Reiner paced just inside the closed stable's barn door, both out of anxiety and necessity- the temperature had dropped below freezing long ago, and continued to plummet. Krista's should've been back by now. By his estimation, they had maybe an hour of daylight left, although the swirling mass of clouds made that mostly guesswork. Already it was starting to dim. The option of their own return to camp had flown out the window at least the hour before. They'd never find their way back, regardless of how much daylight remained.
He had finished mucking out the last of the three stalls, cracking through the ice layer on each water trough, ignoring the horror he felt when he had to repeat the gesture a half hour later. He hadn't bothered a third time. He'd raided the small equipment closet he'd seen Krista use earlier for all the blankets and pads he could find. If they were staying the night here, they would have to make it work. To kill his nervous energy, he'd sorted through the sets, pulling out a dozen or so of the cleanest for himself and Krista to use later, leaving the others to use on the animals. He hoped the pigs he'd left in the other building were warm enough, but he didn't dare risk venturing out into the storm to check. Only one thing could bring him to get lost out in the snow, and that thing was not a small gaggle of pigs.
When it finally grew dim enough inside the stables to light the oil lamps on the walls, Reiner allowed himself to indulge in the panic threatening to suffocate him. What options did he have? He could take a lamp out there and try to find her. He would probably wander around aimlessly in the dark until he froze to death. On the off chance he did find her- and the three dozen animals she should have with her- how was he supposed to get them all back?
...he could transform? That was always an option on the table. Of course he'd blow his cover, but Bertolt and Annie would still be safe. They could complete the mission without him. He considered for a moment abandoning his promises, imagined the weight lifting off his shoulders as her ran to Krista's rescue. Maybe she would keep quiet about it if he did? Or maybe the others would kill her for her knowledge. Her life wasn't worth more than their mission…
...was it?
A quiet knock echoed through the icy air and into the stables. Reiner didn't even bother to wonder who it could be. Sprinting to the door, he heaved it sideways as sputters of snow and ice came billowing inward. An ice-covered lump of fabric stumbled in through the door, one tiny pale hand frozen to the rope attached to a horse. Reiner gaped in awe, frozen in place, as the figure pulled the horse aside to let in...all the rest of the horses and cattle. All of them. Reiner watched as the stables quickly filled up with the shivering beasts, stomping and shuddering to warm up. Without prompting, all of the horses, save for the one still attached to it's human, sorted themselves back into their stalls, while the handful of cattle gathered in a clump in the center of the hall.
Reiner wasted no more time watching. He shoved the door closed again, locking it down tight before wrapping his arms around the tiny frozen bundle and pulling it close to his chest, tucked up under his chin.
"I t-t-told you I c-could d-d-do it," Krista mumbled into his chest, and he could feel her quaking underneath the blanket. Reiner barked out a surprised laugh, choking slightly at the end as he swallowed a sob. He hugged her tighter to him, cocking his head to rub his cheek along the top of her head, eyes squeezing shut in silent thanks. A small part of him remembered that he should be embarrassed by this sort of contact, but he was too blissfully relieved she was alive to care. He was too far gone for that.
The horse snorting at him brought him back to the present. Gently, Reiner trailed his hand down her arm to where she clutched at the rope, still holding her close to his body. He covered her frozen hand with his, wincing at the blueish ice of her skin. He could hear a sharp sigh escape her as he made contact, causing his heart to swell. He held it there for a moment, softly rubbing it to coax the blood back into the digits before prying the rope out of her clenched fingers. Finally out of her grip, the horse made his way back to his own stall, huffing in annoyance at the delay.
"I was about to come look for you, ya know," Reiner admitted softly.
"I th-thought I said t-to t-t-trust me," she chattered, teeth clanging against each other loudly. Her shivering was ramping up violently as she slowly thawed, practically vibrating in his arms. Reiner ignored her reprimand, much more concerned with the frozen blanket cocooning her. His body heat was slowly melting the snow, leaving a heavy, damp mass of fabric that would surely chill her to the bone. She already had the precursor signs of hypothermia.
