Suddenly, a shadow falls over you, making you flinch and your hands immediately jerk to your blades. A boulder sized hand blocks your way. Your eyes travel along the attached arm and look up at Eren staring down at you.
âSomething up?â you shout. Eren exhales loudly, a little huff that is visible steam curling around his jaw. He doesnât move his hand away, and you stand before it like itâs a big, meaty door you canât walk through. Maybe he wants a high five. You slap his hand, happy to hear a satisfying clap.
He still doesnât remove his hand. You hope somewhere Hange is watching this peculiar communication and writes down how to teach Eren how to talk.
âDoes your hand hurt?â you ask, carefully pressing your tiny, tiny hand against his open palm. His skin is very warm. It seems tougher too. Maybe you can poke him a little with your blade and hope he doesnât start swinging at you.
And then his giant hand closes around you carefully and he scoops you into the air.
Many things happen at once. As you wait for a heart attack to kick in and knock you out, somewhere down at the ground you hear Leviâs squad run amok.
âItâs fine, itâs fine!â you rasp even though everything in your body screams at you that this is anything but fine. A Titan is holding you in his fist. A giant, strong fist that could easily crush you, break your bones, squeeze your organs into a messy, bloody pulp. Youâve always hated being picked up, but this rockets the fear into new heightsâneck-braking heights where you plummet to your death with no ODM gear to stop your fall.
Deep breaths. Youâre not alone. Youâre not helpless. This is still Eren, and you know Eren, you trust Eren, youâd leave your life in his handsânot this literally, but still.
When Eren opens his fist enough for you to stand on his palm, you slowly turn around and peak up between his slightly curled fingers. He just ⌠stares at you, and youâre close enough to clearly see his eyes. Theyâre the same bottle-green; the same deep green-grey of a lake shortly before a storm hits. So familiar, and so easy to lose yourself in them.
âYou okay, big guy?â you ask, lifting your arm to ⌠to what exactly? But before you can think otherwise, Eren leans inâa Titan is leaning in and that is his enormous mouth right in front of you, ready to swallow you wholeâand boops the tip of his nose against your open hand.
Now that. That is something.
Somewhere down you can hear Hange shrieking and Oluo screaming he put you down at once. âSheâs not a freakinâ toy!â you hear his shrill voice. You ignore them.
âWait, donât tell me youâre growing soft on me, Jaeger,â you joke.
Eren lets out a low rumble in his chest that sounds a lot like a purr.
