Chapter Text
Reiner was floating, the dark abyss holding him gently. He was peaceful, gently floating.
Scratchy…
Subconsciously, he frowned; he wasn’t supposed to feel anything… so why-
Hot…
No, that wasn’t right. He was floating in a warm cocoon, uncaring about the world around him. He was content.
Uncomfortable…
Apparently, he was not content. His mind flashed with different sensations; something was irritating him- his nose and his throat. His skin felt wrong and worse of all…
He was fucking HOT!
Reiner’s eyes flew open; he was sweating and very uncomfortable. There was something beside him; it was extremely hot. He needed to get away from it, and he needed to get away from it now!
Being very rational in his sleepy state, he did the only thing he could think of.
He shoved it.
It landed on the ground with a thump. The sudden movement agitated Reiner’s lungs, and he started coughing. It was a wet cough, but he couldn’t seem to dislodge anything from his chest. Great, just great, he thought miserably.
He groaned and flopped back down on the bed. He noticed movement in his peripheral vision. He turned and saw two eyes, annoyance palpable, staring back at him. He blankly watched the eyes for a moment, trying to process what he was seeing. From what he could tell, the eyes belonged to Bertolt, his long-time friend and newly appointed boyfriend, and for some odd reason Bertolt was on the ground. Only his eyes were visible from the side of the bed, and they were decidedly unhappy.
“Whatcha doing down there?” Reiner asked, confused. The floor didn’t look very comfortable, but he wasn’t about to judge Bertolt for his peculiar preferences.
“You tell me,” Came the grouchy response. “One moment I was happily asleep, next to my boyfriend whom I thought loved me. The next, I’m being shoved out of bed by a traitor.”
Reiner stared at him for a moment, confusion still present when he remembered what had woken him up... It must have been Bertolt’s high body heat.
“Oh… my bad.” Reiner sounded slightly contrite, but not enough for Bertolt to believe him.
“Yeah, sure.”
“It was only instinct, I swear. It felt like I was burning up!”
Bertolt crossed his arms; he normally would have been more understanding, but being groggy and on the floor tended to lessen a person’s patience. He had been peacefully sleeping, cuddling close to Reiner, when he had been rudely awakened as his ass was shoved onto the floor. He couldn’t say he was very fond of that wake-up technique.
As Bertolt sat pouting on the floor, Reiner had started to make a wheezing sound, and his face was scrunched up. Startled, Bertolt peeked back over the edge of the bed. Reiner was lying on his back, breathing loudly. Bertolt reached out and poked his arm.
“Ow.” Reiner croaked. Bertolt winced at the sound of his voice.
“That didn’t hurt. Also, you were making a weird noise. I just wanted to make sure you were okay.”
Bertolt began to pull his arm back when Reiner grabbed his hand and brought it up to cradle his face, forcing Bertolt up into a crouched position beside the bed. “I’m fine… I think. You should come back up here and check, though.”
“I thought you were hot?”
“Not as hot as you.” Reiner winked.
Bertolt blushed softly and moved to stand up from his crouched position. He sat on the edge of the bed and moved his hand from Reiner’s cheek to his forehead. Reiner didn’t feel warm to him, but since he was always hotter than the average person, he wasn’t sure how much to trust that assessment. But the information might comfort Reiner, so he told him anyway.
“Hmm… you seem like a normal temperature to me.”
“I don’t feel too bad right now; must have just been all the blankets and curled up next to you that did it.”
“Yeah, maybe.” Bertolt wasn’t fully convinced; Reiner still sounded like he had swallowed a handful of gravel. “You sound like shit though.”
“Wow, thanks.” Reiner threw a glare his way.
“Just being honest.” Reiner huffed and rolled onto his side, facing the wall and showing Bertolt his back. “Oh, c’mon Rei, I’m sorry. I wasn’t trying to be mean.” Bertolt pulled out the childhood nickname, hoping it would earn him some pity.
“I don’t sound like shit…” Reiner grumbled, pity nowhere to be seen.
Bertolt groaned quietly to himself; he hated when Reiner got like this. He immediately chastised himself; from how he sounded and how he was acting, it seemed like Reiner was sick. Which usually meant his emotions were out of whack; he couldn’t help how he was reacting. Bertolt was sure he was a pain in Reiner’s ass when he was sick, and his sickness always lasted longer. It would only be for a day; he could handle that.
“No, you don’t; you sound sick. I’m just concerned is all.” Bertolt reached out and started to rub his back soothingly.
