Chapter Text
Ah, the smell of grass. Not grass as in the weed, the drug, grass as in bovine’s favorite food. Tiny molecules of flowers filing people’s nostrils, similar to the smell of doctor’s mask during the plagues. Cows mooing, birds chirping, leaves dancing on the branches of their trees, that is indeed the countryside if you walked far away from your village.
Reiner Braun had imagined it as such, maybe even worse, greatly surprised the Wi-Fi isn’t as bad as it could have been.
He had arrived 4 days ago, living in his grandparents’ house for the summer, working with the local baker, Niccolo Braus, sharpening his taste and technique. And feeding his wife’s belly. He met her once, he could never forget the audacity she had to offer him barely a quarter of her cake, presenting it as ‘a half’. Sasha was her name, he recalled.
The plan was to let Gabi spend the summer here with their grandparents, and Reiner would move in as well for the conveniency. However the elders forgot to mention they had a cruise planned, leaving Gabi under the care of her older cousin. They had mentioned something about getting away from all the noises, deserving a little peace, even if to be honest, Reiner didn’t associate peace and cruises. And either way, that was extremely rude of them, and his mother had a long and not extremely mature conversation with them, but oh well, Gabi seemed excited to spend time with her favorite cousin anyways.
The first couple of days, Reiner remained alone, unpacking the few boxes he brought with him with the help of his new boss, the curly haired man insisted them being colleagues and friends rather than boss and employee.
Reiner had also seen the bakery, it was perfectly maintained, clean and shining from every corner, the smell of yeast replacing the perfume of the local flora. He quickly caught on new habits, listening to Mr. Braus advices, tips, and instructions, learning to not question his neighbors when he heard through the walls of their semi-detached houses… noises. He met the other associate of Niccolo, another blond man, however, he hadn’t really stayed long enough for them to become that much acquainted, proven by Reiner’s ignorance of the youngest male’s name.
On the third day, Gabi walked through the door of his new, but ironically very ancient, home. Which they didn’t stay in much long, as the little girl got too excited to visit the picturesque town. Walking through unfamiliar streets, waving to old people, visiting shops, to Reiner, it was the most fun he’s had in months. The next day, he was back to being an exhausted tired 26-year-old, old, old man. Responsibilities finally introducing themselves.
As a baker, he needed to wake up early, no big deal, as long as he didn’t wake Gabi. What was hard to accomplish was falling asleep. With the damn… noises. He needed that sleep, but more importantly, had to preserve Gabi’s innocence. He would never mention this sound as anything else but inconvenient noises.
So there he was. About to knock on his neighbors door, asking them to be a little bit quieter, as in, stop fucking. Literally. In the process, Reiner felt a tad guilty, these people could just be elders enjoying the last times of… fun, they had.
Thankfully, it was Thursday, the only day the bakery dared to take a break on, and only in summer, because of the heat! Niccolo Braus really liked his job, didn’t he? True, there was actually another bakery, but it mostly served as a butcher shop, but… Right! Knocking on the door to tell the hopefully not assholes couple! And with a deep breathe, the blond man knocked on the flower-decorated wooden door in front of him.
“…Ymir!” At the doorstep, Reiner could hear a laughing fit, a woman’s angelic giggle slowly walking closer to the door. “Stop, someone’s at the door- yes, of course I’ll answer, hah!”
The lock clicked, Reiner’s heart rapidly sped up, because he was about to tell a Goddess not to fuck. Seriously. The woman in front of her was a delight to watch, long silky blonde hair, so many blonds by the way, ocean deep eyes, seemingly holding every secret of the world, soft pink lips, fuck! His bisexuality was playing a trick on him, even if he wanted, this… divinity was already in a relationship. Wait, no staring, that’s disturbing.
“Yes, hello…?” As small as she is, she didn’t hesitate to look up, not intimidated one bit by Reiner’s bulky presence. Suddenly, her eyes lit up. “Oh, sorry, you must be our new neighbor, yes?”
Reiner simply nodded, thinking how he should bring the subject up. The door opened slightly more, another woman came into view. Wait. Oh. Oh fuck, Reiner’s going to seem like a huge homophobic asshole, isn’t he? Well, time to just, walk away-
The taller woman, most likely Ymir, spoke up. “Hey man, what’s up, took four days for us to see that… bearded face of yours.” It’s not that hairy, thought Reiner.
