Dances and Ruin// Reiner Braun x OC

Chapter Two

Peri is laying idly on her bunk and staring up at the bed above her. She can hear the bed creaking as a whole with Sasha's every movement. For as long as Peri has slept beneath her, Sasha has always been a rather restless sleeper, always tossing and turning in her sleep. It has caused several long nights for Peri over the years, especially when they were children. Any time she would go to spend the night at her cousin's home out in the woods, the two would be made to share a bed, which always resulted in a sleepless night for Peri. Even now, as Peri lies wide awake she can't help but find it funny that Sasha has changed so little in light of her sleeping habits.

She sits up and swings her feet out of the bunk, quietly putting on her boots and sneaking out of the barracks. The knowledge that she won't be getting much sleep tonight is what puts her feet on the fast track to the small lake near the training corp's compound. Not much around here seems to be special, but the lake seems to have a certain charm about it that just calls to her. That, and that's the best place to sit and stare at the night sky.

The night is mostly quiet save for the chorus of frogs and crickets. The local choir sounds lovely tonight, she thinks to herself with a smile. Even the shifting of the gravel path beneath her feet sounds somewhat soothing, save for the fact that she can hear more than one set of feet disturbing the path. Her eyes pull from the feet beneath her and look ahead toward the end of the trail where she sees three silhouettes approaching. She squints slightly and realizes that although the dark keeps their faces veiled, that their figures are familiar enough. Besides, not many people tend to wander onto the property to begin with, how likely is it to happen at this hour?

With pep in her step, she begins to approach the trio only to see Bertolt, Reiner, and Annie. She smiles after allowing herself a brief sigh of relief. "Well, fancy meeting you three out here, what are you up to?" she asks.

Annie sighs, pinching the bridge of her nose, "I'm too tired for this. I'm going to bed, I'll see you in the morning." With that, the girl parts ways with the group, leaving behind a newly assembled trio.

Peri watches over her shoulder for a moment as Annie puts more distance between her and the group. She wonders what her icy demeanor is all about, she's always wondered that, but she won't give it any further thought tonight. She looks back at the two boys. Bertolt smiles softly in that slightly awkward way he always does, "We just got back from the training grounds, we finally talked Annie into sharing some of her hand-to-hand combat techniques with us. What about you, what's got you out so late?"

"Can't sleep. I was just heading down to the lake, you guys wanna come?"

"I'm actually really worn out. I think I'm going to head on to the barracks and get some rest," Bertolt reasons. "I might tag along next time."

"Alright, you'll be missed," Peri smiles at her friend before facing Reiner. "What about you. You wanna come or are you tired too?"

Reiner shrugs, "Believe it or not, I could actually stand to do some more wandering. The lake sounds nice."

Peri beams rather unintentionally before bringing herself back to her senses. Her and Reiner finally started to get close a few weeks ago, and he's been more and more open to spending time with her with every passing day. Every time Peri gets an opportunity to spend some time with Reiner, she can't help but feel excited. Forging a friendship with him has been a goal of hers for years now, and it finally seems to be falling into place in ways she never saw coming. For so long, she'd convinced herself that Reiner would be cold and guarded, that he'd be impossible to get close to. She has been shocked to learn that he's anything but cold, but she was spot on when she pegged him as guarded. The blond has walls harder to break through than wall Maria, it would take a lot more than a couple of abnormals to break through those, but she's determined to try. "Awesome. Well, you wanna head out so that Berty boy can get to bed sooner rather than later?"