Reiner stayed stubbornly silent. Bertolt scooted closer to him on the bed, not realizing the trap he had fallen into.
Reiner grinned, feeling the bed shift. His reflexes weren’t in tip-top shape currently, but he had the element of surprise on his side. He lunged at Bertolt and latched on. He locked his fingers and braced his arms as Bertolt realized his mistake and started to squirm.
“Reiner?! Wha-“ He struggled to break Reiner’s grip. “I’m pretty sure you’re sick, so why the hell is your grip so strong?! Get off!”
“Nope, you’re stuck with me.” He taunted, leaning in to kiss Bertolt’s cheek.
“Ew, your breath fucking stinks!”
“Stuck with me, forever and ever,” Reiner said in a sing-song voice before the struggle forced him into a coughing fit… into the back of Bertolt’s neck.
“You’re so gross! I swear I’m going to-“ Reiner cut him off before he could finish his threat.
“You wouldn’t leave me while I’m sick, would you?” Reiner asked, making sure his face was in Bertolt’s view, his eyes wide and pleading. Bertolt knew he was being played, but he fell for it anyway.
He sighed, “No, never.” He relaxed into the hold. Reiner grinned and nuzzled his neck.
“Uh, guys…” Bertolt and Reiner looked up to find the rest of the barracks staring at them. They had apparently woken everyone else up. Bertolt desperately pushed at Reiner’s arms, trying to free himself, but it was in vain. The amount of attention was making him uncomfortable. The same could not be said for Reiner, who held on tighter, unabashedly staring back at the room.
“What?” He prompted, his voice receiving a few sympathy winces.
“You sound terrible.” Jean snarked.
“At least I only sound like this when I’m sick, unlike you.” Reiner shot back, his annoyance bleeding through. His comeback earned a snort from Eren and a nasty look from Jean.
Marco grabbed Jean’s arm as a warning, as Bertolt muttered, “Be nice,” from his position in Reiner’s arms.
“Me be nice? What about him?” Reiner forgot he was supposed to be holding Bertolt hostage and threw his arms in the air. Bertolt instantly took advantage of his distraction and escaped Reiner’s hold, putting a respectable distance between them. Reiner pouted. “Damn… um… long shot, but… come back?”
Bertolt smiled, shaking his head. “Not a chance.”
Reiner looked like a kicked puppy; it tugged at Bertolt’s heartstrings, but some tactics only worked once. Unfortunately for him, it worked more than it should have. Since he was, at his core, a sucker for Reiner. He reached out, wary, taking hold of Reiner’s hand. Reiner smiled and took his hand, happy enough with the outcome.
“Are… Are you two coming to breakfast?” Marco asked, trying to muffle his laughter. They turned back towards the group, who were still watching them with varying expressions.
“Yup, let's go.” Reiner stood quickly and had to hold onto Bertolt to stop the world from spinning.
“I-I don’t think that’s a good idea... Maybe you should rest…” Bertolt cautioned.
“Nope, I’m hungry. Let’s go.” He got changed and walked out the door, forcing Bertolt- who was desperately wishing he was more assertive- to follow him.
-=-
Reiner and Bertolt had arrived later than most of the others. They grabbed their food before there wasn’t any left and went to sit with Marco, Jean, Connie and Sasha.
“And then he threw a punch, but it was one of the slowest punches I’ve ever seen!” Connie’s arm moved in slow-motion as he demonstrated. The table laughed quietly as the other two walked up.
“I thought he was fine, to be honest, until he had his coughing fit and Reiner came to take him away,” Marco added.
“Hey guys.” He greeted the table, sliding into the bench beside Connie. Bertolt slid in beside him.
“Hey Reiner, Bertolt. Are you feeling any better, Reiner?”
“He’s not feeling well?” Sasha cut in.
“Of course he’s not; just listen to him. He sounds terrible.” Jean smirked. Reiner’s annoyance spiked, and he had to hold his tongue. He frowned slightly; his anger wasn’t normally on this short a fuse.
“I’m fine, Sasha, just a little bit of a sore throat.”
“You do sound bad. Do you think Shadis will make him do training anyways?” Sasha sounded sympathetic, which Reiner appreciated.
“I doubt it. I don’t think Shadis can feel empathy, or anything else for that matter.” Connie said, waving his spoon in the air. The conversation continued, speculating the extent of Shadis’ emotional capacity. Reiner couldn’t focus. Connie had started lightly tapping his spoon against his bowl. It was likely he didn’t even realize he was doing it. The noise was the only thing Reiner could focus on.