“Well, I have been busy, moving in, unpacking, already meeting with Mr. Braus, or, Niccolo, as he likes it, ah, uhm, I’m Reiner Braun, nice to meet you, please call me Reiner.” Offered Reiner with a slight smile. “Also, not so much of a new neighbor, my grandparents actually let me borrow the house.”
“Nice to meet you too, Reiner, I’m Historia, and this is Ymir, I hope we get along!” The woman named Historia smiled. “Oh, so they’re just on a vacation then?” Reiner nodded to this. “I hope they’ll have fun!”
“Eh, your name and Niccolo’s almost the same.” Mumbled the taller woman
“Ah, yes, sure, let’s all get along.” Now, how to bring up-
His own door barged opened, an overly excited Gabi jumping off the doorstep. “Reiner, Reiner, Reiner!” Quick as a bullet, she came up to her cousin, hugging his waist. “Let’s roll on your rolling chair, I want to beat your best score!” Totally no filter, blunt and needy as ever, just how Reiner likes seeing Gabi. She really was his ray of sunshine, happiness, and energy. “Oh, uh, hi, hello, ladies!” She bowed slightly, earning an awe from the couple.
Perfect. “And I should introduce you Gabi, she’s my cousin, she’ll be staying here with me, I apologize in advance for the ruckus she might cause!” At this, the little brunette pouted. “If you ever hear any, how to put it, loud noises, just guess it’s Gabi rolling down the hall.”
Reiner could only imply, saying it out blandly would fight the purpose of asking their neighbors to stay discreet. The brunette woman raised a brow. “Right, loud noises, because the walls are… thin.” Thankfully, Ymir had caught on. “Yeah, of course, it’s no problem anyways, your cousin might finally bring excitement in this lousy town.”
“Ymir, it’s our vacation home, we spend numerous days here, if you didn’t like it, we could have changed sooner!” Intervened Historia.
“Oh, no, of course not my Historia!” Yup, ‘my Historia’, no way they would be ‘just’ friends. “We should go to another honeymoon after this one!” Well, Reiner sure as hell was overloading with happiness for those two. “Hey, creep, stop staring at us, you’ve never seen lesbians or what?”
“Oh, no, no, far from it, I’m very happy for you, -“
“I’m also happy, like, really, I wish Reiner would move his butt and go to honeymoons!” Gabi interfered, tired of staying quiet.
“Now, now, Gabi, we don’t need to talk about this.” Reiner defended, and all three females raised their eyebrows, in Ymir’s case, just one, what a damn power move though. “Anyways, we should go and prepare lunch, I’m sure you’re hungry, Gabi, alright?”
Before Gabi could respond, Historia interjected. “Oh, I’m preparing lunch, Ymir can testify, I’m sure there’ll be enough for the four of us, of course, you can decline, I’d just be happy to learn more about my new neighbors.” She gave an innocent grin, melting everyone’s heart and warming their souls. How could he ever say no to her? Despite Ymir’s protests, minimal and most likely just because it’s her personality, Gabi pleaded Reiner to say yes, he would have agreed anyway.
So there he was, in front of two lovebirds, Ymir continually flirting, and Historia flashing her smile and singing her laughs. Thank God, Gabi was physically here, mentally in her tummy, Reiner would have felt very inappropriate coming here. Time to make conversation.
“So, you’ve been coming here often?” Started Reiner. “Is there anything to recommend?” Because a spirit such as Gabi needed to stay entertained.
“Oh, yes!” Historia replied instantly, Ymir giving her a puppy face to get back her attention and, probably, playfully snarling at Reiner. “There’s this weekly market, every Saturday, everyone just sells what they have, usually it’s a family thing, it’s mostly food, like chicken, eggs, fruits… but there are also handcrafted objects or furniture, trinkets and more!”
“Really a grand-parents thing, but Historia always finds what she needs there, and makes delicious food, but, oh well, I’m sure a baker can do something half as good as my Historia’s food.”
“Yeah he can, he’ll make something even better than your Historia, because Reiner’s amazing at everything!” Gabi exclaimed, trying to get taller on her chair. “And one day, I’ll be as awesome as him!”
