practically the 𝚟𝚎𝚛𝚢 𝚖𝚘𝚖𝚎𝚗𝚝 the lights die down , a 𝐒𝐖𝐈𝐓𝐂𝐇 𝐅𝐋𝐈𝐏𝐒 in eren’s brain , firing signals that urge all of the 𝚜𝚎𝚒𝚣𝚒𝚗𝚐 , 𝚘𝚟𝚎𝚛𝚊𝚌𝚝𝚒𝚟𝚎 𝚗𝚎𝚛𝚟𝚎𝚜 to settle . 𝕭𝐑𝐈𝐆𝐇𝐓 𝕰𝐘𝐄𝐒 widen , and long , dark lashes flutter like raven’s wings as eren processes the shift in 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐥 𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐞 , the persisting noise of ᴠᴀʀɪᴏᴜs ᴏᴠᴇʀsᴛɪᴍᴜʟᴀɴᴛs battling against the 𝗦𝗧𝗘𝗔𝗗𝗜𝗟𝗬 𝗚𝗥𝗢𝗪𝗜𝗡𝗚 𝗖𝗔𝗟𝗠 of the atmosphere . as eren’s fried nervous system attempts to regulate itself , they watch sasuke move about the room with calm but purposeful energy , and it 𝚍𝚊𝚠𝚗𝚜 𝚘𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚖 that he’s doing all of this ғᴏʀ ᴛʜᴇɪʀ sᴀᴋᴇ .
[ well , 𝚆𝙾𝚄𝙻𝙳𝙽’𝚃 𝙰𝙽𝚈𝙾𝙽𝙴 .ᐣ eren knows he’s not the 𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐢𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐛𝐞 𝐚𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝 when he’s on the edge of a 𝖒𝖊𝖑𝖙𝖉𝖔𝖜𝖓 . ]
with ʜᴀʟғ ᴛʜᴇ sᴇɴsᴏʀʏ ᴛʀɪɢɢᴇʀs neutralized , eren becomes 𝚖𝚘𝚛𝚎 𝚜𝚞𝚜𝚌𝚎𝚙𝚝𝚒𝚋𝚕𝚎 to heed sasuke’s advice , and tries to steady their ragged breathing , 𝕮𝐎𝐔𝐍𝐓𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝖀𝐏 𝐓𝐎 𝕿𝐄𝐍 and back down to one in their head . jade flames are smothered by ᴅᴇʟɪᴄᴀᴛᴇ ʟɪᴅs as eren closes his eyes , and at last , with a 𝐝𝐞𝐞𝐩 , 𝐠𝐮𝐭𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐚𝐥 𝐬𝐢𝐠𝐡 , he leans back against the 𝙼𝙾𝚄𝙽𝙳 𝙾𝙵 𝙿𝙸𝙻𝙻𝙾𝚆𝚂 lining the headboard of the hospital bed , silken dark hair pooling like ink against 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐤 𝐰𝐡𝐢𝐭𝐞 linens .
❛❛ i don’t 𝐍𝐄𝐄𝐃 𝐓𝐎 𝐁𝐄 𝐇𝐄𝐑𝐄 , ❜❜ eren stubbornly insists , though his tone reflects its characteristic ʟᴏᴡ ʀᴀsᴘ , far calmer than the 𝐠𝐫𝐨𝐰𝐥𝐬 𝐠𝐫𝐢𝐭 through clenched teeth from before . ❛❛ it’s 𝚏𝚞𝚌𝚔𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚘𝚟𝚎𝚛𝚔𝚒𝚕𝚕 . once they patched me up , i could’ve 𝐛𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐨𝐧 𝐦𝐲 𝐰𝐚𝐲 , but now they’re acting like i’m 𝙶𝙾𝙽𝙽𝙰 𝙳𝙸𝙴 because of a broken bone . ❜❜ a scoff , almost as if eren is offended by the ɪᴍᴘʟɪᴄᴀᴛɪᴏɴ ᴏғ ғʀᴀɢɪʟɪᴛʏ . ❛❛ if 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 was gonna be the thing to kill me , i’d have been 𝕸𝐀𝐆𝐆𝐎𝐓 𝕱𝐎𝐎𝐃 a long 𝐟𝐮𝐜𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐞 𝐚𝐠𝐨 . ❜❜
eren continues their sulking , toned arms 𝐜𝐫𝐨𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐥𝐲 over their chest . sᴀsᴜᴋᴇ ɪs ʀɪɢʜᴛ , he needs to 𝚌𝚊𝚕𝚖 𝚍𝚘𝚠𝚗 , but he’ll 𝗥𝗨𝗡 𝗧𝗛𝗥𝗢𝗨𝗚𝗛 𝗙𝗜𝗥𝗘 before admitting that , even 𝐖𝐈𝐓𝐇 his fucked – up foot . still , when sasuke comes nearer and offers eren his headphones : a clear , irrefutable gesture of care and concern [ ᴘᴀɪʀᴇᴅ ᴡɪᴛʜ ᴀ ᴛʜʀᴇᴀᴛ , ɴᴏ ʟᴇss ] , eren feels 𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐦𝐭𝐡 𝐜𝐫𝐨𝐰𝐝 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐟𝐚𝐜𝐞 , and figures his ears must be turning pink . 𝚃𝙷𝙰𝙽𝙺 𝙶𝙾𝙳 𝙷𝙸𝚂 𝙷𝙰𝙸𝚁 𝙸𝚂 𝙳𝙾𝚆𝙽 .