Clink.
“Oh, and the other day he-“
Clink.
“I don’t think that-“
Clink.
The constant clinking noise was driving him insane. He kept glancing at the others to gauge their reactions to it, but no one else seemed to notice it. Reiner clenched and unclenched his fist, hoping to calm himself down.
Clink.
His irritation spiked unexpectedly, and he reached over and ripped the spoon from Connie’s hand and threw it into his bowl, cutting off whoever was speaking. “Connie, could you stop fucking doing that?!”
“Hey man, what the hell?”
The table froze, staring at him. His irritation was quickly washed away by shame. “Sorry man, overreacted.”
“No problem.” Connie seemed to accept the apology, but the atmosphere at the table was still tense. Everyone continued eating in silence.
As the silence droned on, Reiner sighed internally. Everyone was too wary to do anything worried he would snap again. He took a calming breath, recounting what had been said as they walked up to the table, hoping it would spark some kind of conversation again. “What were you talking about before? Take who away?”
Marco started slightly; he recovered quickly, remembering the conversation. “Oh- we were just… recounting Bertolt’s adventures from the other day.”
“My what?” Bertolt did not remember most of his time being sick, and out of fear of what he had done, he hadn’t asked.
“Yeah, you wouldn’t sit still! I had to chase you over the compound and back!” Reiner complained loudly, his gravelly voice drawing a few stares.
“R-Reiner!” Bertolt harshly whispered, his face turning pink as he avoided any eye contact. “Eat your breakfast.”
Reiner laughed, ignoring Bertolt’s demand. Marco smiled at Bertolt. “It was nice getting to chat with you.”
“I-I’m sorry, Marco. I don’t remember what we talked about.” Bertolt rubbed the back of his neck nervously. Reiner also paused, having only heard the end of their conversation.
“Oh, no worries. I kind of assumed as much since you were really sick; sorry I didn’t realize sooner. We didn’t talk about anything crazy, just our families and home lives.” Bertolt felt uneasy; he wished he could remember what he had said. He suddenly had a lot more sympathy for Reiner when he lost time.
“He better not have told you any embarrassing stories from when we were growing up,” Reiner warned in a jovial tone, but Bertolt could tell he was on edge by the tensing of his jaw.
“Not really; he mostly listened. He did talk about his parents a bit when I mentioned mine… although he might have mentioned you losing your front teeth in a race when you were younger.”
Reiner turned to stare at Bertolt, betrayed. Bertolt went redder and moved his head, blatantly avoiding Reiner, to look at a very interesting corner of the roof.
“Tell me you didn’t.”
“I-I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to.”
“I can’t believe you! That was confidential. We swore!”
“I’m sorry!”
“Now you have to tell us.” Sasha butted in. The rest of the table watched eagerly.
Bertolt wouldn’t move his gaze from the ceiling. “S-sorry, I’m u-under an oath; I shouldn’t have said anything the first time…” The table turned to look at Reiner, who sighed dramatically.
“Fine, I’ll regale you with my fucked-up voice, but if it goes before the story ends, that’s the end, and you can never ask again. Deal?”
“Deal.” The table replied, knowing that with enough persuasion Marco could finish it for them.
-=-
Bertolt and Reiner stood beneath an awning as the rain poured down around them.
“W-we’re going to be late,” Bertolt muttered, rubbing his hands together.
“We could make a run for it?” Reiner suggested.
“But we’d get all wet?”
“It’s either that or get in trouble for being late. Besides, a little water never hurt anyone.”
“Speak for yourself, I’m going to be sick for a week if I’m out in this,” Bertolt complained.
“Here.” Reiner took off his jacket, which was two sizes too big for him, and draped it over Bertolt’s shoulders. “There, now you have double the protection. Can’t get sick now!”
“No, Reiner, you need your jacket!”
“Nah, I never get sick anymore since I got a titan.”
“Still, I don’t think we should chance it-“
“If you wanna give it back, you’ll have to catch me!” Reiner yelled, running out into the rain towards their base.
“Reiner! Wait!” Bertolt chased after him.
Reiner laughed as he ran through the streets of the Internment Zone. It had been raining for a little while, and the streets were slick with water.
