abandonhumanity | PSL / MEME CONTINUATION

[If not for the real Eren’s hands on her face, Aubrey might have jumped at the sight of that shadow kid. As-is, she only looks startled, and it could easily be brushed off as a reaction to the kids noticing.]

Mikasa… [A whisper. Shadow-Eren wore a scarf, last she saw him, didn’t he? Whose is it?]

[Aubrey leans closer to Eren, still watching the children. Why are they here…? It’s like she’s staring at ghosts.]

[Eren's voice echoes Aubrey's:]

Mikasa...

[But he isn't looking at the shadow children. His gaze is past the tree, down the familiar hill where, at the bottom, stands--]

Eren!

[At Eren’s echo, Aubrey follows his gaze.]

[Whether Mikasa’s alive or not… she grew up, too.]

[Aubrey freezes like a deer in the headlights]

[Eren's not sure if he should brace himself for a hug, a punch, or something in between, but he's guessing that in less than ten seconds, a Mikasa-shaped projectile of some fashion will be hurtling toward him. He squeezes Aubrey's hand before he drops it, and takes a step in front of her. It's odd how his stance is protective; it's not like he thinks Mikasa will hurt her.]

Calm dow--

[Her arms are around him, gripping desperately - one hand to the back of his skull, the other gripping at the bare skin on his back. The tattoos haven't registered yet. She clings to him like he'll turn into dust the second she lets go.

[Eren's frozen, rigid beneath her touch. Since when? He doesn't put his arms around her.

[She lets go. It doesn't matter. What matters--]

Are you alright? What happened to you - what is this all over you?

Where have you been? Are you hurt?

I'm fine. Don't be stupid.

[His words are cruel, but they're half-hearted - by far not the worst thing he's ever said to her. To Mikasa, it probably just sounds like they're kids again; who knows? Her expression worries at Eren, though. For all he knows, she's here freshly from ~~Hell~~ home and hasn't the slightest clue what's going on. Great...]

You're being rude.

[He nods toward Aubrey, taking her hand again. No use trying to beat around the goddamn bush. His name is mangling the girl's body. They have wedding rings carved into their goddamn arteries. Mikasa isn't stupid.

[Eren glances at his wife, nods toward his...Mikasa.]

Mikasa. [Now is not the ideal time to have to define their relationship. Last Mikasa heard, Eren hated her.]

We're family.

[Just like Armin, a hug with barely any hesitation. And Eren’s not… particularly kind to Mikasa, but he wasn’t with Armin, either, and…

[Aubrey feels like she shouldn’t be here right now. “Family,” he says—and yet, his collarbone.]

A…Aubrey. [It’s impossible to smile, but she can try not to be horrendously rude—much as she watches Mikasa, blank and stupid, as if expecting the worst. Aubrey would try to hide her left hand if Eren wasn’t holding it. Despite everything they said about Armin, she feels like she’s been caught somehow.] —Hey.

[Eren is almost irritated that Aubrey's so nervous. The "there's nothing going on between me and Mikasa" impulse feels overwhelming - maybe because part of Eren has always thought there should be something going on between he and Mikasa, but here they are, and there isn't.

[He's annoyed that she's here; less apt to acknowledge the overwhelming relief he feels.

[They're meant to be together like this. He wishes he'd put his arms around her for at least a minute when he had the chance.]

She's important to me.

[If he weren't looking at Mikasa, it would be hard to tell who he was talking to/about.]

[Mikasa isn't stupid, and Aubrey - whoever she is - seems extremely nervous about...well, what Mikasa can probably guess. She observes the scar on Eren's left arm - a scar? How? Every inch of Eren's skin should be pristine from his titan regeneration abilities. And yet...

[And then, this girl, Eren's name marring her like a burn. Mikasa might be being rude like Eren says, but these certainly don't look like normal circumstances.]

What's going on?

Your tattoos. [She gestures to them, expression critical and searching.

[Her name on his collar bone, Armin's on his arms - Reiner Braun...? The way it pierces Eren looks painful like a wound. It leaves a chill on Mikasa's spine. And then, Aubrey, Aubrey, Aubrey - a thousand tiny "Aubreys", but what is that wrapping around his throat?

[Her glare sharpens.]

What did you get yourselves into? [She isn't just talking to Eren.]

[Mikasa’s tattoo-scanover, very much including that left-hand trail, is not lost on Aubrey. Neither is the subsequent sharpness.]