Before Ymir could get her snarky remark out, Historia gently elbowed her, asking for Gabi to tell her more about her cousin, who was by now embarrassed as if his mother had started telling awkward stories about his childhood. Which wasn’t far from reality. He was glad Gabi admired him, but it started to borderline obsession. “Alright Gabi, I’m sure Historia and Ymir heard enough,”
“Oh, Braun, how could I ever get bored of hearing you exploits,” teased Ymir. “You better show me that German Supplex some time around.”
Lunch was lively to say the least. Historia spent a little more time describing the village and the customs, it was a quiet town, lots of elderly people, but usually full of grandchildren and family during the summer, or just tourists looking for a little calm.
Unfortunately, every good thing, relative as they are, comes to an end. “Well, I think it’s time for us to go, it was delicious, thank you again for the invitation.”
“It was a pleasure to have you here, please come again, or maybe we’ll see each other at the market?”
Reiner nodded and bid his goodbyes, waiting for Gabi and Ymir to stop bickering, or talking, not sure. Saturday then, an important day in town, it would be the perfect time to get used to the faces around him, get familiar and maybe make some friends other than his neighbors and boss. And maybe find a kid around Gabi’s age, that would help him a lot to have someone play with Gabi while he worked at Mr. Braus’ bakery.
And the good news were the neighbors seemingly understanding they should be a little quieter, so mission accomplished!
“Reiner, are you up for rolling or you still too busy staring at your carton?”
Still so many boxes to unpack. Not that much, but enough to hurt Reiner’s back.
“I’ll show you how to rock n’ roll!” As if rolling down a corridor on a rolling chair wasn’t going to hurt his spine.
Soon enough, Saturday came, too fast to Reiner’s taste. Nevertheless, he was eager to go to the weekly market, Niccolo told him he’d have to go there get ingredients every Saturday anyways, wanting his colleague to familiarize with the locals. Gabi jumped from excitement as well, hoping to make a friend, her cousin was great but his age and work restrained his fun.
“Gabi, don’t walk too far away, alright?” She was way too curious for her own good, and slightly naïve. “If you ever see something you want, keep it in your mind, we’ll see when I got everything Niccolo needs, alright?”
“Yeah, okay, but you don’t need to baby me!”
Reiner smiled, that’s right, she wasn’t the gabbling infant he had known for so long. As he walked out in the street, he held her hand, and smiled. “But you’re my little baby cousin what else am I supposed to do?”
“Well, treat me like an adult!”
“Do you want to pay taxes and not hold hands with me?”
“…No, I never said that!”
Out in the morning, they shared a laugh, walking down the road, neighbors getting out of their homes, ready to go to the main plaza. It may be early, however the heat of July was already carried out by the wind, forcing some to wear lighter clothes. At least sunglasses weren’t yet needed.
The marketplace appeared rather small, people bumping into each other, hunting the best products, circling back and forth to different stalls, though without those, the place would seem much bigger. It sure was a change to see this many people, and Reiner, confident in his social skills, walked in, Gabi still beside him, smiling brightly, the taller blond reciprocating a smaller one.
There were many stands dedicated to food, whether it’d be fruits, vegetables, or homemade cooking like marmalades, cheeses, and more. A smaller part sold handmade productions, bags, utensils, kitchen silverware, you get the idea. And the rest were the only ones selling their own type of products, the Mayor’s family sold wine for example. Funny enough, mayor Jäger seemed in deep conversation with Niccolo’s assistant, who now Reiner knew the name, Colt Grice.
Next to the two men, a small boy stood a few feet away, clearly too young to be drinking. Grice’s brother? That would be convenient.
“Hey, Colt.”
“Oh, who- oh, Reiner!” The younger man then quickly introduced everyone, avoiding any confusion, as he was the only one to know the rest of them. “And, this is my younger brother, Falco,” He turned to his sibling, grinning. “Hey, you and Gabi could hang out, you wouldn’t get bored watching birds anymore.”
“I’m not bored when I watch them, it’s literally called birdwatching, it’s a real hobby-!” Gasped Falco, obviously offended, while Gabi found the situation amusing, snorting a laugh.
“Sounds boring,” During the exchange, the mayor had already left to deal with another customer. “Shouldn’t you be filling Nic’s commission?”
“Right, I won’t bother you anymore, Gabi,-“
“No, wait, walking around is actually boring, can I stay with Falco instead?”
