the two walked through the door of a guest bedroom of the castle, far down the corridor from where they were supposed to be.
"you're sure we're allowed to be in here?" y/n asked.
"we're heroes," eren shrugged. "i'm sure they won't mind." he walked away from her after the door closed behind him towards the open balcony. "besides, the view here is great."
y/n, though unsure, followed him past the neatly made bed with red lace curtains enclosing it and the intricately designed wooden wardrobe.
the room was nothing short of extravagant, at least to what a couple of scouts were used to. it had paintings, large and small, accompanied by riches and treasures that only royal money could even afford.
but that wasn't the focus of the room for either of them.
eren leaned over the marble columns of the balcony railing, viewing the night sky above him and the flower garden below him. y/n did the same.
slowly, eren's gaze left the castle grounds and his eyes and mind were flooded with y/n's presence.
"i can't believe i'm here right now," she said. "it's so beautiful."
"yeah, it really is."
y/n chuckled, still staring out at the open sky.
"you know you're looking at me, right?"
"i know," he nodded confidently.
"slowly, i think i'm starting to understand the type of person that you are," y/n admitted.
"which is?"
"i don't know the words. but you're not what people say."
eren smiled, liking that she didn't agree with people's preconceptions of him.
he had hoped that he wouldn't come off like the scary and aggressive freak that some citizens were sure that he was. he wasn't sure what he'd call himself, but he liked knowing that she liked her idea of him.
and, honestly, he liked his idea of her too. maybe she wasn't the way that he believed. he wasn't completely sure. but he thought she was smarter than most, and she was confident. she was funny, practical, and sure of herself.
she was everything that eren wanted to be to her. he wanted to seem like he knew what he was talking about, same as her. he wanted to seem confident and sure of himself. he wanted to make her laugh, and he wanted to hear, "eren, you're so funny." he wanted to seem like he wasn't missing anything that a good person needed.
"you know, this whole time, i've been trying to convince myself that my whole purpose has been to end the titans and die."
"that seems like a very painful life to live."
"it was," eren agreed. "but you make me feel like there might be a little more to life than that."
"what about your friends?"
"they... help. they're scouts as well, so my life leads back to the regiment anyway."
"i suppose so," y/n nodded.
"what about you?"
y/n hummed curiously.
"how do i make you feel?"
y/n stood up straighter and turned to eren.
"well, i don't know... maybe that it isn't so bad that i came to this gala."
eren liked the way that she looked at him when she said things like that. he liked it so much, in fact, that his hands held her closely to him while she stood against the railing of the balcony.
