𝙃𝙚𝙧 𝙁𝙤𝙧𝙜𝙤𝙩𝙩𝙚𝙣 𝙋𝙖𝙨𝙩 || Eren Jaeger

𝙖𝙥𝙤𝙡𝙤𝙜𝙞𝙚𝙨 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙖𝙘𝙘𝙪𝙨𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣𝙨

I don't know how to take this. I want to be mad at him. I want to hold a grudge because its the easier choice. But I also acknowledge that for once, he's being sincere.

"Is this your way of apologizing?" I ask.

"No."

I roll my eyes and slouch in my chair.

"Its not an apology because I don't regret it. I did what I had to do and thats why you're still here. And..." He raises his tea cup to his lips, mumbling the next part. "I only did it cause I cared."

My eyes widen. Did I hear that correctly?

"I still think you're a stubborn brat." He adds irritatedly, returning to normal. "Always putting yourself in danger for others... tch. Hero complex, much?"

I look down at the table and fold my arms over my chest. "I don't have much to lose." Well... this is getting oddly personal. Where the hell is Eren?

His gaze flickers to me, thoughtful, and then he looks away again. There's a ten second pause until he sets down his cup with a soft clink. He grunts slightly and a hand goes to his left knee.

Apparently I'm the only one thats going to be doing the apologizing today. "Um, sorry about the leg. Is it any better?" I ask, trying to sound casual and absolutely NOT guilty.

"I should be fine in a couple weeks."

"I know I should've listened to you. Its my fault."

"No need to throw a pity party. Its fine." He says distantly. "I was like you once. Never relying on anyone. Choosing to do things my way. Hell, maybe I still am like that."

I nod slowly. "Hm. You're a lot easier to talk to than you seem. You know, when you don't have a stick up your ass."

He takes another sip of his tea, his expression unreadable. "I'm more human than people think."

The door opens before I can process what he said any deeper. Eren looks at me apologetically, salutes the Corporal, and takes a seat right next to me.

"Where were you?" I whisper.

"To be honest..." He laughs softly, "I kind of fell asleep."

I give him a "seriously?" look, but can't hide the chuckle that follows.

"They're late." Corporal Levi says grumpily. I know he's referring to Erwin and the others that are supposed to attend. "I don't like to be kept waiting... Maybe Erwin is constipated. He usually has a hard time taking a shit."

Eren laughs. Whether because he feels obligated to or because he actually liked the corporal's shitty (pun intended) sense of humor, I'm not sure. "You're talkative today, sir." He praises.

"Don't be stupid. I'm always talkative."

"We could use a bit of casual conversation these days." I say. "With all thats been happening lately, the Survey Corps' circumstances appear to be getting worse and worse. Its strange... We've been exposed to so much in such a short amount of time. It feels like just yesterday we discovered Eren could shift into a titan. Now, with the female titan popping up out of the blue, we find out that he's not the only one?" I rest my chin on the palm of my hand, staring at nothing in particular.

Eren's face is one of consternation. "I agree. Everything we've ever known was just a foundation of lies."

"Thats exactly it, though. Will we ever get close to the truth? Every time we get an answer it leads to more and more questions." I sigh heavily.

Corporal Levi purses his lips. "Yeah, well... sometimes the truth is in plain sight. Sometimes you're just too blind to see it, even when its right in front of you."