Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

“Take me home…I’m hungry and cold.” Annie mumbles, sloppily hugging herself as they walk out of the building. 

Reiner turns his head to evade a scolding for finding this humourous and he shrugs off his jacket to wrap around the girl’s shoulder. “We’re headed home now, Annie.” He continues as they reach the car. “What food do you want?”

The car is unlocked, and swiftly Bertholdt moves to open the door to help Annie in. He stands behind her as she climbs up and prays she doesn’t lose her footing. 

“Um…” She starts, but the train of thought misses her as she notices Bertholdt begin to shut the backseat door. She huffs, but it sounds more like a whine, but at least that gets him to stop with a concerned frown. 

“…Stay next to me. I…wanna talk to you…about something important.” She implores. 

From the driver's seat, Reiner shoots Bertholdt an entertained but equally confused face. The taller man shrugs, but he happily obliges and climbs in to sit next to her. 

As soon as he does, Annie is lazily holding onto his arm. She looks up at him as seriously as she can, but her swollen mouth along with the bandages stuffed in there gave more of a hungry chipmunk look. Bertholdt couldn’t stop the endeared grin from forming. He’s not sure he could get away with this if she finds out. 

“Right, so…d’yknow about…Hello Kitty?” She asks, rather seriously. 

“Mhm. I do.” Bertholdt replies, acting intrigued. Reiner is glad neither of them saw his eyes roll. 

“Well, you remind me a lot of…um…what’s his name again…” Her eyes move to look outside the window, which only renders her dizzy. She turns back and is greeted by a gentle kiss on the head. She huffs, seemingly frustrated that she can’t remember the character's name.

“That…the dog, uhm…the one that looks like Snoopy.” 

“Pochacco?” 

Annie nods, a smug smile on her expression. “Yeah…you remind me of him.” 

Bertholdt let out a giggle, unable and unwilling to conceal it. “Thank you, Annie. You know, you remind me of Kuromi.” He responds. 

“Is that…?”

Reiner finished her sentence. “The white rabbit, yes.” 

She giggles. “Hell yeah.”

Bertholdt moves his hand to cover his face, trying his hardest to not burst into laughter. He’s not sure he could get away with it. 

With a bit more lenience since he was in front of them, Reiner chuckles slightly. “Alright, now, back to what we were talking about. What food do you wanna eat when we get back?” 

Annie squints her eyes, a signal she was thinking deeply in reply. “Um…” She repeats. 

“Remember, you can’t have solids.” Bertholdt adds on. But he has a feeling she isn’t listening to anything else anymore. 

“I want…um, y’know…whatever we had the other night.” She shuts her eyes, leaning her head against the shoulder that she assumed was a pillow. It may as well be, with the sweater Bertholdt’s wearing. 

“Which is…?” Reiner prompted.

She yawns. “You know…when we went out…and we had that sauce. Yeah…that sauce was good.” 

Bertholdt figures it out first. “That chicken shop? Annie, I’m sorry, but you won’t be able to eat that. You can’t have any solids for a while.” He repeats. 

“Nooo…I don’t care. Stuff those dentists.” 

Bertholdt fixes the strands of her hair that have fallen out of her updo, and she quickly leans into him. He resists the urge to agree. “You have to listen to them, or the pain will get worse.” 

Annie stays silent at that. She shuffles herself closer to her boyfriend, clearly trying to say she’s still cold. He wraps an arm tighter around her and lets the slow conversation trail off. She keeps her eyes closed, and eventually her breathing stills. 

“Maybe she’ll sulk about it later.”

“Probably.”

———

“I’m not surprised he fell asleep on the way back.” Annie says as she gets out of the car. She approaches the backseat door, yet waits for Reiner to join her side. “He hates dentists. I wouldn’t be surprised if they double sedated him.” 

Reiner scoffs as he reaches her side. “I don’t think that’s legal. Being so nervous probably ran him tired.” 

“Hmm. Now we just have to wake him and get him in the house.” 

The two sigh to prepare themselves, and Annie opens the door. She can’t hide her smile as she sees Bertholdt’s sleeping form slumped in the backseat. He’s even drooling a little. 

