Reiner

Reiner was checking his appearance in the mirror, still debating whether or not he should give up pushing his hair back and let his bangs fall on his forehead, when he heard Pieck whistling behind him.

"Dressed to the nines, aren't we?" she said before taking a tentative sip of her tea and grimacing as soon as she did, most likely finding it still too hot to drink. Reiner cursed under his breath – he knew he was in for a tiresome interrogation about his plans for the night.

"One should be well dressed when going for a date, don't you agree, Pieck?" Reiner replied, hoping that by deflecting, she would drop the matter altogether. "You wore a very fancy, red dress that wasn't what you'd exactly call modest for your date with David, didn't you?"

"Oh, you're calling whatever you're going to do tonight a date now?" She said in a mocking tone and Reiner resisted the urge to roll his eyes at her.

"Don't you have a pile of essays that you need to mark? The night fairy won't get them done like you think happens with the dishes you've been leaving in the sink every night, for as long as we've been roommates." Reiner said and this time Pieck did roll her eyes at him.

"I know that you're the one who washes the dishes, Reiner." she answered as if matter-of-factly.

"I know you do, and yet you never showed any intention to help, not even once, despite the knowledge." Reiner gave up on trying to tame his hair and decided to go with his natural hairstyle. He was however in dire need of getting a haircut or he would be soon having hair in his eyes.

He yelped when he felt Pieck punch his shoulder and turned to scowl at her while rubbing the sore spot.

"Don't you change the subject!" she exclaimed "You're not getting away with not telling me who you're going to see tonight." she raised her index finger at him as if in a warning and Reiner wished, not for the first time, that she wasn't this nosy when it came to his dating life.

"You don't really know them, because I've met them on an a dating app, and I'm meeting them for champagne in half an hour." He said, moving past her to grab his phone from the coffee table in the living room to text his date that he would be soon on his way. At this rate, he was going to be late and if anything Reiner hated the most, it was people who weren't punctual.

"Champagne." Pieck repeated dumbly.

"Yes, champagne."

"Is this code for having sex with someone?" she said, raising an eyebrow at him.

Reiner sighed. He's been friends with Pieck for the last decade of his life. They went to the same high school back when they still lived in Idaho, or rather, Pieck transferred to his in their second year and they quickly bonded and became inseparable. They went to the same college in New York and after they graduated, they moved to this apartment and have been living together for the last three years. To say that Pieck was the closest person to him wasn't an exaggeration. She's had his back many times and he's had hers. He knew she only meant well and that she worried about him but sometimes, she really took it too far. He wasn't seventeen and naïve anymore - he was twenty-six. He could sleep with whomever he wanted without her fussing over him. Yet, he knew that asking her to refrain from doing so would lead to nowhere. Pieck was quite a stubborn woman and once she set her mind on something, she wouldn't relent until she got what she wanted. In this case, it meant he'd have to tell her who he was seeing tonight, even though he knew she had a rough idea what kind of...person he made plans with.

"No, Pieck, we really are going to drink champagne or at least that's what he said in his message earlier after saying that I looked, and I quote, smoking hot." He knew how that sounded and that there was no way anyone would ever approve of him going out to meet someone he'd only spoken to that same day but, she knew this wasn't the first time he did this.

"OK, and where are you going to drink champagne? " she asked, crossing her arms in front her chest while balancing her mug of tea with her hand – something only Pieck could do without spilling its content on the floor like it happened that time he got angry at her for leaving a carton of milk empty in their fridge instead of replacing it, and had to have his coffee black. "Will it be in a nice restaurant where he pays for dinner, or would it be at his house?" she asked, voice dripping with sarcasm, as if daring him to lie to her about this and for a few seconds he was tempted to, just to spite her.

"No, Pieck, I'm sure you know it's going to be at a nearby motel. Happy?" he replied, wishing this will drive the point home so she could stop her ridiculous questioning of what should only be his business when it comes to who he sleeps with. He was surprised when her gaze softened – it seemed as if she no longer wanted to argue with him. Although, he knew she wasn't done yet with this discussion.

Reiner remained silent, waiting for her to say something to him but, she just sighed softly.

"What?" he said, puzzled at her reaction.

"It's just..." she began, as if unsure of her choice of wording which was quite unusual after being friends for so long. He was used to her being blunt and quite forward, and she was used to the same from him. Reiner raised his eyebrows as if to urge her to just say whatever she's trying to be delicate about.

