["It's killing us too." Reiner grips his own chest when Aubrey says that. He nods, miserable. It is killing him; it's all killing him, and not fast enough. Seeing Eren in person again had felt...indescribable in the worst way. Reiner had fallen to his knees, begging Eren to kill him, to take what was owed. And Eren didn't. Why not? To punish him? Or was it something else?

[They broke each other. But Aubrey's words - both said and unsaid - spark a flame of feeble hope. Not that things might get better, or that Eren can be saved; just that he's still in there somewhere. This girl, to his knowledge, doesn't know who Eren used to be, the raw passion that bled from every inch of him. Terrifying passion, but with something to cling to other than destruction.

["He wanted freedom. He wanted happiness. He believed he could find it. He really did. That's the Eren I want back."

[Reiner takes a deep breath. The idea of facing Eren is always a bone-chilling one, made up of both fear and guilt. Once he and Eren are actually face to face, it's a thousand times worse. He'll always be the man that Reiner loves. It's a sick fate.]

I'm...not sure that I can bring anything out in Eren that isn't pain, but...

["He's suffering."]

I want to help.

I'll do whatever I can.

[Maybe it's delusional; it wouldn't be the first time. But, fuck. What else does he have to lose? Just Eren.]