[Aubrey’s tempted to let Eren do the talking; seems the world wants her to ’fess up first.

[She clears her throat with a halfhearted cough.] A lot. [This is a billion times worse than the reflections.] There’s— Sorry. We’ve been here a long time....

[Mikasa presses her fingers against her temple. Her face looks pained; her head is aching. Is it worse now that Eren's here? Is she imagining that?]

It doesn't make any sense. You haven't been gone at all, you--

[Suddenly, her glare is only for Eren - and it's heartbroken.

[Armin mentioned something - that it would be best not to talk about The Rumbling unless they had to. Mikasa will try to respect that suggestion...]

Armin told me what he could. We weren't together long.

You saw Armin?

[And she's still playing stupid? Eren glares right back. He's grateful that she doesn't bring up The Rumbling, though. It's the last conversation he wants to rehash right now.]

The world marked us. It does things like that all the time.

It'll pass once it passes.

[And that's that about that, as far as he's concerned--]

[To Aubrey, cold and deadly serious:]

I want to know why your name is wrapped around his throat like a collar on a dog.

[“It’s not intentional”—is what she wants to say, but it catches in her throat like Aubrey’s the one with the training collar. Because it was intentional, wasn’t it? No matter what Armin tries to tell her, or however much she regrets it now… what’s happened…]

[Nothing about Mikasa suggests she’d take a bullshit answer, anyway.]

[Aubrey swallows.] Because that’s what… we are, now. [She can’t make herself let go of Eren’s hand, but she raises hers slightly. A surrender of a gesture; her palm is clammy.]

[Quieter, squeezing his hand for what feels like the last time:] I need him.

What are you trying to say? That you're his master?

That isn't what she's trying to say.

[Eren lifts Aubrey's hand in his, leveling a glare at Mikasa. His body is angled between them, protective of only one.]

Aubrey is my wife. Don't talk to her like that.

Eren! [It comes out sharp, when he intervenes. Never mind that’s what she wanted, seconds ago.]

[To Mikasa, still internally panicking, but this too sounds irate:] I couldn’t control him if I wanted to.

What? [It's sharp. Isn't a man supposed to stand up for his wife? Mikasa should respect it.

[Of course, he's shown no respect for her. He hardly even notices the look on her face - until he does.]

[His...?]

[Her face...His heart sinks.

[It was supposed to be them, wasn't it?]

Don't look like that...

Don't...

[She steps away from Eren, lowering her gaze and wrapping her scarf more securely around her neck.

[To Aubrey, stiff:]

Congratulations, then.

Take care of him.

[They aren't parting words; it's a demand - Hell, a threat.]

[Twice… twice this heartache. Because Eren can’t fucking communicate. Aubrey’s name is a collar on his neck, and Mikasa wraps a scarf that she and Eren seemed to share more closely around herself.

[It doesn’t feel right to be here; it doesn’t feel right to leave.]

…I will. [Of course Aubrey hears the threat; but she’s never been mad at Mikasa.]

[She almost adds an apology. She can’t fall silent yet, either.] That’s all I want. [A pathetic, damning admission, instead.]

[Mikasa feels humiliated. It isn't just that she has or had feelings for Eren; plenty of people like to reduce her to some lovesick puppy dog, but she's the farthest thing from. She loves Eren. He means everything to her. Most days it feels like he's all she has left; that doesn't mean that she can't handle him loving someone else, or that she needs a romance with him in order to keep fighting on his side.

[And now they've ended up in a completely different world - a world where Armin talks about hope like he always does, and where Eren is powerless to hurt anyone but himself. And she sees him, and she's so happy to see him, and she just wants to throw her arms around him and hold him; instead he criticizes her, and rejects her, and pushes her away, and waves his wife in front of her face like she's the one who's wrong for wanting to protect him.

[He's not even happy to see her. Of course he isn't.

[She wishes they could be alone. It feels like they never will be again.]

That's all I want too.

[Finally, the anger gives way to defeat. She casts her eyes to the side, injured.]

I mean that genuinely. If you think personal feelings are clouding my judgment, then put that out of your mind.

Eren's wellbeing is all that matters to me.

[With Mikasa and Aubrey talking around him, Eren feels like a scolded child. Mikasa has a knack for making him feel young and defensive, but her hurt is harder to swallow.

[It's not as simple as being happy to see her. Eren doesn't feel happiness at all anymore. Of course he wants her beside him. He always has...

[She should know that.]

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