She reaches over, gently shaking his shoulder. “C’mon, Bear. Wake up.” 

The man groans, and he stirs slightly. He keeps his eyes shut however, as it doesn’t seem like he wants to wake up. 

Annie sighs and shakes him again. “We’re home now. You have to come inside.” She repeats, although this time she’s a little more firm. It’s not the warmest outside, and she’s sure she’s not the only one craving a cosy evening. 

Thankfully he doesn’t disobey again. This time, Bertholdt opens his eyes and shakily straightens himself up. He yawns, but snaps his mouth shut when he registers the pain. 

“You’re alive.” Reiner snickers. 

Bertholdt turns his head, making it clear he’s only just started to process words. His hooded eyes quickly grow when he notices who’s there. 

“Annie, Reiner…” He grins lazily, a sweet tone in his slurred words. 

The two smile back at him. Annie reaches for his hand and tugs it gently. “Hey, we’re home, let’s head inside.” 

Bertholdt leans forward and his eyes fixate on the palm embrace. He processes Annie’s words too, and his face seems to light up again. 

“Home?” He shuffles himself out of the car with Annie’s hand steadying him, with Reiner joining soon after his feet hit the concrete. 

“Yeah, you live here. With us.” Reiner reassured him, thinking he didn’t recognise the place. They had only recently moved in, and there were all kinds of stories of anaesthetic effects…

“I live with both of you guys?” Bertholdt asks in awe, and Annie is sure she heard his voice tremble. She nods and unlocks the front door whilst Reiner answers him again. 

“Of course you do sweetheart.” 

Bertholdt didn’t say anything after that, not when Annie took him to the living room and set him on the couch whilst she went to get some blankets and when Reiner moved towards the kitchen to get them something to drink. 

The blondes both return at the same time, both with the perfect items for a cosy movie night. Reiner sets down the drinks and sits himself next to Bertholdt, instinctively wrapping an arm around his torso and pulling him closer. Annie made sure the blankets would fit all three of them before she too shuffled herself in, however on the other side of the man. 

It’s only when they hear a sniffle do they turn their heads from the screen. 

“Bertl, what’s wrong?” Reiner asks first. He twists his body and holds a hand on his cheek to wipe away the few tears rolling down. Annie’s hand runs up and down the outside of his thigh. 

“I…I love you guys so much.” He chokes out behind a shaky exhale, and he reflexively draws his knees up to his chest. 

Both Annie and Reiner exchange a knowing glance. 

“We love you too, baby, c’mon.” Reiner responds with a gentle chuckle. 

Bertholdt raises his head hopefully, his wet eyes growing. “You do?” 

They both nod, simultaneously amused and mildly concerned. 

He sniffles again, a small whine escaping his throat at the same time. “I—I was so scared to tell you both, I thought…I thought you wouldn’t…” 

Annie can’t suppress her endeared giggles, and she reaches up with her free hand to run her freshly trimmed nails through his hair. “You thought we wouldn’t reciprocate? Even though we live together and we’re currently huddled up like sardines on the couch?” She prompts him, urging to see that she’s correct.

Bertholdt nods, yet it doesn’t seem like he fully processed what she had said. His lips tremble again as more tears fall. “Oh, I love you guys so much…th—thank you, I’m so lucky.” 

Just to restate the fact this isn’t a new confession and they have in fact been together for a while for the man, Reiner carries on. “We’re the ones who’ve been lucky, Bert. All this time. We should be thanking you.” He says, looking back to Annie for a nod. 

He continues to use his thumb to wipe the tears on one side, whilst the other was met with warm lips catching the droplets. “It’s alright, we’re here.”

Bertholdt continues to cry, but at least now they know it’s happy tears from relief from what he believes is a new relationship. 

Annie finds she has her phone in her pocket midway through. She’s happy she can have this memory for a later date. 

——

As Bertholdt stops the car and opens the door to exit, he’s stopped by another fit of giggles. He doesn’t stop yet sighs and lets his eyes close for a second. “What’s funny now, Reiner?” His tone was less annoyed, but more entertaining. 