It caught everyone by surprise, especially Falco, no one had expressed the want to hang out with him, Udo and Zophia stayed alongside him sometimes at school, but they’ve never truly connected together. “Yeah, I’d like to stay with Gabi too, sorry Colt, watching you argue about wine really isn’t, uhm, a thing, I like… Can I just go?”
“Yeah, sure, if Reiner’s okay with it?”
“Yeah, just stay together and don’t go out of the marketplace, here,” The older cousin gave the younger one a bit of pocket money. “If you don’t spend it all, you can keep the rest, once I’m done, I’ll come look for you here, I suppose you’ll stay around here, Colt?” The latter nodded. “Rendezvous point is Colt, got that?”
“Aye, sir!” Replied Gabi, grinning, playfully saluting. Reiner ruffled her hair and off they went, Falco barely keeping up with the brunette.
“Ah, younglings, what I wouldn’t do to be young again.”
“You wouldn’t be able to drink, Colt.”
“Right!” Exclaimed the older Grice. “Then no, whatever, but anyways, I’ll let you go, don’t want Nic to be mad at cha’, bye!” Colt waved at Reiner, understanding the smaller man would now argue with the Mayor about the color of the wine. Reiner didn’t know two things about alcohol.
Everybody was just so nice, not a single conversation went badly, it was easy to talk to any of them and get everything Niccolo had requested Reiner to get. He even met Historia, basket full of fruits hanging from her frail arm, they chatted briefly, as she had to get back home to Ymir.
“Ah, Historia, quick question before you go,” Historia, polite as ever, turned back to Reiner. “Could you tell me where you bought those berries?”
“Oh sure, the blueberries and blackberries are from the Leonhart’s stands, just beside them, the Hoovers sell the raspberries and currants, they also sell other things, they’re close to the South exist, you can ask around if you have trouble finding them.” She smiled once again. How many of those angelic grins did she have in stock? “They’re fantastic, I’m glad you asked actually!”
Reiner thanked he and parted ways. He rapidly found the stands he had been looking for, noticing the Leonhart stall was held by a blonde girl, so many blonds, oh, seems like a thought he already had, and honestly, Reiner could make Gabi practice her math by calculating the percentage of fair-headed people in this town. Hoover’s, however, seemed to be held by an older man, dozing off. As to not disturb the tired man, the baker went to the woman’s stall. They politely exchanged quiet hello’s, Reiner choosing to take blackberries for Gabi.
“Excuse me, is the man beside you alright?”
“Don’t worry, he’s just sleeping and if you want something from them, I can-“
Suddenly, loud steps and an exhausted voice rang through the Southern street, a man carrying a huge crate of beans ran towards them.
“It’s alright, Annie, I’m here, I’m here!” Shouted desperately the running person.
“Ah, that’s the old man’s son, he’s the one to actually sell the merchandise.” Said the woman, nonchalantly.
The poor man sweated as if he had ran a marathon, carefully placed his crate down on the front table of the stand, and leaned onto it, catching his breath. “Sorry, sorry, oh, god, let me-“ The blonde woman smirked, repressing a teasing comment. “Hi, uhm, how may I help you?” The brunette finally stood in all his sweaty might in front of Reiner.
Reiner Braun was huge, that’s a fact, and it wasn’t everyday Reiner had to look up to talk to someone. Unquestionably, the brunette was tall, but not only that, despite his moisture and exhausted expression, he had wonderful features, his olive eyes slightly leaning to a dark turquoise color, such peculiar eyes, glinted with a faint sense of wonder, trying his best to recognize Reiner who he had never seen before, a touch of fright, as if he was guilty of forgetting a face he had seen just now. His thin lips trembled, restraining with difficulty the ragged breaths of the brunette, they seemed dry, even with the man’s attempt to moist them when passing his tongue on them.
And regardless of appearing not quite athletic from the run and rough breathing, the man was most likely capable and strong, having a slight built of working in gardens and fields, just probably not really into cardio. Reiner could honestly go on, but just like how he was with Historia the first time he’d seen her, he’d give the impression he was a creep. He barely met the guy, that wasn’t the moment to admire a stranger!
“Ah, uhm, I’ve heard your berries are fantastic, from a friend!” Where did his social skills go?
