Let it out, Erwin says. And so comes the first shuddering sob, low and wounded. Reiner cries quietly, but he cries all the same, his shoulders shaking as his grip tightens on Erwin. Seeking the stability Erwin provides.

It helps, what Erwin is saying. Helps to have outside reassurance that he wouldn't have forgotten his partner. Not on his own. (Not as he made himself forget what happened to Marco.) But the fact that it could be done to him at all still claws at Reiner's mind, making him doubt his memories.

How could Bertolt's fate be carved so neatly from his life? How could Reiner's mind have filled in the gaps so thoroughly?

"I wouldn't," he promises. "I would never forget him. Not anything about him."

And yet, he did. Those memories were lifted from his mind with Reiner none the wiser.