Dreams, Fairytales, Fantasies

Homecoming

♥ This one is a switch up from my usual rougher, sub Y/n stuff and, honestly, vibes

♥ Reiner x Reader; AOT plot adjacent, depressed Reiner, ugh angst

♥ CW: again, sex, soft Reiner, breathplay, explicit consent, oral, choking, Reiner is a soft bottom?

♥ Homecumming lol

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Homecoming.

How could a word with such warm, nostalgic meaning, take on such a dark presence?

In your early teens, homecoming signified a joyful gathering, an evening of revelry and music and laughter and freedom.

At 19, a homecoming meant dread, pain, despair.

Since the attacks on Paradis started a year ago, you haven't known peace.

Marley would send their troops and their warriors to fight for the 'greater good', or whatever they wanted to call it, in an attempt to justify sending their youth on a suicide mission.

Your friends were at the forefront of the battlefield, used as weapons of mass destruction. Indoctrinated against their will. Told that their sacrifices were for the livelihood of the Marleyan people, for ancestors and future generations alike. They fulfilled their duties so as not to bring dishonor upon their families, not having a say in the matter.

Every so often, Annie, Bert, and Porco would be shipped off for weeks at a time.

Reiner.

Your best friend from training camp rose through the ranks to inherit the armored titan, leading the others into war. A stoic and humble leader, people looked up to him as a beacon of hope, a symbol of victory. Of liberation.

Their homecoming was today.

You never knew who would make it back, or even if they would return. Not having grown up in a religious household, you still found yourself praying most nights to any entity that would listen in an attempt to beg and bargain for their safety.

Their return used to be a day of celebration, a national holiday, even. Shopkeepers would close up their stores, schools would be let out early so as to greet our brave warriors. As time went on, the festivities dwindled.

As if a dark cloud overtook the skies, the people of Marley grew weary. As less and less soldiers came back every time, the civilians questioned their former beliefs, questioned the government and the whole point of the ridiculous war.

It was only a matter of time before one of the warriors didn't come back, simply based on statistics.

You remember the day they called up every able-bodied person from the ripe age of 17, so as to maximize their efforts.

That's where you met him.

Although you and Reiner were both in the military boot camps, the commanders decided to keep you on the ground back in Marley.

You were too essential, indispensable. As opposed to the others they sent...

Your education and strategic thinking made you an important asset in the boardroom. Despite your continuous dissent for the war, akin to every other young adult, you had no choice.

Unlike Reiner, who wanted to please his family and maintain their honorable place in society, you had to feed your family. Your mother passed away when you were a young girl, and your father was severely injured from the previous war. Yours was the sole income that took care of the two of you, that put warm food on the table and a roof over your heads.