i was wondering if you could make a soft domestic reiner oneshot? just like, the most wholesome, sweet stuff 🥺🥺
ask and you shall receive <3 didn’t know if you wanted smut or not so i refrained (while gnawing at my own arm in self restraint) but i hope you like it!
Poor Reiner and his inferiority complex </3
It started with a few one-off self-deprecating jokes, almost fitting to his standard of humor but not quite, although similar enough for you to let it go over your head.
What followed in the coming weeks however, started to raise some alarm.
Take your recent dinner party for example, kitchen and dining room humming with life and belonging, mingling of friendly voices and the soft clink of glassware. When you took a glance around the room, you noticed the way chests billowed, some heads thrown back with laughter, everyone straight-spined and soft-jawed.
Everyone but your boyfriend. You saw the way his shoulders seemed to roll inwards as if he was trying to shield everyone from himself, the gentle smile on his face unwavering despite it. Naturally, his eyes caught yours repeatedly throughout the evening, a reassuring wink or two sent your way.
At one point you had been in the kitchen, topping off your glass of wine and too distracted by the ticking timer of the oven to notice Reiner creeping up behind you, wide palm pressing so warmly against the small of your back that you missed the twitch.
“If you tell me there’s lemon cake in there, I’ll get on one knee in the middle of this kitchen.” He sighed into your hair, snaking his hand around to your waist now, your back instantly melting into his broad chest.
“Better prepare your speech then,” you hummed, a slow chuckle and a kiss to your temple from him in response, “you alright? Just seem a little off tonight…”
Your tone was casual enough, an earnest question from a loving partner. It still dug into Reiner like a dagger unsheathed, his body instinctively going rigid enough for you to notice, shoulders pulling back now to bring his chest forward.
He cleared his throat, “what? no babe… impossible to be off when I’ve got such a great hostess,” tone raising an octave or two. You didn't push, just nodded your head and rested your hand over his, squeezing a little.
After that night, you noticed it more. The way his eyes seemed to dart when talking about anything that had to do with himself. How he shook his head in dismissal when you complimented him, a short push of air out of his nose to attempt a laugh, arms dangling awkwardly like he didn’t know what to do with them.
And today, he was meeting your parents, your whole family actually. A typical make-or-break moment that should riddle you with heart palpitations and make sweat drip incessantly off your palms, but you weren’t scared in the slightest, your faith in having such a righteous boyfriend like Reiner made worry seem like a laughable option.
You fixed your last earring on, leaning into the bedroom mirror to shift it front facing, catching a glimpse of him in the reflection. “You alright? look like you’re about to shit your pants…” you said with a giggle, Reiner continuing to fight with the buttons on his white dress shirt, the one he burned himself trying to iron just this morning.
“Fine, just… fuck— why do they make these damn things so small?” he huffed, the way his beefy fingers trembled visible even from across the room. You make your way over to him, replacing his fingers with your much slimmer ones and making easy work of the—admittedly quite small—buttons. “Can’t even button a fuckin’ shirt…” he sputtered to himself, the heave of his chest out of proportion.
“What’s going on with you?” The question is gentle, your hands coming to smooth the crisp linen over his pecs, thumbs rubbing back and forth. “Been pretty unfair lately…”
Reiner’s eyes widened, “unfair to you?” He asks the question like he’d rather be shot and killed than be accused of such a thing. Your head shakes, “no, unfair to you” index finger pushing into the meat of his chest, his shoulders starting to do that thing again.
“Haven’t been…” his tone is indifferent, like he’s trying to brush it off, but you can feel the way his heart hammers under your finger. Your brow cocks, head tilting to the side to meet his eyes before they leave you again, “c’mon, rei…”
Reiner slumps with a defeated sound, letting his heavy body plop down onto the edge of the bed, shaking his head in a way that tells you he’s definitely scolding himself up there. “You think your family will like me?” His voice is too fragile, blood burning in the tips of his ears.
You plant yourself on his knee with a deep sigh, “of course I do,” your arms go to wrap around his neck, one hand coming to trace at the hair on his nape, “not much to dislike, baby.”