“There’s a funny looking dog over there and he reminds me of you.” The blonde man answers, and when he looks back at the dog he giggles again. 

Bertholdt moves to the other side of the car to his boyfriend’s side just as he points over to the aforementioned dog. No surprise, it was a borzoi, and it had more black patches than white. It wasn’t the typical golden coat they had gotten used to every day, walking gracefully with their matching owner. 

Bertholdt smiles, not entirely seeing it but simply enjoying the joy Reiner has in finding them. “Well, thank you.” He holds his hands out, letting the blonde take them before helping him out of the car. 

Annie stands at the door, already amused from the short preview of Reiner’s state whilst equally wondering what the hell kind of drugs they gave him. She stands to the side as the two enter, and shuts the door behind them. 

“Did they give him double the dose?” She jokes, although it wouldn’t surprise her. 

Bertholdt shrugs as he takes Reiner to the couch, his smile remaining when he waves back at Annie. “I don’t know. Maybe. He hates dentists just as much as I do.” He states, recalling the blonde man begging him to hold his hand before anything even started. 

Annie joins the two men getting settled on the couch, and she extends her heated blanket to them. Unsurprisingly, this causes Reiner to giggle and lean closer to the smaller blonde. 

“You alright?” Annie asks with a laugh-ful grin on her face, her hand reaching up to scratch his scalp. 

“I’m in so much pain.” He replies giggly, and through his open smiles Annie can see the bandages and blood in his mouth. She winces at the sight. He laughs at her reaction. 

She keeps one hand in Reiner’s hair whilst the other one reaches over to the coffee table and she returns to his field of vision with a bottle. “Can you have any painkillers? I feel like I’ve got a whole pharmacy here.” 

Bertholdt chose to answer for Reiner, for everyone’s safety. “I don’t think he can have anything for a bit.” He states, and his concern shifts. “But do you want me to reheat your hot water bottle?” 

Annie shakes her head. “No, thanks. It’s not as bad now. Plus, we both have this guy to worry about right now.” 

Reiner opens his eyes at the jab and childishly sticks his tongue out (well, not really, as he’s still high as a kite) at the woman. When Annie reciprocates the gesture with more direction, he chuckles. 

“I saw the spitting image of Tolt today, y’know.” He shares after his laughing fit. 

“Oh?” 

Annie looks up and notices the slightly flustered expression on the mentioned man’s face, and he quickly gets up and retreats to the kitchen to get the two something to drink. 

Reiner proceeds to tell the very short story of seeing a borzoi matching the look of their partner, however by adding all sorts of unnecessary details the recount ran all the way up until Bertholdt returned. 

“See, Annie, doesn’t he look like one?” Reiner prompts with a guffaw. 

Annie pretends like they haven’t had this conversation many times before, shoots the black-haired man with a sympathetic glance and nods. “Yeah, he does.” 

Chapter Text

Reiner opens the door to the apartment, greeted with a calm quiet. He smiles on instinct. 

“I’m home!” He says, although it wasn't hard to not notice. He begins to shimmy his coat off. 

“Hey.” Annie greets, her voice far away. Reiner looks over as he hangs his coat up and drops his bag against the door for later, and she sees her smile on the other side of the couch. 

Reiner sighs in relief at the newfound warmth of their apartment as he walks over to the blonde woman, happy to be greeted by such a calming face after a long day. “You alright?” He asks, a habit.

Annie nods. “I would’ve come and met you halfway, but…” She answers a question he didn’t even have, and gestures below her. Confused, Reiner picks up his relaxed pace and walks to the front of the couch. 

“Ah.” Reiner’s smile grows. 

It isn’t a shock to them, but it still fills their hearts every time. Bertholdt remains completely oblivious to Reiner’s return, too busy dreaming deeply under the warmth of a fleece blanket and laying peacefully on top of an equally mellow girlfriend. 

