you just woke up and…they weren't there anymore. I wasn't as close to anyone there like you were with them, though."
That's true, but it doesn't mean he never wondered after any of them.
He turns his face into Reiner's neck, also breathing him in. He knows Reiner's scent well, the lingering ozone tang of what they are, that soap he likes, and just Reiner. Neither of them has to smell like blood anymore, like war and death. In Eren's mixed up memory he remembers the scent of the harsh laundry soap on their training uniforms, the leather and gas from the ODM. Reiner doesn't smell like that anymore either. Eren hasn't in years.
"You better not turn to stone on me," he says. It could be a threat, because he's Eren, though he doesn't mean it with teeth. Isn't that leaving, too? He doesn't really know what happens after you turn to stone. Is it like Annie in a crystal for years, aware enough to hear Armin's voice? Or is it like the quiet solitude of death? Is that what happens when you die? Eren still doesn't know. He can't imagine death is peaceful, when so much of it around him has been violent.
Eren is in less danger of becoming stone himself, because Armin wouldn't let him. Reiner wouldn't let him, either, if Reiner wasn't caught up in his own shit.
"You can call me," he says. "I'll come."
He doesn't quantify it. He was willing to follow Reiner into the segments even when he wasn't sure Reiner really wanted or needed his company. Eren is all in or he's radio silence. He never does anything by halves.