"We have to get you out of this thing," he scolded, and finally released her to tug at it. It came off in crisped sheets of ice, almost solid. It landed on the dirt floor with a heavy thud, leaving Krista in her uniform and coat, shuddering. Her arms wrapped around herself, shoulders curled inward as she tried in vain to warm her frigid body.
Without thinking, Reiner scooped her up into his arms in a mirror of how he'd carried her before, pulling her close to himself. She might have made a sound in protest, but the way she curled her icy fingers into his jacket, hunching her frame into his chest let him know she needed this more. She needed him right now, and gods if the feeling wasn't as intoxicating as it was the first time.
"Just hang on, okay?"
She nodded silently, face rubbing against his shirt. He waded through the cattle milling aimlessly in the hallway to the back of the stables. Her body jerked in an effort to thaw, causing her to almost jolt out of his arms more than once. When he made it to the back corner, he deposited her on the pile of clean-ish blankets he'd sorted earlier, wrapping her up in a few. Acting quickly, he pulled a few of the oil lamps off the walls and set them down in front of her, turning them up to the highest flame. It may not be much, but the meager heat would have to do.
"If you c-can, g-get the cows in w-w-with the horses. They'll stay w-warm-mer that w-way," Krista suggested from her pile. Reiner could feel his mouth quirk up in response- almost dead and all she cared about was the damn animals that had put her in this state in the first place. He listened to her though- she'd been right about the pigs after all- and began herding the cattle in with the horses, one to a stall. The horses that ended up with a roommate shied away at first, but soon leaned into their new partner for warmth. The cattle, unruffled, began to eat the horses straw.
Reiner continued to make the animals comfortable while Krista thawed in her blanket nest. She offered suggestions and issued orders as he went, and he was pleased that she was slowly losing the stutter as she warmed up. He covered the animals with blankets, broke the ice insistently creeping atop their water troughs, and distributed a small brick of alfalfa to each stall. By the time he finished, the sun had dropped below the sky and the wind was picking up, whistling into the corners of the barn.
"Guess we aren't making back tonight?" he asked, plopping down onto the pile of blankets next to Krista to lean against the equipment room door. She'd warmed enough to have uncovered her head, and was currently holding her tiny hands over the oil lamps. She was so small that he just wanted to wrap his arms around her and pull her close to his chest. He'd been so unrestrained with himself when she'd returned, so relieved that she was alive, that he'd allowed himself to be swept away in the feeling and hold her without reserve. He felt awkward reaching out for her now.
"You keep missing dinner because of me. I'm really sorry," she whispered, head bowed. His chest constricted- why did she have to be so sweet?
"Hey, it's alright," he said soothingly, leaning to bump his shoulder against hers, ignoring the spike of sensation trailing up his arm at the contact. "I'm a big guy, I can handle missing a meal."
She giggled in response, head still down. They lapsed into silence- Krista watching the lamps, Reiner watching Krista. After a moment, she glanced over at him.
"Aren't you cold?"
"Sure, but you have all the blankets," he teased. Reiner ran much hotter than the average human, a small advantage of being a titan shifter. He had learned to fluctuate his temperature much more effectively as well, allowing him to mask it when he was around other humans, but at times like this it came in handy. It was certainly below freezing inside the stables.
Krista's eyes blew wide in apology at his statement, and immediately she began to shift around, pulling blankets out from under and around her to shove in his direction, repeating "I'm sorry" over and over again as she did. It was an adorable flurry of fabric and contrition. Reiner couldn't help but laugh when one smacked him in the face. He tugged it away, chuckling, and wrapped it around his shoulders to appease her before settling backward against the door again, arms propped up on bent knees. However, when her last layer fell away, she almost double over at the violence of the shaking that overtook her.
"Hey, watch it! You haven't been thawing long enough for that!" Reiner scolded, and quickly reached over to tug the blanket back up over her shoulder, allowing his hand to brush indulgently over her arm as he did so. Despite the layers separating him from her bare skin, she shuddered in relief.
