Adjusting to this place has proved a challenge, even for Reiner. It's not the technology that throws him, although that's a marvel in itself. Nor does the prospect of having new, "magical" powers prove an impossible pill to swallow. He holds the power of one of the nine Titans; to many, that probably seems "magical," too.
No, what throws Reiner—what keeps him awake at night, pacing around his room, grateful that the soundproof floors soak up his footsteps—are the people from his world. The people he knows, but doesn't know. The people who changed while he wasn't looking, or wasn't here, or whatever the fuck happened.
Is this how the other members of the 104th felt when they learned who he, Bertolt, and Annie were? Did they feel like they were staring into the eyes of strangers, bewildered by the change, struggling to comprehend something they could never fully grasp?
That's how he feels when he spots the man who looks like Jean. The man who might be Jean. The man who was both friend and enemy, sometimes at the same time. The man Reiner last saw while fleeing from the Survey Corps, his Titan's heavy stride pounding the earth, Bertolt held protectively beneath his hands.
"It's not a lie, Connie! Jean!!" Bertolt had shouted, voice choked with tears. "It's true that we deceived you, but it wasn't all lies! We really did think of you as friends!!"
Is that who this man is? Reiner's friend?
"Jean," Reiner says, the man's voice more familiar than his face, his bearing. Reiner doesn't move closer, holding his ground as he stares at Jean's face, working to reconcile it with the Jean he knows. (Knew? Remembers?)
He shakes his head, willing himself to focus. Willing himself to stop forgetting who he really is. "Wow," he says, the word carefully neutral. "You look different."
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No, what throws Reiner—what keeps him awake at night, pacing around his room, grateful that the soundproof floors soak up his footsteps—are the people from his world. The people he knows, but doesn't know. The people who changed while he wasn't looking, or wasn't here, or whatever the fuck happened.
Is this how the other members of the 104th felt when they learned who he, Bertolt, and Annie were? Did they feel like they were staring into the eyes of strangers, bewildered by the change, struggling to comprehend something they could never fully grasp?
That's how he feels when he spots the man who looks like Jean. The man who might be Jean. The man who was both friend and enemy, sometimes at the same time. The man Reiner last saw while fleeing from the Survey Corps, his Titan's heavy stride pounding the earth, Bertolt held protectively beneath his hands.
"It's not a lie, Connie! Jean!!" Bertolt had shouted, voice choked with tears. "It's true that we deceived you, but it wasn't all lies! We really did think of you as friends!!"
Is that who this man is? Reiner's friend?
"Jean," Reiner says, the man's voice more familiar than his face, his bearing. Reiner doesn't move closer, holding his ground as he stares at Jean's face, working to reconcile it with the Jean he knows. (Knew? Remembers?)
He shakes his head, willing himself to focus. Willing himself to stop forgetting who he really is. "Wow," he says, the word carefully neutral. "You look different."