blank open eyes | reiner braun x reader

chapter four

The next couple of days passed in a blur, your every waking moment consumed by something different. The exhaustion wore down on you more and more each day and caused you to wake up with a throbbing in your left temple and a burning in your sinuses that wouldn't seem to go away.

A part of you worried that if you kept working at the rate that you were, you would burn out rather quickly. Thankfully, it was already the end of the week, and your weekend would be able to spare some extra hours for rest.

The calm before the storm, you feared. You could tell by the cracks in Zeke and Commander Magath's calm exteriors, that things were going to start changing, either for good or for bad. How soon, though, was a mystery to you.

To your disappointment, you hadn't been able to see Porco or Pieck for the past few days, not since you'd met up with them at the docks. You wondered if they were aware of your recent promotion—maybe their week had been just as busy as your own. You hoped that you would be able to catch up with them in the next few days.

Your walk to headquarters that morning was the same as ever, but you weren't sure why you were expecting anything different. Things were carrying on as normal on all fronts, yet you were constantly looking for cracks in the armor. Maybe, if you could spot the disaster before it was upon you, you would be able to stop it.

That, of course, was naïve thinking. If something terrible was going to happen, it was going to happen against your own will, and there was nothing you could do about it.

The morning dew was still on the ground when you got to headquarters, a lingering chill in the air, but it was nice. You felt like you'd been cooped up inside recently, not getting nearly enough fresh air, so you decided to do some work outside. There were a few empty tables on the deck that overlooked the training grounds; you set your things down and took a deep breath. You just had to get through the day, and then you'd have a relaxed weekend where you could catch up on as much sleep as you wanted—well, within reason, of course.

About an hour passed. A few other officers in the unit passed by you and greeted you kindly. Other than the occasional hello, it was a relatively quiet morning. All the candidates were gone on their long run for the day, and there were no scheduled meetings until around lunchtime.

Finally, you finished one of the lessons that had been assigned to you earlier in the week, after much procrastination. Grateful to be done, you shut the heavy book loudly, and stretched your arms over your head to take a break. As you maneuvered your body to relieve the stiffness in your muscles, you heard a familiar voice coming from around the corner.

Porco was heading your way, caught up in an obnoxiously loud conversation with Colt Grice. You waved when you caught his eye, but instead of returning it with his usual animated grin, he narrowed his eyes.

Frowning, you waited as Porco wrapped up his conversation with Colt and waved him off. Within seconds, he was storming towards you, a less than happy aura surrounding him.

It didn't take long for you to guess what it was that had soured his mood so rapidly. There was only reason he would look at you with such hostility, as if you had single-handedly destroyed his trust. You braced yourself, waiting for him to come after you with baseless accusations.

"What... the fuck?" Porco nearly shouted, catching the attention of Colt, who was still heading in the other direction. He seemed stunned by the sudden change in Porco's demeanor, and awkwardly made his way around the corner, much more quickly than before. Porco's eyebrows furrowed together, as he crossed his arms over his chest.

"Yeah, good morning to you too, Galliard." You pursed your lips, matching his displeased expression. "Can I help you with something?"

"Uh, yeah?" he sputtered, clearly bothered by your nonchalance. "Why didn't you tell me?"