“Debatable,” a solemn sigh escapes him, “I just… I don't know, I wish I was a little different, I guess.”
You continue to rub at his neck, already knowing where he’s heading, letting the words find him when they want to.
“I wish I was more stoic or some shit, wanna have that same confidence everyone else seems to have, it's like they’re not even trying.”
You let out a soft snort, your hand ruffling through his hair now, “oh trust me, they’re trying. Like, ninety-nine percent of that shit is fake anyways. You’re a good, caring, honest person without trying, and that actually means something.”
Your tone signifies just a little when you speak again, “you don’t give yourself nearly enough credit,” his eyes start to grab at random items around the room, your hand coming to hold his chin, a soft kiss on his cheek that makes his face go sheepishly hot.
“Just wanna be good enough for you,” his voice daring to crack, “y’know, impress you and stuff.”
Your chest on the verge of bursting conflicts with the dumbfoundedness on your face, “are you kidding? You impress me every time I see you,” you drop your head to his shoulder now, curling into him the way you loved so much, “quite literally the epitome of a perfect boyfriend, by the way.”
He leans his head on top of yours, the hum rumbling in his chest is warm, but disbelief lingers. Regardless, you continue, the slow soothe of your voice making his eyes start to shut, “you protect me, take care of me… hell, you won’t even let me do my own laundry…”
Your head bobbles against his chest as he chuckles, his hand squeezing your thigh, “you hate doing laundry though.”
“Exactly. You listen,” your head lifts to look at him, his gentle eyes meeting yours and managing to stay there now, “I could never even begin to doubt your love for me, or for anyone else you care about, you’re so good at being the kindest person I know.”
Reiner leans into your hair, not looking away to avoid, but to keep himself from shedding the stray tears that he’d never admit bud behind his eyes. His thick arms wrap around you, tugging you impossibly closer and making your voice muffle a little from his squeeze of an embrace, “I can’t tell you to stop doubting yourself babe, everyone does it. But, I beg of you to stop doubting yourself so hard. At least try to do that for me, yeah?”
He nods against you, his lips coming to slowly pepper every inch of you within reach, “yeah, I’ll see what i can do.”
You shift up for a tender kiss, the familiar plush of your boyfriend’s lips against yours flooding warmth into every corner of yourself. Reiner’s hands immediately come to cradle your face, thumbs rubbing softly behind your ears, breath hitching embarrassingly when you swipe your tongue across his pouted bottom lip.
“How did I ever get lucky enough to have someone lik—“ he starts, your hand quickly grabbing at his face and pushing his cheeks together to keep him from finishing, a single finger raised in his face, “aht aht, absolutely not.”
He tries to laugh, fails given his lack of mouth mobility, and you just have to give him one more quick kiss before letting his face drop back into place so he can even attempt to speak. “What I was trying to say was… we are so lucky. To have each other.”
Your eyes beam as you give him a short nod of approval, cheeks starting to ache from how wide your smile stretches, the vibrato of his voice a gentle reminder that you are exactly where you want to be, “nice save.”
“Thanks, I’ve got a good coach…” he shoots you one of his winks, this one somehow much more earnest than the ones at dinner weeks ago, despite it being the same twitch of muscle.
You hop off of his knee and reach your hand out to him, “ready to do this then? If we stay here I physically won't be able to stop kissing you, and I’ve got lemon cake that’s calling for an oven.”
The adoration in Reiner’s face when he looks at you is beyond any cheesy romance film, a totally dopey lovesick kind of way, his eyebrow raising at the mention of his favorite confection, “you sure you don’t wanna just go get married? Like, right now?”
His hand grabs onto yours as you try to lug his brick shit house of a frame upwards, eyes rolling at his melodrama but your stomach fluttering at the idea nonetheless, “maybe you should meet my—godyouresofuckingheavy—parents first, no?”
Reiner spares you and lifts himself onto his feet, sighing dramatically into the void of the room around you, “I guess you’re right…”
He peeks around his shoulder to look back at you as you two start to make your way downstairs, “what about after? You free?”