Bertolt ran along behind him, following him. He was using Reiner’s coat like an umbrella. “Reiner, w-we’re already wet, l-let's just walk. The stones are really slippery.” His worries made his stutter more pronounced.
“No way! That’s no fun!” Reiner yelled, breathing hard. “Look, Bertl, I can go even faster!” He used his momentum to skid across the stones, sliding faster than he could run.
“You’re a-absolutely going to faceplant.”
“You worry too much; I’ve got great coordination! I bet I could slide there faster than you could run!” Reiner taunted.
They made it a few more blocks of Reiner sliding, and Bertolt trying to keep up with him before Reiner’s foot hit a divot in the road and he went face first into the stones.
“REINER!” Bertolt skidded to a stop beside him and helped him into a sitting position. “A-are y-you okay?”
Reiner was crying quietly; the initial pain had been excruciating, but it had died down to a tolerable level thanks to his healing. “Yeah, I’m fine. It’sth healing.” His words sounded wrong, like his tongue wasn’t able to make the proper sounds anymore.
Bertolt gasped loudly.
“What? What isth it?”
“U-um… uh… nothing?” Bertolt sounded extremely unconvincing.
“You’re sthuch a bad liar.”
“Y-you um… may have k-knocked out your tooth… teeth. Two of them, but it’s okay! I-I’m sure they’ll grow back soon!”
Reiner stood and sprinted to a nearby shop window. He had knocked out his two front teeth in the fall. He dropped to his knees in anguish. “I look s-so dumb! No one will take me stheriousthly now!”
“You sound silly too,” Bertolt said, giggling softly. He had calmed down since he had realized Reiner was going to be okay, and wasn’t too badly hurt.
“You’re not helping!” Reiner half-heartedly glared at his friend before grabbing his arm. “Letsth go.”
Bertolt smiled and nodded. He lifted the jacket above both Reiner and himself, trying to keep them both from getting wetter as they walked.
“If you even think about sthaying I told you stho…”
“I promise I won’t, I won’t even mention it ever again.”
Reiner eyed him, suspicious, “You sthwear?”
“I swear.” Bertolt nodded solemnly.
-=-
Reiner was thrown into a harsh coughing fit as he finished the story. His throat hurt like a bitch, he grabbed the nearest cup and downed it. He glanced apologetically at Bertolt, whose cup he stole. Bertolt shrugged, unbothered.
“Oh man, that sounds like something Connie would have done!” Jean laughed as Reiner finished talking.
Everyone was laughing; even Bertolt was smiling at the memory. Reiner had changed quite a few details to keep to their soldier backstories. Like he had been sliding down the muddy dirt road and had hit a stick, which had sent him flying into a nearby rock. Or the fact that they had been trying to get home from helping on the farms, but it was more or less the same story. He hoped sick Bertolt had thought to make those same changes; based on Marco’s smiling face, he must have.
“Hey! I wouldn’t have crashed; I’m a mud-sliding expert.”
“Oooh! We should try next time it rains!” Sasha exclaimed, Connie nodding along. They started to make plans for the next time it rained, dragging Marco and Jean into their conversation.
Bertolt looked fondly at Reiner. “You refused to talk after that until it healed, even to your mom.”
“Cause I wasn’t about to let her figure out what I had done! She would have killed me.”
“Yeah, I guess that’s true. Plus, the other kids would have teased you relentlessly.”
“Bertolt. After we figured out I was okay, you teased me relentlessly. I don’t know why I kept talking to you.”
“You like to talk; it would have killed you to not talk to anyone for that long. Also, I only teased you when we were alone. Besides, whatever I said was a thousand times better than Porco finding out.” Bertolt kept his voice low, so only Reiner could hear.
“That’s why I stopped speaking… Preventative action.” Reiner tapped his temple. “Smart, right?”
“Yeah, you could say that…” Bertolt paused, a small smirk gracing his lips. “Hm… maybe you should have kept that up.”
“Whoa! Rude, I have a lovely voice, and you know you would be devastated not hearing it anymore.”
“Right… devastated,” Bertolt deadpanned. “That’s not the word I would have used.”
“What would you have used? Distraught? Hysterical?”
“Relieved.”
Reiner scrunched up his nose in mock offence, causing Bertolt to laugh. Reiner punched him lightly in the arm. “You’re a little shit, y’know that?”
Before Bertolt could retaliate, Marco had turned back and brought him into a conversation, breaking up their banter. Having a lull, Reiner looked down at his food. With all the distractions gone, his body was loudly letting him know how it was doing.
