Tainted Vision | Levi x Reader

Fragmented Trust | Part 22

"I'm sorry Hange. I don't know why I couldn't do it." Eren lowered his head is disappointment as he apologized to Hange. She grew a bit shocked, however, recovered quickly and replied, "No, no. There will be other times. This was just a test run anyway." Hange positively reassured Eren, but he still seemed to be dazing off as he didn't answer and stood frozen.

"Oi, Eren." Levi called out as he put his hand Eren's shoudler, "We're heading back. Get on your horse."

Eren only nodded in response as he turned towards his horse that was tied to a nearby tree. I watched as he moped about the current situation, I pitied him a bit, but there was nothing I could do for him. I directed my attention away as and headed towards my own horse. After mounting, we then took off back towards the base.

~~~

The sun was setting and many hours had passed since Eren had damaged his hands, however, after we arrived, there was still no signs of any healing. Usually, there would be steam rising from his hands even if they were bandaged thickly. Not to mention, hours has passed and he was still dealing with the pain.

I was patrolling around the fields of the base alone as I contemplated about the events that happened today. We'd made no progress towards our goal, and the expedition was nearing. If we couldn't even get Eren to transform, there was no reason to head out on this expedition anyways...

No. Stop thinking so negatively.

I quickly brought both my hands towards my face and slapped them onto my cheeks before wincing in pain. I needed to stop worrying so much, my only job right now was to watch over Eren, not make plans for the future--that was Erwin's job. I let out a sigh as I dropped my arms back to my sides and walk back towards the base. As I made my way back, I spotted our squad all near a picnic table. Levi and Petra were standing a bit farther away from the table, which I felt a bit jealous as I looked at them. However, I shook the feelings off and approached the table instead of Levi.

"Don't be so depressed Eren." Eld stated trying to cheer Eren up. I sat down next to Eren and joined in on their conversation. They didn't seem to mind as they continued on without acknowledging my intrusion.

"But..." Eren quietly replied fiddling with his cup of tea. He was shaking a bit, but quickly tried to conceal it as he gripped onto his shirt more. I guess that really hit him hard, didn't it? My eyes filled with a bit of sympathy as I gazed at the young boy, he had so much pressure appointed on him to perform feats that no one had ever seen before, and he failed during his first trail. I could only imagine the amount of pressure he felt, everyone was basically forcing their ideals and morals onto him, along with pushing the concept that he was "humanities only hope".

"Well, this only means that you're more human that we thought." Oluo shamelessly answered. My eyes narrowed at the statement as I grew a bit irritated towards Oluo's statement. To think he was indirectly calling Eren a monster like he knew him was absurd. Eren wasn't a monster and he was just as human as anyone else, however, I decided to keep my mouth shut.

"I prefer doing stuff like this rather than rushing things and losing lives. This wasn't meaningless." Eld again tried to cheer up Eren a bit with his comforting words.

"Yeah. You can never be too careful." Gunter contributed and I felt a slight shift in Eren's mood as a silence fell over the table. Eren then tried to pick up the small spoon that was laid upon his cup, however, he grimaced as he did and dropped it onto the floor.

"Careful." I worriedly said as I offered a hand towards Eren who was in pain. He quickly shook it off with a smile on his face.

"It's okay, I'm fine." Eren softly replied with a small smile before bending down to pick up his spoon. I turned back around towards the table as Eren bent down to pick up the spoon, however, as he bent down, I felt a slight shift in the wind and immediately turned around, however, I was too late as I spotted a small lighting strike emerge from Eren's hand as he made contact with the spoon. Shit!