❛❛ i’m not a ғᴜᴄᴋɪɴɢ ᴛᴏᴅᴅʟᴇʀ , ❜❜ they mutter through an 𝖎𝖗𝖔𝖓𝖎𝖈𝖆𝖑𝖑𝖞 𝖇𝖔𝖞𝖎𝖘𝖍 𝖕𝖔𝖚𝖙 , accepting the headphones with a roll of their eyes . ❛❛ i 𝚔𝚗𝚘𝚠 𝚊 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚘𝚛 𝚝𝚠𝚘 about handling 𝐄𝐗𝐏𝐄𝐍𝐒𝐈𝐕𝐄 𝐄𝐐𝐔𝐈𝐏𝐌𝐄𝐍𝐓 . that’s how we got into this shit . ❜❜
despite his maundering , eren flicks his hair back and puts the headset on . there’s 𝙽𝙾𝚃𝙷𝙸𝙽𝙶 𝙿𝙻𝙰𝚈𝙸𝙽𝙶 , but even so , the room instantly becomes quieter ; monotonous beeping and 𝐭𝐨𝐨 – 𝐥𝐨𝐮𝐝 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬 dull significantly , rendering eren ᴀʙʟᴇ ᴛᴏ ʜᴇᴀʀ ʜɪs ᴏᴡɴ ᴛʜᴏᴜɢʜᴛs . but the 𝗖𝗢𝗡𝗧𝗘𝗡𝗧 𝗢𝗙 𝗦𝗔𝗜𝗗 𝗧𝗛𝗢𝗨𝗚𝗛𝗧𝗦 are far from relaxing ━━━━ especially when he glances toward the door and sees sasuke there , intervening so that eren can avoid 𝐠𝐫𝐨𝐰𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐟𝐫𝐮𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐝 once again . it’s [ . . . ] thoughtful . it makes eren feel 𝐖𝐄𝐈𝐑𝐃𝐋𝐘 𝐖𝐀𝐑𝐌 at his core . 𝐡𝐨𝐥𝐲 𝐟𝐮𝐜𝐤 .
eren slides the headphones down just as sasuke returns , bearing 𝚊𝚗𝚗𝚘𝚢𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚗𝚎𝚠𝚜 , but cushioning the blow with a ʙᴇᴛᴛᴇʀ ᴀʟᴛᴇʀɴᴀᴛɪᴠᴇ to staying here and 𝙻𝙾𝚂𝙸𝙽𝙶 𝙷𝙸𝚂 𝚂𝙷𝙸𝚃 . eren blinks slowly , head tilting in a manner 𝐰𝐡𝐨𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐜𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐞 .
❛❛ you [ . . . ] want to 𝕿𝐀𝐊𝐄 𝕮𝐀𝐑𝐄 of me .ᐣ ❜❜
it’s a ᴄʟᴀʀɪғʏɪɴɢ ϙᴜᴇsᴛɪᴏɴ , but with a deeper inquiry strung amid its words , one not even eren is 𝚏𝚞𝚕𝚕𝚢 𝚌𝚘𝚐𝚗𝚒𝚣𝚊𝚗𝚝 of . [ 𝗬𝗢𝗨 𝗗𝗢𝗡’𝗧 𝗦𝗘𝗘 𝗠𝗘 𝗔𝗦 𝗔 𝗕𝗨𝗥𝗗𝗘𝗡 .ᐣ ]
❛❛ look ━━━━ i’m sure they’ll ɢᴇᴛ ᴍᴇ ᴀ ᴄʀᴜᴛᴄʜ or something once they 𝙵𝙸𝙽𝙰𝙻𝙻𝚈 𝙻𝙴𝚃 𝙼𝙴 𝙻𝙴𝙰𝚅𝙴 this place , ❜❜ says eren , voice leaving him with a sort of shy softness that 𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐢𝐟𝐢𝐞𝐬 𝐡𝐢𝐦 , deep down . ❛❛ [ . . . ] and 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗣𝗔𝗜𝗡 is nothing i can’t handle . 𝚒’𝚕𝚕 𝚋𝚎 𝚏𝚒𝚗𝚎 . you’ve got 𝐛𝐞𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐝𝐨 then babysit me , i’m sure . ❜❜