Not good.
He felt nauseous looking at his plate. His head was pounding, and his throat felt raw from all the talking he had done. The room started to sway, and he knew he had to get out of there, and fast. He stood up abruptly, jostling the table.
“Hey, what are you-“ Jean started, but Marco interrupted.
“Are you okay? You look really pale all of a sudden.”
“Gotta go.” He grunted out, walking away. He made it a few steps before staggering. Bertolt was immediately by his side, keeping him upright.
“We’ll see you guys later,” Bertolt called over his shoulder. “C’mon, let’s get you to bed.” He threw Reiner’s arm over his shoulders and put his arm around Reiner’s back. They took a few steps, and it became pretty clear that Reiner would not be helping much. Bertolt looked like he was having an internal battle before his eyes became resolute. He had made his decision. Reiner didn’t have to wait long to find out what the decision was. He found himself promptly scooped up into Bertolt’s arms.
“What the fuck- Hey! I can walk.”
“Sure didn’t feel like it when I was dragging you along.”
“Yeah, well, it’s easier when you can see straight,” Reiner grumbled, crossing his arms. They were silent for a moment as Bertolt walked. Reiner used the surprise opportunity to nuzzle his head into his boyfriend’s chest. He felt Bertolt’s breath catch slightly but chose to ignore it in favour of another thought. “You haven’t picked me up like this in years.”
“Yeah, and if you weren’t so out of it, I doubt you would let me… plus it usually draws too much attention…” Bertolt’s eyes were firmly planted on the ground a few feet ahead of him as he walked.
“Maybe I would have. I remember liking being in your arms. It felt safe… It feels safe. Though we can’t do it all the time. I do have a reputation to uphold, you know.”
“W-we w-wouldn’t want to sully your good name.” The deadpan didn’t land as well as it could have, not when Bertolt was bright red and stuttering.
As they walked, Bertolt was doing his best not to jostle Reiner, but some things just couldn’t be helped. Reiner groaned as his head protested the swaying movement.
“Could you stop fucking shaking me for a minute?” Reiner growled out. Bertolt stopped moving.
“I’m not trying to.”
“Coulda fooled me.” They were almost at the barracks, and Bertolt told Reiner as much. He didn’t seem happy, but he allowed them to continue.
Bertolt was tempted to drop Reiner on the bed, but he knew it wouldn’t help the situation, or Reiner’s attitude. So, he gently placed him down. “I think there’s some medicine in the washrooms. Guess they got frustrated with everyone asking when they were all sick; hang on.”
Bertolt disappeared through the door. Reiner flopped onto his back, immediately regretting the motion. He hissed loudly, clutching his head.
“Here,” Bertolt was back.
“Thank god you’re quick; I think my head is going to burst.” Reiner sat up and took the medicine. “Sorry for snapping at you earlier.”
“It’s fine.”
“No, it’s not. If I keep acting like an asshole to you and Annie, you’re going to leave me. So you have to know that I’m sorry!”
“Reiner... what are you talking about?”
There was a significant pause, and Bertolt could have sworn he heard a sniffle, but that could also have been because Reiner’s nose had started running. Reiner looked up at him, slightly confused. “I- I don’t know?”
Reiner had felt like he was about to cry, and he hadn’t meant to say that out loud. Especially not to Bertolt. It seemed like whenever he was sick, he lost all control over his emotions, much to his chagrin. Goddamn, he hated being sick. He gingerly lay down, patting the bed beside him. “Lay with me?”
“Are you sure? Maybe you should nap or something instead?”
“Probably, but I’d feel better with you beside me.”
“Okay.” Bertolt knelt and arranged himself on the bed. Reiner scooted over once he was settled and laid his head on Bertolt’s chest. Bertolt wrapped his arms around Reiner, rubbing his back lightly. Reiner groaned and held his head; the throbbing had started up again. He moved to cradle his temples, but lithe fingers beat him to it. They started massaging his temples, trying to offer him some relief.
“Bertolt, this fucking sucks. My body hurts, and who knows what the hell is going on in my head.” Reiner whispered as he lay back down. “I hate feeling like this.”
“I know, but it’s only a day. You’re strong; you can handle it.” Bertolt placed a soft kiss against Reiner’s forehead.
“But I don’t wanna have to handle this too.” Reiner sounded so defeated. It broke Bertolt’s heart; he wished he could do more for his partner.
