eloquence ➪ aot oneshots + prefs

lecture // eren (pt. i)

Oh no. I realized what she was about to do. Eren and I were both about to receive a detailed explanation on absolutely everything Hanji knew about titans, and she'd definitely go over it more than once. I'd endured her insane lectures an ungodly amount of times, and I can confirm that they are not exciting--and this is coming from someone who enjoys learning about titans and experimenting on them. By now, the room was empty except for Eren, Hanji, and me.

"Hanji," I said, desperately attempting to save Eren and me as I sat next to him, "Maybe we can talk about this when--"

"I'll start with telling you," Hanji ignored me, looking somewhere far off, "About the boys we captured." Her face switched back to a grin as I groaned and rolled my eyes, "Right, Y/N?" I hummed in response and prepared myself to fall asleep right there in the basement of the former Scout headquarters. I leaned forward and rested my head on my hands again as she started her story of naming Sawney and Beane, testing their sunlight level substance, and figuring out how they felt pain. My shoulder brushed against Eren's as I shifted to just my right hand, and I almost smiled.

There was something comforting about being near him. Something more than what I felt around Sasha or Connie... but I couldn't pinpoint exactly what it was. I let out a sigh of relief when Hanji managed to summarize the story up until now of Sawney and Beane and got ready to leave. I was impressed that she managed to contain herself and not explain every single detail about every titan ever, though my relief was short-lived.

"Commander Hanji," Eren said, some of his confidence returning, "Could you tell me more about your research?" My eyes widened as I hear Hanji gasp with excitement. I sat up straight in an instant and turned to Eren, desperately trying to stop the oncoming avalanche of information.

"Eren, wait," I said, grabbing his arm. He looked at me, startled. I felt a few butterflies in my stomach when I realized how close our faces were, but I had to focus on the task at hand, "I promise, you do not want to hear more--"

"Of course!" Hanji cut me off again as she stood up in excitement, "There are a lot of things I skipped..." Hanji started off with her story of discovering her love of trying to understand titans, letting me know this would last at least all night. She included so many details, I half-expected her to describe the color of each blade of grass in immense detail. After a while, my elbow started to hurt from resting it on the rough table, so I was forced to sit up straight.

I could feel myself begin to drift off as my aunt explained the basics of none other than titan retinas. Yes, retinas. A tiny piece of the eye that was hardly important to her research. I vaguely remember my head falling to the side, but the rest is hazy.

---

I woke up peacefully, though I was disappointed to see that Hanji was still talking and it was still dark outside. My eyes fluttered open for a moment and a sideways Hanji met my gaze. Her constant talking faltered for a moment as she locked eyes with me and her eyes lit up with mischief before she returned her gaze to Eren and continued talking.

I realized why she was sideways.

It was because I had fallen asleep on Eren's shoulder. I silently thanked him for not moving and making it awkward, though I was too sleepy to pay any attention, and quickly felt my eyelids get heavy again. I wasn't awake enough to have the motivation to move, but I was still aware of our position. Hanji's voice only got louder, keeping me drifting in and out of consciousness.

At one point, I felt a hand run through the back of my hair, and the hair on the back of my neck stood up. I realized Eren was running his hands through my hair absentmindedly as Hanji explained the significance of cutting off the limbs of a titan. I wanted to scream with excitement, but I didn't dare move. Why was I so happy about this?