neighsaying | baby you make me crazy

[ It's clear that something passes behind Jean's eyes - but whatever it is, he doesn't let it stick. He waves a hand. ]

I mean, you remember how she is.

[ Gone all summer. As soon as she was back, fussing over Jean's pierced ears and how they made him look, only speaking to him in French when he started learning. A woman concerned with appearances more than care. ]

[That's right...Eren frowns.]

Well...I don't want to be like that.

[And then, he can't help it - he thinks of Ymir and it's just pure fondness. He's still not much of a smiler, but when it comes to her...well, the corners of his mouth lift just a little.]

You'll get it when you see her. This is the first time I've left her side since she was born. Feels like my...arms are missing or something.

She's...completely perfect in every way.

[Has Eren ever spoken about someone like that? Not in a million, trillion years.]

I don't wanna be like that either. It's why I cancelled the trip.

[ To some degree Jean loves his mother and will always want to try to connect to her. He also understands that her love is unfortunately conditional. It's why he hasn't updated his facebook to reflect the cancelled trip - it's gonna cause a world of shit.

The almost-smile on Eren's face though... it's sweet. ]

She looks unbearably cute. Even right after she was born.

[ And he KNOWS that was endorphins talking, she really was just a pile of mashed potatoes but whatever. ]

[Oh yeah. That baby looked like canned yams when she was born, and Eren knows it. He didn't care though - cried harder than she did, honestly, and Reiner was a mess too. He wonders how Jean will react when he actually gets to hold her...]

Look. [While they're waiting for the coffee, Eren dares to take a step closer to Jean - forever in orbit, these two, and maybe it doesn't have to be broken, just...different. He pulls out his phone and a picture from that morning in her crib. It hasn't been posted yet.]

[ He might cry. He's fully prepared to, when he sees green eyes that look like his and her dark blonde, wavy hair. After ordering, when Eren pulls out the phone, he leans in to look at it.

Before, he might have slung an arm around Eren or slid his hand low on his back. This time, he sticks his hands into his pockets, presumably to keep from doing just that, but their shoulders brush. ]

She's cute. ... Is that a wolf cub onesie?

Yeah. My mom's been going crazy on the grandma thing. She's got all sorts of animals for the next year picked out...

[This is the closest they've come to touching - just that little brush of shoulder - in almost a year. Eren feels like an addict bound to relapse, as he has so many times before. But he stays where he is. He doesn't pull himself into Jean like he wants to.

[It'll hurt forever, won't it?]

[ It might. But Eren was right about one thing - Reiner is her father. And he knows how much Grisha cheating on his mother hurt him. If there's one thing Eren probably won't do, it's that.

Jean can respect that by not trying to tempt him. He doesn't lean any closer. He pulls away after a moment, standing up straight. ]

That's the kind of thing your mom was always excited about. I wouldn't be surprised if she's got the next five years picked out.

[ Because of course Jean knows Carla Jaeger enough for that. In some ways, he likes her better than his own mom. Jean's name is called for the coffee, and he breaks away to get them, handing Eren's off to him when he returns, careful not to brush their fingers together. ]

I'll, uh, follow you to the house?

Edited 2024-03-03 02:43 (UTC)

[He wishes their fingers would brush. He wants to be devoured.

[But, instead, he just takes the coffees and nods.]

Yeah. I'll see you there.

[This is a good thing, he reminds himself. It hurts like a hell he'll never wake up from, but it's a good thing. Ymir will have her fathers - all three of them. That's what matters now.

[Driving home feels urgent, but Eren tries not to beat Jean too badly. He just wants to see her again - touch her, smell her, kiss her head. Jean will get his chance, but when they get there, Eren's taking her first. Just for a second...

[It's hard to wait by the front door until Jean pulls up, but he manages, somehow; he's clearly antsy, though, flexing his hands at his sides as he waits.]

[ Jean pulls up, leaves his mostly-finished coffee in the car and takes Reiner's out to hand off to the man. Eren is waiting by the door, looking a bit like a junkie without his fix.

He doesn't linger, heading to the steps and following Eren up. The door opens before either can knock; it's Reiner, with Ymir in one arm. Reiner looks tired, and Ymir looks like she might have been crying recently. Separation anxiety a voice like his mother's whispers, and he banishes it.

Kids and their parents are supposed to spend a lot of time together. Yes, he did look this up. He waits for Reiner to hand Ymir off, before he offers the coffee in greeting. ]

[Eren's never been one to put much care into anything that he does. He's always been reckless, nearsighted, impossible to control; he's a storm that people get swept up in until all they can do is wait for it to blow over. There's nothing gentle about him, really, even when he's at his softest, his most vulnerable - moments that Jean has seen many times.

[When he takes Ymir into his arms, he looks like an entirely different person. His touch is exceptionally gentle, and he murmurs to her, voice low:] Why were you crying, cariña?

[For a moment, it's just them, Eren focused entirely on Ymir, who settles immediately in his arms. He glances briefly over his shoulder at Jean and nods for him to follow he and Reiner into the house. No new people holding his baby where they could drop her.

[He waits until they can sit on the couch to (reluctantly) hand her over.]

Support her head...

[ It is a sight to behold, and it makes Jean stare at him. Reiner is too, to be fair, though his expression is more fond and loving than the surprise that crosses Jean's face.

Reiner follows Eren into the house, and Jean follows the both of them. Privately, jealously, he notes they work well together for this - Reiner is checking over Eren, and despite the little girl obviously missing her father, he took good care of Ymir while Eren was gone.

He gingerly and a little awkwardly sits next to Eren; Reiner takes a different seat across from them both. He knows he doesn't need to worry - if Eren doesn't trust Jean to have hold of Ymir, Eren won't let her go.

Despite this being the very first baby Jean's really held, though, he listens to Eren's instructions, keeping an arm around her the way they had and supporting her head. She's even more beautiful up close, and the features that are Jean's are even more undeniable up close. She might have Eren's green eyes and complexion, but it's Jean's hair, and the same eye shape he had as a baby. ]

She's so small...

[ That's not a complaint. His voice gets a little choked up, and his eyes misty, when he's looking at her, even if he has to adjust his hold when she squirms, looking at him. ]

[Eren is a little hesitant to let go, but that could have been said for handing her over to Reiner the first couple weeks of her life too. He hovers close, watching her, watching Jean - the two of them are watching each other.

[Idly, he says:]

Try squeezing her out and then say that…

[But Jean is right. She’s impossibly small - tiny nose, tiny fingers, tiny everything. She’s grown a lot in a month, but even so…]

She looks just like you, Jean…

[He reaches out with his finger, which Ymir immediately wraps her little hand around. He smiles - no one can make him smile like her.]

Hey, Mimita. That’s your dad…

Edited 2024-03-03 08:08 (UTC)

Yeah, but she's got your eyes.

[ Even like this, brilliant bright green eyes are peeking up at her father, gurgling happily as she curls a tiny hand around his finger. Jean holds her very carefully, and it's probably obvious to Reiner first that he's holding back tears, for some reason.

He doesn't know why; he didn't care until he saw her, and he cried on Marco. There's just something about her that pulls at something in him. It's not even that she's Eren's, too, it's that she us. He wants to keep her safe, protected. He can't imagine using her as a prop about how perfect her family is.

Maybe that's what he's crying about. For the little boy dutifully learning French at his mother's heel despite it never closing that gap for him. He's not going to be that kind of person for Ymir. ]

Sorry, sorry - you might need to take her back for a second.

[ The waterworks are starting, and he'll be damned if he sobs so hard he hurts her. ]

baby you make me crazy

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i can handle npcing reiner!

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