"You're so warm," she moaned, cheeks pinkening at her tone. It sounded so breathless and wanton and totally wrong coming from her lips. Reiner felt his face heat to mirror hers, and bit the inside of his cheek until he tasted blood to remain focused. His eyes widened as she shyly scooted closer to him, eyes darting anywhere but his.
"Do you mind...if I…?" She hesitated, clenching her blanket around her, face flushing darker by the minute. A small finger poked through the blanket to gesture between the two of them. Reiner felt his breath leave him as he stared at her blankly, brain short circuiting. He blinked at her owlishly with wide eyes. He could feel his jaw unhinge in what he was certain was a comical gape. There was no way she meant...
"I-it's okay if you aren't alright with that! It's just that I'm so cold, and you're so warm, and it's only going to get colder and..." She bit her lip at his stunned silence and looked down, crestfallen. "I'm sorry if I offended you. I'll be fine."
Panic flooded Reiner as he watched his opportunity disappearing like sand through his fingers. She was throwing herself in his lap- literally!- and because he couldn't seem to restart his brain, he was going to lose this chance.
"N-no it's okay!" It came out as a strangled sort of sound, but he managed to get the words out at least.
Her face cracked into a wide smile as she fingered the edge of the blanket anxiously. With halting motions, she crawled towards him over the blanket pile, eyes darting between his face and the ground. Reiner was frozen in place, watching her with silent apprehension, as if moving might make her change her mind.
Krista hesitated when she was close enough to touch him, sitting back on her heels, as though considering how best to approach, blushing furiously. Reiner was sure his face matched hers, but he was determined to let her do this. His fingers itched to reach out and tug her to him. Abruptly, she turned around and scooted herself backwards between his legs until her back bumped up against his chest. She sighed contentedly when they made contact, spiking Reiner's heart rate. Her head came up to his collarbone, and he could feel her wiggle against him to get comfortable. She was so close and she smelled so good...so soft, rubbing herself against him... Reiner swallowed hard. If she kept moving against him like that…
To prevent an embarrassing situation, Reiner wrapped his arms tight around her to stop her from moving, looking up to the ceiling in despair. How did he get himself into this mess? Oh right. He had feelings for the fucking enemy.
"Are you sure this is okay?" Krista asked, chewing on her lip. She could feel how rigidly Reiner was sitting behind her, with a ramrod straight spine, but his long arms were wrapped snugly around her and she wasn't sure if she would be able to bring herself to leave the warm embrace, even if he asked her to. She was just so cold and his heat seeped into her, deliciously warm. She didn't want to think about the fact that the identity of the person's arms might have some bearing on her preference as well. Her adrenaline had spiked when she'd touched him and her heart had yet to settle its erratic tattoo.
"Yeah, it's fine," Reiner coughed. Krista tilted her head backward to look up at him, but all she could see was his corded throat and square jaw as he stared at the ceiling.
"You seem very uncomfortable."
Reiner gave a short bark of a laugh at that and glanced down at her for a moment, before back up at the ceiling. His frame relaxed a bit, allowing her to sink farther back against his warm chest, his fingers curling tighter around her. Her stomach flopped over pleasantly at the contact. From her angle directly below him, she could see his thin lips quirked up into a smirk.
"I'll survive."
"I wonder how long it'll take anyone to miss us?"
"I'm sure Ymir noticed you were missing a few hours ago," Reiner replied, and Krista lowered her head back down to ponder at the slight bitterness in his tone. While Ymir wasn't exactly friendly with anyone in the camp except her (and sometimes not even her), she didn't think they had a specific issue with each other. She couldn't recall them ever even having a conversation.
"Do you not like Ymir?" Krista asked curiously. Reiner gave a noncommittal shrug of his shoulders that she felt rather than saw. "She is rather protective," Krista granted. "What about you though? You're always with Bertolt, and the other boys will definitely notice you're missing!"
"What do you mean?" Reiner sounded confused, and she wished she could see his face. Pressing up against him like this was providing her a quick lesson in his body language.
"Well, it's obvious they look up to you. The other boys always talk about you like you're their leader or big brother or something." When he didn't reply, Krista dropped her head back to look up at him again. He was staring straight ahead, arched brows drawn down over narrowed, fiery eyes, lost in thought. "I'm sorry. Should I have not said that?"
