The Turquoise Cure (Eren X Reader)

Chapter 48: What You Become

    one week later

    You stared into the crystal clean mirror as you snipped uneven pieces of your hair off and into the basin below you. Eren and Mikasa had been in the dungeons for insubordination for nearly a week since you had returned from the expedition to retake Shiganshina. You'd never forget the shock on the civilians' faces when they saw that so few people had returned from the mission that had employed over one hundred live soldiers. They were even more surprised at seeing that the commander was not one of those who had returned. 

    Reaching a clean finger up to the mirror so that it was mere millimeters away, you stared at yourself, at the bags under your eyes, at the extraterrestrial eyes you hated so much, at the sickly tone your skin had taken on, the gaunt way that your face hung... So much had happened in only a year; to think that a year ago at this time, you were still training, you were happy, you were safe... 

    Draining the hair and rinsing the scissors off in the sink, you nibbled on your battered lower lip as you left the room, slightly limping from the injuries you were overcoming from the last mission. Without really thinking about it, you made your way down to the basement. You'd done what you could to make the time go by faster for Eren and Mikasa, but lately, Eren had been acting strange. Mikasa told you that he'd been talking in his sleep about things she didn't understand. He said to you that he was seeing things through his dad's eyes so vividly that he wasn't sure who he was sometimes when he woke up. "Yeah, I sometimes feel like that too," you remembered telling him, playing with the locks of hair that dipped below your eyes. "You gonna cut it again?" he'd asked you. "Maybe," you'd said, reaching through the bars and tugging on a lock of his dark brown hair. "I like it like this," you'd mumbled, more to yourself than to him. You didn't know he'd heard, but he had. 

    Your footsteps clanged on the ground of the stoney floor of the basement as you approached Eren's and Mikasa's rooms. You were intrigued upon seeing Hange, Levi, and Armin outside of Eren's bars, peering at him curiously. Seeing you approaching, Hange was the first to speak. "He's been totally out of it for like ten minutes at least," she said, her pointer finger perched on her chin in concentration. "What do you mean 'out of it?'" you said, looking in. Sure enough, Eren was babbling nonsense and things that you didn't understand. "Kruger..." you made out. "God, he's so fucking weird," Levi muttered, rubbing his temples. "The Attack Titan..." he burst out, his eyes shooting open as he faced the stoney wall. His pupils dilated as he made out the four people standing before him. They softened especially as they paused over you. 

    "What the hell was that about, man?" Hange asked, laughter bubbling in her chest. "The Attack Titan... spare me!" she giggled, playfully punching Levi's shoulder, to which he cringed. "What?" Eren asked, confused. "I think you were talking about Eren Kruger and the name of your titan," Armin answered, his pearly eyes as warm as ever, even though you knew how rough the past week had been on him. He had been visiting every day to take notes on any and all memories that Eren had in attempts to chronologically order them and get an idea of the events. It was pretty dull work, but Armin seemed eager for the distraction. You'd let him stay in your and Mikasa's dorm in her absence, not just for him, but for you too. 

    "Well, chop chop, brats," Levi finally blurted, "time to get ready!" "Ah," you said, now realizing their presence in the dungeon. This morning was Eren's and Mikasa's last in punishment, which coincidentally aligned with the day of the ceremony to honor all of the soldiers that had passed on the mission. Levi harshly rattled the bars to Mikasa's room, causing her to jump with a start. Her hair was disheveled and a string of drool slid down her chin as she began to stand up, just the way it always had. Hange inserted the keys into the respective locks, allowing Eren and Mikasa to leave their prisons for the first time in a week.