“… Oh, uh, would you, like some?” Unfortunately, it seemed Hoover’s own abilities were inexistant as well. “I mean, buy, of course!”
“Yeah, I’ll take a kilogram of any type of fruits you have!” Replied the bigger man quickly, way too quickly, like an excited but anxious kid going to get his happy meal at McDonald’s.
As her friend weighted the fruits, Annie Leonhart stared quietly at the men. She wasn’t good at small talk, neither was Bertholdt, but she would not dare interfere between the two, one day she won’t be there to save her friend’s ass. She shrugged, deciding to let fate decide whatever happens, already planning to castrate anyone playing with the brunette’s heart. Yeah, already thinking this far ahead, not her fault if Bertholdt was predictable and as easy to read as a child’s book.
To Annie, L stands for Loathing. Not a reference to a famous musical. Never.
“Thanks for buying, hope you come by again next week.” Bertholdt had suddenly spoken up, piercing Annie’s bubble of thought.
“Ah, yes, with pleasure, Mr. Hoover, was it?” Trying to be polite, uh, stranger? Thought the impassive woman.
“Oh, please call me Bertholdt, like everyone else, you’re new here, aren’t you?”
Oh god, small talk, Bert is totally messing that up at some point.
The blond man, whose name still remained a mystery to both of the locals, nodded, explained why he had come here of all places. Something about a cousin and Potato girl’s husband.
“Yes, I thought so, I hope you enjoy your stay, uhm, …?”
“Oh, Reiner!” Abruptly exclaimed ‘Reiner’. “Braun, Reiner Braun, sorry.”
Oh god, the hunk was part of the Braun’s family, Annie remembers her father dragging her ass to eat with this old couple that could not for the love of God shut up.
“Right, Reiner, uhm, good name, I’d say.”
Please stop this torture, thought Annie, desperate for a customer to keep her focused and far from whatever those two had been having for a conversation. Usually, she wouldn’t have a problem spacing out, somehow she couldn’t keep herself from ‘eavesdropping’, if you could call it that.
“Thanks.” Replied quietly Reiner. This was extremely embarrassing for him, he could feel the death glare of Bertholdt’s friend on him, wishing he could just leave, end this conversation that wasn’t as unpleasant as it sounded like.
Bertholdt smiled clumsily from his own embarrassment “You’re welcome…?” Bertholdt was terrible at talking in general, social interaction wasn’t his forte. If only he knew how to talk properly, he wouldn’t be making a fool of himself in front of Reiner. Please, someone, Annie, save me, anyone?
As if on cue, Gabi came running to her cousin, screaming his name, with an exhausted Falco trailing behind her. “Look what I bought!” She yelled, hand rose up in the air holding a wooden bird sculpture.
Thank God, thought the three adults at the same time, Annie adding a well-placed curse.
Reiner chuckled, scratching the back of his neck. “I guess I’ve got to go now, see you next Saturday Bertholdt?”
“Sure, have a nice day, Reiner!”
The two friends watched the customer walk away with the children by his sides, telling him all about the food they bought, not a penny left, Bertholdt’s ears catching Reiner’s laugh faint through the crowd. He stayed there, staring at the horizon, lips tight.
“Bertholdt.”
“Uh, yeah, what is it Annie?” The tall man replied slowly, not taking his eyes off from where Reiner stood last.
“Forget him, he’ll leave by the time you decide to talk to him again.”
The brunette sighed, his posture slouching a bit as he looked up lazily to the sky. “I know, I know, it’s not like I would chase someone I only know the name of.”
“… You’re an excellent shooter, but a dumbass, that’s why you never take the shot until someone tells you or forces you to do it,” Annie’s watched Bertholdt forget about every one of his crushes, never stepping up, letting them go. God, he was pathetic. “I could care less about this guy, but you do, so, I don’t know, ask him out.” Talking was exhausting, the sooner this market ended, the better she’d feel.
“I don’t even know if he likes men, Annie, for all I know he could have a girlfriend!”
“You’re just stupid in my opinion, but sure, blind yourself to the point you won’t even try to know if he actually does or not,”
“But,”
“No but’s, my tongue is tired, take out that broom out of your ass and do something for once, case closed, don’t talk about it anymore, not to me.” And finally, peace, only if you ignored Bertholdt’s fuming brain.