abandonhumanity | PSL / MEME CONTINUATION

[It hooks into him. Of course it does. His brows set downward in a momentary glare, but his response is surprisingly patient.]

This isn’t about me.

It’s not.

But this… [One hand dips into that ocean of blood, lapping at their knees. The reach hardly feels like her own.] …is.

[She turns her head just enough to face him.]
We’re both good at deflecting, huh…?

[Or, as Reiner finished: full of shit.]

[It must be frustrating, how calm he sounds. Gentle, even.]

The only one deflecting right now is you, Aubrey.

I’m trying to help.

[It is; it is frustrating. Impatience, anger, anything like that; she could sink her teeth into it, for the same frustrating and unknown reason Eren went cold on her again.]

[It’s a cruelty that he doesn’t.]

He can’t hear it. What’s the point?

[I don’t want to.]

[She shuts her eyes, repulsed.]

[He might hear her. They both know how this world can be. But only one of them knows--

[He's here somewhere.]

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[That’s so mean…!]

[Something in her heart screams. She feels like he just bashed her over the head.]

What are you—?!

[—talking about, but her hand closes on something and she tries to duck away, not pushing back but certainly not feeling like being held anymore.]

Y— You’re— [Eren wouldn’t bullshit her about this.]

[She tries to cover her face. Her hand drags up a bloodstained sunflower and her vision blurs.]

[I can’t do this; please don’t make me do this; I don’t want to do this again. Racing thoughts. He shouldn’t have to hear m— I don’t deserve this. I don’t.]

[Eren isn't stung when she reels away. Of course she would. He hadn't meant to let that thought shine through, but he'd done nothing to stop it either. He lets her go. He moves away himself.

[He should explain before the universe does for him; he fully realizes the wrongness of it all - that Aubrey has promised to tell him everything, and that he's hid this from her for...how long now?

[He begins with a half-truth.]

I saw him.

Not for long.

[Something else to fixate on. Aubrey’s not sure if that’s a mercy or not.]

Here…?

[Her voice is small again.]

Yes.

[Her eyes go to the door immediately. It’s open a little, now.]

Did he say anything…?

[Eren isn't always the most empathetic person in the world - not that he's totally bankrupt, but everyone who knows him knows that he's selfish; still, he thinks this might be hard to hear.]

He asked me not to tell you.

[The sunflower in her hand is crushed immediately.]

[For a few long, revolting heartbeats, Aubrey hears red.]

[How. dare. he.

[And how dare she expect anything else.]

[Basil ~~likes~~ liked sunflowers. “They’re called that because they always face towards the sun,” he’d said. “That’s how I want to be like… someone who always sees the bright side of things.”

[Wrangled petals fall into the endless, bloody sea. The world won’t let Aubrey drown with them.]

[Finally, she rubs her eyes, swiping her arm across her face and throwing the rest into oblivion, and stands. It’s a furious motion.]

He might as well.

[It’s been a while since she sounded this cold—venomous, more like. For once, it’s deliberate.]

I think I’d kill him.

[Then there won't be any apologies today; no closure, no atonement, no healing.

[That's fine. It's not something either of them expected anyway.]

There's something else I should tell you, Aubrey.

[Because when she says, "I think I'd kill him, Eren knows that the universe is only seconds away from saying--]

There was an illusion.

I thought that he'd killed you.

[So...]

I retaliated.

[Right… Eren is here.
[“I retaliated.”
[Was it before or after Basil said…?]

[It doesn’t matter.]

[When Aubrey turns to face him, she’s just… broken. Defeated. Drained. Done. It’s not his fault.]

[She holds out a hand, stained yellow and green and bloody.]

Let’s just find Armin.

[In that distant periphery, the door opens entirely. There’s nothing inside.]

And get out of here.

[The lack of reaction is...surprising, but it's not as though Eren is eager to get into the details. He won't push her any further. She offers him her hand, and he takes it - blood on blood, with more lapping at their knees.

[He's tired of blood now. He wants to be clean. As they walk, knees wading through carnage, he tries to picture the real ocean. The ocean that Armin would want - the ocean where Armin would be.

[It's a slow progression, but eventually, red begins giving way to clear, perfect blue. The hallway is long gone, the sun sparkling warm on the water.