"This... isn't your style. This isn't you." She finally said, her shoulders slumping and Reiner had already an inkling as to where she was going with this. He fought the urge to just turn around and leave for his date but he knew, that if he didn't let her get it off her chest, they would have this discussion another time and frankly he wasn't ready to broach this subject again with her, or with anyone else.

"You're not really the kind of guy to go for a quick fuck with a stranger in a battered motel before they put back their rings on and kick you out so that they can go back to their wife and kids and pretend that their life is fucking perfect." she flung her hands upwards desperately "You're romance guy! You're the guy who'd write a fucking poem to profess their eternal devotion for the man he's fallen in love with and who'd tear up if he got proposed to. You're a sucker for sappy, mushy love stories and you being in one just... makes so much sense."

"Poems and wedding vows are not the only way to experience love or have sex. It's not the fifties anymore - I'm surprised I have to say this to you of all people." Reiner retorted, incredulous at his roommate's surprisingly narrow-minded thinking.

"I know, and I'm not trying to be sex negative or anything. I've had my fair share of one-night stands at college parties or after a few beers at a bar, even if they didn't always end up with me feeling great about myself but I know, it's one way to have fun and it's fine." She said, seemingly irritated at him for not getting her point. She closed her eyes, and shook her head as if she disapproved of a certain thought that crossed her mind. She took a deep a breath, looking like she's trying to be delicate again but deciding to throw caution to the wind with her next words.

"It's just the way you're treated in this, the way you treat yourself. It's...it's not good."

"I do feel good, obviously. It's sex, it actually feels fucking great, even with a straight, married guy." Reiner couldn't help but furrow his brows at her. She really wasn't making any sense.

"Well, you don't really look it. You don't look like you had a great time."

"Well, I'm sorry you didn't catch me while I'm basking in the afterglow, because I didn't think it was a requirement for you to approve of my sex life." Reiner was really growing irritated at his roommate and wondered again why he was still having this conversation with her.

"Reiner, no, you know that's not what I'm talking about." she said softly, and he was promptly reminded by his mother's voice when he was a kid and she was trying to teach him something about how life should or shouldn't be. ''I just don't understand what you're getting out of this. They cheat on their wives with a younger guy and lie about how straight they are-"

"Just because it's fucking 2020, it doesn't mean it's any easier to be open about one's sexuality." Reiner interrupted, in a dangerously low voice.

"I know and I'm not trying to offend you or be judgmental about it." She held her hands in a placating gesture "I just think it's unfair to you. I love you and all I want is for you to feel loved and respected. I really don't think that the way those men just need to type a "you're smoking hot" before you hail the first cab to crawl into their bed is any fair to you." She added, a pleading look on her face that he rarely had seen her wearing "It's just not what you deserve." She finished, and just like that, he lost all will to carry on with this conversation and argue with her any further.

Instead, he walked to her with steady steps and looked down at her. He knew she cared so much about him, and he knew he'd do the same for her if he ever felt she was going to be hurt. He smiled faintly at her and was relieved to see her return his smile, albeit shyly. He chuckled lightly before bending to her level and engulfing her in a gentle embrace.

"Thank you," he murmured in her hair as he felt her relax in his embrace. "But I'll be okay."

He pulled back and placed a soft kiss to her forehead, lingering for a few seconds as he heard her sigh in content. She opened her eyes, looking resigned with his decision.

"Be careful." she whispered in a gentle voice.

"I will."

"Don't do anything I wouldn't do."

"Noted."

"And most of all; have fun." she finished with a smirk and Reiner felt his spirits lift at seeing her back to her usual mischievous self.

"You got it, chief." he said, raising his hand in mock-salute, to which she shook her head in disbelief, a smile still plastered on her face.

He turned on his heels and walked for the coat rack before grabbing his leather jacket. He knew it would be quite chilly at this time of the night.

"Will you be back on the morning?" Pieck asked, as she went to the kitchen to pour herself a glass of wine; a necessary beverage to get her through her students' writing assignments about Shakespeare as she once claimed.

"Uh, depends," he said as he shrugged on his jacket "on how sweet he is."

"Tolerable you mean." he heard her mutter.

"Same thing." He checked his phone and saw that the Uber he called was already in front of their building. He quickly put on his boots and gave himself a once-over in his bedroom's mirror, before turning the light's off and deciding it was time to head outside.

"Reiner, wait!" Pieck suddenly called out from her spot by the couch as soon as he put his hand on the doorknob. She stood up quickly and practically ran to her bedroom.

"What's wrong?" he asked, checking his phone again. He really was going to be late.

"Condoms." he heard her rummage through her drawers.

"See you later." he said, before closing the door behind him.