(not) your eyes | r. braun

𝗽𝗮𝗿𝗮𝗱𝗶𝘀𝗲

9

 It was a dead-silent secret. Every time Reiner and Bertholdt were on the boat you had to hide in the storage unit. Zeke had picked up ODM gear for you to learn how to use. If you were to infiltrate the Scouts, the least you would know is how to use their gear. Zeke had never touched it, but Reiner and Bertholdt had, and they would give great lessons if only you could tell them.

But you learned by yourself. Bumps and bruises and all.

Zeke told you about Reiner's friends. They were among the strongest ones, the ones you needed to stay away from. He told you Annie tried to stay away from everyone, but failed when she got too close.

You're not Annie, you reminded yourselfself.

❧

Getting in was hard enough. Now, you had to blend in and remove any trace of Marley that came with you. You were determined to blend in and push away from everyone, avoiding any kind of interaction unless you needed to.

You sat in the corners of meetings, by yourself during dining hours, and in the back of classrooms. Your best attempt was to not fall behind on ODM gear, which revealed your lack of knowledge.

Early on, you had this issue where your hooks were delayed from the trigger. It caused you wires to tangle in a dangerous fashion and send you crashing and burning into the forest's ground. The wires wrapped you tightly until you found the hook that entangled them.

A soft groan passed your lips from how you had landed. The spot on your hip throbbed with pain.

"Hey!" A voice called from behind.

This was so bad. Nobody really knew you by name, and you intended to keep it that way. You had to figure out how to approach them, make sure your accent doesn't show, and not be too nice.

"Hey, you okay?" He was already behind you kneeling before you could come up with an excuse.

"I'm fine." Your voice comes out weaker than you hope.

"Did you hurt yourself?" he asks softly. His voice is light, you can tell that he really cares.

"No, I..."

His hazel iris examined you in a way eyes never have before. His sweet face was a sight. He had freckles that covered his face, an upturned mouth, and black hair that he combed behind his ear.

By Zeke's retelling of Reiner's description, you knew exactly who he was. All alarms in your head pushed you to stay away.

"You might've hit your head," he says like he's talking to himself, "You're bleeding from it. I can take you to medical."

He took both of his soft hands to pull you up by your own. Small dizziness set into your skull, your legs were uncontrollably shaking.

You were holding hands for longer than you'd liked. Your breath hitched when you looked into his soft face.

"You'll be alright. Promise."

❧

Your memories are blurred from that point until you wake up again. Your body shifts under the cushion. Sunset air blows through your room, turning everything a deep orange.

Along with the pounding, there's a white cloth around your head. Your mind and body turn on itself, pushing you as far up from the bed as possible and to your feet. You stumble for a moment before regaining your composure.

I am not weak.

Your thoughts stayed on the mission. It was life or death. You needed to complete the mission.