[Eren stops, glances toward Aubrey.]

Clean yourself up. [His voice is quiet, but it isn't cold. It's a suggestion, not a demand.

[He stoops down in the water, determined to see the rest of their poppy red washed off in the tide. He cleans his hands, his face, what he can of his clothes. He dunks his head under the water and re-surfaces like a baptism.

[He doesn't yet notice a figure in the distance.]

[She holds Eren’s hand like a vicegrip; otherwise, Aubrey is quiet. More drained than calm, really.

[It’s a nice walk, considering.]

[The sun comes out again.]

[Aubrey watches her husband clean off for a while, before joining him and trying to do the same. It feels too easy. But sure as ever, the sparkling waters wash the red on her hands away; the rest doesn’t concern her much, but she takes a perfunctory splash at her face, anyway.

[She still looks and feels like she got chewed hollow and spat back out, but, whatever. Might as well.]

[Standing again, she’s about to mention something to Eren about his bloody handprint on her jacket, back when he almost died, and how his clothes will be fine. But the figure catches her eye instead; and blessedly, it’s not Basil.]

Eren. [She takes his shoulder, gently, and points.]

[Eren is still washing his face when Aubrey touches his shoulder. It feels like he'll never be clean enough; he won't, really. He knows that well. He does look up when she touches him, though. He doesn't have to follow her point for long. It's a silhouette he'd know blind in the dark.

[He means to call out his name, but chokes. Shooting up from where he's standing, he only makes it a couple of strides before he falls back into the ocean, too eager to move too quickly. Armin's already seen him, and before long, they're both running.]

[They meet in waist-deep waters, the sun shining bright above them. There are no words. The two men collapse into each other, two pairs of arms wrapped tight around two very real bodies.

[And Eren is with him again.

[Armin doesn't waste time sobbing. Everything moves on instinct. They should both care that Aubrey is there, maybe, and that she can see them, but neither seem to notice for the moment.

[Armin Arlert kisses the love of his life with reckless abandon.]

[It's a long, desperate, aching thing, so painful and so right that Eren and Armin both fall to their knees in the water, their lips still connected. Their hands can't decide what to hold onto - Armin's head here, his back here, his arm, his face, the nape of his neck. They kiss for what feels like a thousand years, and Eren could kiss him for a thousand more. Even once they break away, it's a hundred kisses on both ends - to the forehead, the cheek, back to the lips, again and again and again.

[Once they manage to separate long enough to look at each other, their faces are both gripped by the others' hands.

[They're laughing. They're crying. The tide calmly drifts forward and backward around them. And the cycle repeats again and again - kissing, laughing, crying, holding.]

Armin. Armin.

Eren!

[Armin throws his arms around his best friend's neck, holding him close to his chest. The sobbing really begins in earnest now, but the smile on his face is wide with joy.]

God, Eren! Eren!

[They can’t get to each other fast enough. Maybe there’s just a tinge of sadness to it, considering the circumstances—but that’s easy to forget when they’re laughing and kissing and crying out of sheer joy.

[It’s the Eren Armin’s been longing for; Armin, Eren’s wanted from the start. They’ve found their ocean. And finally, finally, they can have this peace, in each other.]

[Aubrey doesn’t notice she’s started crying until she can’t focus on them anymore. It’s a soft thing, for once, unobtrusive; and even as she wipes at the sting, a faint smile tugs at her. Maybe she should be more bothered that her husband is kissing and embracing someone else like that, but… it’s Armin. She remembers that beautiful montage. Overwhelmingly, Aubrey’s just glad to see that their love, which never really went anywhere, can finally come out to play.

[She cares about them both so, so much.]

[A few more minutes pass where Eren and Armin are the only two people left in this strange, beautiful, cruel world.

[But Armin knows Aubrey is there, and Eren does too. At last, they turn to face her, almost in perfect unison. Armin holds out his arm, waving for her to come closer.]

[Eren holds out his arm too, an invitation.]

[The moment sweeps her away. Aubrey runs at them and throws an arm around each. Where she can’t find the words, she pulls them both close, tight.]

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1/2 (maybe) here we goooo

2/3 haha

3/4 I LIED AGAIN

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