“I know, I’m sorry you have to.” Bertolt felt guilt prickle in his stomach. If he hadn’t forced Reiner to take care of him when he was sick, they wouldn’t be in this situation. Reiner would be fine and wouldn’t be hurti-
He yelped as Reiner flicked his nose, bringing him out of his thoughts. “Ow! What the hell was that for?”
“You were overthinking,” Reiner said simply. “Whatever is going on in your head, this isn’t your fault. If its anyone’s fault, it’s the brass for making us do all of those drills in the rain. It’s not like you were the only one to get sick.”
“Yeah, I guess so.”
“I know so; now shut up and stop thinking. I was about to nap, like you told me to.”
“I’m sorry, but” Bertolt felt guilt creeping into his stomach again as he started to move away from Reiner. “I have to go to training…”
“WHAT?!” Bertolt was shocked by Reiner’s outburst. He had a moment to recover as Reiner jerked away from him. Reiner’s body, which didn’t seem pleased with his shout either, forced him to still as spasms of pain wracked his body.
“What?” He asked, slightly perplexed.
“Y-you can’t leave me! I’m gonna fucking die if I’m left here alone!” Reiner croaked out.
Oh good, overly dramatic Reiner had arrived. Bertolt was wondering when he would show up. “You’re not going to die, Reiner. We can only be killed if someone slices our napes, remember.” He knew reasoning wouldn’t get him far, but he could hope.
“That’s not true, and you know it! We could be killed from the overexertion of transforming too many times. Or- or- or if we can’t breathe for an extended period of time, what do you think that does to our brains!? Nothing good! And without our brains, bam! Dead!” Reiner seemed genuinely worried, so much for Bertolt’s hope and reasoning.
“I don’t think you need to worry about the brain one...” Bertolt tried joking to ease Reiner’s mood. He received a dirty look for his efforts. “Right, sorry.”
“Be serious.”
“I’m trying! But you’re not going to die if I leave you to nap. None of the things you said can happen here in the barracks. You’ll be fine.”
“I might rip my lungs from coughing too much, then I wouldn’t be able to breathe while I was healing. Or maybe I leave my bed and overexert myself or- Ow!” Reiner held his nose, glaring at Bertolt, who had just flicked him, returning the favour from earlier.
“What? You flicked me when I was spiralling.” Reiner continued to glare, not responding. Bertolt sighed. “Fine, if I was to stay here with you, what would we do if the Commandant came looking for us? I’m not sick anymore. I’m sure that would hurt my ranking.” Bertolt prayed that bringing up the rankings would help Reiner become more rational.
Reiner perked up at the implication that Bertolt was staying with him. “We could make you look sick.”
So much for rational, Bertolt internally sighed. “Right… and how would we do that?”
“Um- so I talked to Connie the other day-“
“Sorry, we’re not taking advice from Connie, are we?” Bertolt asked, incredulously.
“If you’d let me fucking finish…” His temper flared again; Reiner balled up his fist, trying to ignore it.
“Sorry.”
“I talked to Connie the other day, when you and everyone else were sick; he was bitching that some people were definitely pretending to get out of training. I asked him what he meant, and apparently with the right shit we can make you look sick enough to get out of training for today.”
“What kind of shit?” Bertolt was wary of most things Connie said. His stories tended to be more grandiose than realistic, and Reiner, in his sickened state, was falling for them.
“He mentioned people making themselves paler, red dots and dark under-eye bags, along with having a fever. I was thinking maybe chalk and some kind of red pen or whatever else you think would work. He also mentioned that people fake puke, but I think the other things will work in our case. Unless you want to really sell it.”
“Disgusting. No, I’m okay. Are you sure about this? I mean, it doesn’t sound very convincing.”
“Yeah, I think between the two of us, we could pull it off.”
“This is a bad idea…” Bertolt muttered.
“Please, Bertl? Please don’t leave me.”
Bertolt stared at Reiner’s large, hopeful eyes, praying this was some kind of prank. But the longer he stared, the more his resistance diminished until, “Fine, but to get some of that stuff I have to leave for a bit.”
“That’s fine, as long as you promise to come back within half an hour or I come looking.”
Bertolt shot Reiner an unimpressed look. “You’re so clingy.” He got up and walked out of the barracks.
“You love it!” Reiner called after him. The shout forced him onto his back, his breath coming out in wheezes for a moment. He sighed loudly; he missed Bertolt, and it hadn’t been a minute. Maybe he was too clingy...