Reiner didn't answer. They sat in silence for several minutes, punctuated by the snuffling and munching of the horses as they enjoyed their dinner. Krista was jealous. They'd only had that small snack to hold them over until they could make it out of there. As though summoned by the mere thought, her stomach growled loudly. Reiner snickered at the noise.
"Getting hungry?"
"Yes...I bet dinner is already over by now…" Krista mused.
"Are you sure there isn't anything we could eat out here?" Reiner asked, and Krista looked thoughtfully around the stables, contemplating his question.
"Well...the only animals that eat food a human could eat are the pigs, and they've already been fed. Not that we'd want what they get anyways." The pigs were fed on the soldiers scraps collected after meals. "If it were spring there would be a small carton of apples for the horses, but they've all been taken for us trainees with winter approaching." She glanced at the snowflakes wisping in through the barn door edges. "Arrived," she amended.
"Didn't you bring in those eggs from the hens earlier? What about them?"
Krista bolted up from his lap in alarm. The eggs! She'd completely forgotten about them! The hens had produced five beautiful eggs, and she'd just left the basket in the stables before rushing out to rescue the animals in the snow storm. That meant they'd still be here!
She scrambled up from her seated position, wrapping the blanket tighter around herself, already regretting the sudden loss of heat from abandoning Reiner. The basket was still where she had left it, directly under the ladder. All of the eggs were present and accounted for. Carrying her loot carefully back to the blanket pile, she sat down on the edge next to the small collection of oil lamps. The lamps had brass bases, with a key turn to adjust the flame, and tall, gradually shrinking glass hoods atop them. One by one, she pulled the first few eggs out the basket and placed them on the top of the glass, where they sat precariously, the top half sticking up and out. Reiner pushed himself off of the wall and came to sit next to her, watching her movements intently. Krista scooted a tad closer to him when he sat, unable to resist the body heat he emitted. A shock ran up her arm and down her spine at the contact, landing pleasurably deep in her stomach.
"What're you doing?"
"Cooking them, silly. Did you want to eat them raw?" she giggled, watching closely as the underbelly of the eggs started to darken. She caught the bemused look Reiner shot her way out the corner of her eye and winked at him, enjoying the slight blush that stained his cheeks in response. The power rush that causing his blushes gave her was quickly becoming addicting. Making him blush had to mean something...she couldn't recall seeing him blush around anyone else. When the color bordered into black, she gently flipped them upside down and placed them back atop the lamp.
"I've never seen anyone cook eggs like that before," Reiner wondered, and Krista couldn't help a small surge of satisfaction curling warmly in her chest. To be able to show someone as capable as Reiner something he'd never seen before gave her unexpected pride in her upbringing.
"I had to learn how to feed myself when I was really young. Who I grew up with...sometimes they forgot about me, so I learned a few tricks," she explained, carefully tiptoeing around details. She knew that was more information than she should be giving him. Finding herself drawn to him was no excuse for letting down her guard.
"I'm sorry," Reiner responded quietly after a pause. "I know what it's like to be hungry."
Rather than answer, Krista nodded solemnly. Everyone knew hunger since Wall Maria was invaded. You'd have to be a noble to not have noticed the difference, and birth status didn't spare them all.
It didn't spare her.
She mentally edged away from the uncomfortable train of thought. With careful hands, she pulled the eggs off the glass lamp tops and placed them steaming on back into the basket before starting over again with the next round.
"You should eat them before they get cold," she advised when Reiner didn't move. He glanced over at her and then back at the eggs.
"..How?"
Krista laughed at that, covering her mouth with her hand, eyes dancing with mirth. She loved the little furrow in his brow where his brows drew together in confusion. Taking pity on him, she pulled one out and scratched the shell with her nail until it cracked.
"When you cook them like this, it's kind of like hard boiled eggs, just without the water. So you just peel off the shell, and eat them." She demonstrated the technique and took a bite out of the top, eyes closing as she munched happily. The telltale sound of egg shell crunching let her know Reiner was mimicking her process. She quickly popped the rest of the egg into her mouth and went back to tending the ones still cooking.