Reiner leans down for a split second to plant a kiss on the man’s forehead, smiling when he notices his expression softening at the feeling. In the corner of his eye Annie adjusts the blanket upwards, and she doesn’t need to say that he’s moved the blanket off himself too many times to count. The blonde man then moves to sit on the other side of Annie, making sure to scooch himself close. 

“You done much today?” 

“No, not really. He’s still recovering and I’ve just chilled with him. I cleaned the hallway closet out, though. You and Bert need to go through your things and decide if you wanna keep or give away.” 

Reiner nods, again making a mental note to do that later. He looks back down at Bertholdt, and once again he’s unable to conceal his smile. “What about him?” 

Annie scoffs. “He’s still a little sick — headache, runny nose, all of that…so I told him to just rest again. He wanted to clean with me and he was even considering going to work.” 

“You didn’t let him clean did you?” Reiner asks. He knows that she managed to get him to call out sick again, but he knows just how guilty Bertholdt can get when he’s incapacitated of any sort. Even though they’d literally spoil him to the moon and back if they could, he refuses to let them do stuff like this for him without giving back to them. 

“Obviously not.” Annie answers. She reaches over, her fingers running across his scalp ever so carefully. “Luckily his book got delivered today, so he was absorbed in that for enough time for me to do it on my own.” 

“Good.”

The pair remain in silence for a few moments, only broken by an unconscious groan from Bertholdt, as well as the quiet shifting of positions. Annie takes the quick opportunity to stretch her legs out. 

Reiner turns over to glance at the kitchen, and he grimaces at the thought of getting back up to prepare dinner. Quite frankly he’s exhausted, and he doesn’t have any more energy in his brain to cook up something good. He sighs. 

“I don’t feel like cooking tonight.” He says, but he quickly adds on: “And I don’t want to wake him up either.” 

“What, you wanna order in?” 

Reiner nods, and Annie smirks in a mixture of excitement and smugness. She probably guessed he would’ve done this. With her free hand, she picks up her phone and opens up a delivery app. 

Well, it doesn’t last very long. Her phone is quickly out of her field of vision as it’s rapidly snatched away by Reiner and placed over to his side. “Nope.” He states calmly.

“But—“

“I said no, Leonhart. Let me order.” 

Annie looks into his eyes and she spots the stubbornness, and she knows she won’t win this argument. She sighs and nods, her lips curving gratefully.

After deciding where they wanted to eat, they decided the sickest should get to pick their meal first. Annie moves her fingers away from his scalp and rests her hand against his shoulder. With a small shake she utters his name, yet she’s met with only a sleepy frustrated huff at the lack of head scratches.

“Bear, wake up.” She feels a little guilty for waking him up, she always has, but she also knows that she cannot even think about ordering him nothing. It had nearly been an hour anyway. 

Bertholdt groans — this time a little more audible — and his eyes flutter open a few times. Unfortunately, sleep wins one again (honestly, it almost always wins against him) and his expression relaxes. 

Reiner’s free hand rests against his face, and he laughs. “Bertl, wake up. We’re ordering dinner.” 

Within mere moments, his eyes fight a little more to stay open and manage to succeed. He takes a second to adjust to the same surroundings he fell asleep in, but stops when he sees their faces. 

“Reiner, you’re back.” He mutters, half asleep.

“Mhm, I am.” The blonde man confirms, pulling one of Bertholdt’s ever so neglected hands up and kissing it just as gentle as royalty. “We’re ordering some of Niccolo’s. What do you want?”

Bertholdt stretches just as far as usual and sits up, attempting to rub the sleep from his eyes. Annie tilts the phone so he can see the screen too, and soon it’s in his grip.

Bertholdt lazily finishes ordering by sliding the phone back onto Reiner’s lap and slumping against the couch, his head coincidentally just below Annie’s once again. He rests his head on her shoulder, and soon he regains the energy to press a kiss against her collarbone (Only one, though, he had claimed by using the fact he was still sick as a reason).

“Done. It’ll be here in around 25 minutes.” Reiner explains when he presses pay, dropping his phone beside himself.

“Thank you Reiner,” Two voices reply simultaneously, one still slightly groggy. 

Reiner nods, a small smirk on his expression. “Anything for you two.”