"Hey, this is good," Reiner said, surprised, as he bit into his egg.
"Everything tastes better when you're hungry," Krista hedged, secretly pleased with the compliment.
"No, but these are really good!" he exclaimed, polishing it off and reaching for his second in one fluid motion.
Krista pulled the last two eggs off of the lamps and added them to the basket, taking her second egg. They ate quickly and quietly, happily crunching through their small meal. Reiner had hesitated about taking his third egg, since that would leave her with only two, but she insisted. While she wasn't full after two, her stomach was no longer clawing at her insides, and she knew she could last the night. He'd still pulled it apart before eating to give her another bite. Reiner was thoughtful with her, she noticed with giddy fascination. Sweet and thoughtful.
Reiner's blood had spiked when he noticed Krista yawn widely, clearly exhausted. They'd both settled into companionable silence after they finished eating, her watching the horses, wrapped in two blankets, him leaned back against the wall, a blanket slung around his shoulders as he sat cross-legged. Her gaping mouth reminded him of the very real fact that he and Krista would be spending the night trapped in here. Together. Alone. And if their earlier contact hadn't clued him into their impending sleeping situation, her visible shivering returning would have. Regardless of his feelings for her- and he was beyond admitting that he most certainly had feelings for her- they were going to freeze in here if they didn't spend the night in close proximity to each other. A fact that made his heart thump so loudly in his chest he was sure she could hear it.
"We should probably get to sleep," he offered in what he hoped was a nonchalant way. She didn't seem to notice his anxiety, just nodded sleepily in agreement. "How...uhh...how would you like to do that?"
Krista seemed to register what he meant, snapping to attention, cheeks staining with pink. They were sitting on a mass of blankets, and they would need at least a few under them given the hard dirt floor of the stables. He didn't mind sleeping sitting up, he'd done it plenty of times, but he wasn't sure how Krista preferred to sleep. He felt his own face color at the thought. He'd get to sleep near her tonight. Maybe even with...
"W-what do you mean?" Krista asked nervously and Reiner almost groaned. Of course she was going to make him say it. Suck it up. Emboldened by their earlier cuddling and lack of another option, Reiner decided to lean into it. He desperately wanted her close to him again anyways. Reiner was supposed to be a soldier now. Weren't soldiers supposed to be brave? Wasn't he?
Before he could think better of it, Reiner reached out and pulled her onto his lap and wrapped his arms around her. She squeaked in surprise, but arranged herself comfortably after he settled her against him, sending thrills of white hot adrenaline into his blood like ice. It ached. Brave, brave, brave. She sat with her left side pressed against his chest, both legs draped over his thigh. She came up to right below his chin in this position, and he took full advantage, resting his head on top of hers.
"This is what I mean," he murmured, eyes closing contentedly. He could be ok with this, if this was all he got, he told himself. He could be alright if all he had was tonight, to tuck her up against him and care for her. He hadn't gotten the feel of her out of his mind since he'd carried her back to camp weeks ago, the sensation plaguing him ever since. The tightness he'd carried in his chest since that night slowly unfurled as he held her close. "Can you sleep like this?"
Krista hummed her approval, nodding, and he could feel her cheek rub against his shirt as she did so. She pressed herself closer to him, and he gently rubbed his hands up and down her exposed arm and leg, careful not to stray too far south or north respectively, until her shivering dissipated. A few minutes after the shivering ceased, her breathing evened out as she slipped off to sleep.
Reiner held her close as she slept, careful to moderate his breathing so as not to wake her. She was too pure and kind for him- he knew that deep in his warrior soul. But if he could hold her, just for tonight, that could sustain him through the years ahead. He could live with himself if he could just have this. With that thought in his mind, he drifted off to join her in sleep.
That's how they woke the next morning, curled around each other, sleeping more soundly than either of them had in years.
A/N: First, but I'm sure not the last time I'm late to an update. Only one day late though, so not too shabby...what do you think? This chapter was by FAR my favorite to write so far, I had a BLAST with it! I'd love to hear your thoughts!
