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[Jumpscare ahoy - he isn't used to this. Younger Eren lacked this degree of subtly. Noted.]
What an entrance.
[Whatever - he's here. Korokke? On her own. It's Maruki's stupid cat - she can find her way back in. With a wave of his hand, Akechi ushers Eren forward to the direction of the cliff.]
I take it you're acclimating well? You've have some time to reestablish yourself.
What an entrance.
[Whatever - he's here. Korokke? On her own. It's Maruki's stupid cat - she can find her way back in. With a wave of his hand, Akechi ushers Eren forward to the direction of the cliff.]
I take it you're acclimating well? You've have some time to reestablish yourself.
Edited (WHEEZSS) 2024-10-08 01:00 (UTC)
[ Maruki looks back over his shoulder, brows drawn down. There's almost no one else he'd be honest with, but– ]
Of course I was afraid.
[ Quietly, plainly stated. There's not a single barb present. It wasn't Eren's fault that he left, and it certainly wasn't his fault that Maruki couldn't comfort himself with the same things he told everyone else. ]
I knew you'd return. But I was still afraid. Doesn't make sense, does it?
Of course I was afraid.
[ Quietly, plainly stated. There's not a single barb present. It wasn't Eren's fault that he left, and it certainly wasn't his fault that Maruki couldn't comfort himself with the same things he told everyone else. ]
I knew you'd return. But I was still afraid. Doesn't make sense, does it?
Edited (SpongeBob began kissing Obama, massaging one of his many holes. This got Shrek hard too, which caused his massive 24" cock to pop out of his pants.) 2024-10-08 01:02 (UTC)
[Eren doesn't answer right away. When he's placed on the ground, he waits only a moment, then pulls Kanoa firmly to his chest, wrapping both arms around him.
[It's Eren's turn to hold on. He holds on tight.]
I grew. Humans do that when time passes.
[It's Eren's turn to hold on. He holds on tight.]
I grew. Humans do that when time passes.
But you were already big!
[That's no fair! But he's getting a hug so he can't fuss that much. Eren' is getting a bit hug back!]
When I am human I will grow too. I will be taller than you! I have decided. I will have the biggest legs.
[That's no fair! But he's getting a hug so he can't fuss that much. Eren' is getting a bit hug back!]
When I am human I will grow too. I will be taller than you! I have decided. I will have the biggest legs.
Of course it does.
[Eren looks at his friend; just holds his gaze for a moment.]
I've lived it. More than once. Out of everything, it's what I remember the most.
[Eren's hand curls and uncurls over the countertop.]
I don't doubt that you trusted my promise, but you must have thought, at times, that something had gone wrong. How couldn't you?
If your mind ever told you that I wasn't coming back, then...
I understand.
[Eren looks at his friend; just holds his gaze for a moment.]
I've lived it. More than once. Out of everything, it's what I remember the most.
[Eren's hand curls and uncurls over the countertop.]
I don't doubt that you trusted my promise, but you must have thought, at times, that something had gone wrong. How couldn't you?
If your mind ever told you that I wasn't coming back, then...
I understand.
[ It's not the first time that Maruki has thought Eren is a far better friend than he deserves. The level of understanding they've reached is unique to them. There are few who simply accept Maruki's neuroses, lightly challenge them simply by virtue of listening and validating. Maruki can count those who can do that on one hand, really, and one of those people isn't even here.
It's also not for the first time that he's wished Akira and Eren could meet. ]
That's exactly it. Thank you...
[ Gratitude isn't enough. He doesn't know what would be enough.
Eyes back on the pans, spatula gently testing the edges to see if they're ready to flip. ]
Can I be honest with you? [ It's rhetorical. ] I worried that something went wrong every night. It was such a helpless situation, it was driving me crazy.
[ If anyone, anyone will understand the unique lunacy of being toyed with by reality and being unable to toy with it back, it will be Eren. ]
It's also not for the first time that he's wished Akira and Eren could meet. ]
That's exactly it. Thank you...
[ Gratitude isn't enough. He doesn't know what would be enough.
Eyes back on the pans, spatula gently testing the edges to see if they're ready to flip. ]
Can I be honest with you? [ It's rhetorical. ] I worried that something went wrong every night. It was such a helpless situation, it was driving me crazy.
[ If anyone, anyone will understand the unique lunacy of being toyed with by reality and being unable to toy with it back, it will be Eren. ]
[He does understand. It feels that all he can do is repeat it - I understand, I understand - because it's such a unique hell. Eren is quiet for a long moment, eyes on the counter, where he idly raps his knuckles.
[At last, he speaks, voice quieter than it was a moment before.]
In most realities, when someone goes away, it means they're dead. You'll never see them again.
Here, returning to our true realities is the closest thing to death we know. But even that isn't necessarily permanent.
There's no telling when someone might appear right next to you again. Every moment you're looking over your shoulder, checking your phone. It would drive anyone insane.
Maruki. I'm sorry. [And, because he thinks he knows what the response will be:] That you had to go through it at all. It's Hell...
[At last, he speaks, voice quieter than it was a moment before.]
In most realities, when someone goes away, it means they're dead. You'll never see them again.
Here, returning to our true realities is the closest thing to death we know. But even that isn't necessarily permanent.
There's no telling when someone might appear right next to you again. Every moment you're looking over your shoulder, checking your phone. It would drive anyone insane.
Maruki. I'm sorry. [And, because he thinks he knows what the response will be:] That you had to go through it at all. It's Hell...
[Eren feels as though he's seeing the memories that Jean relays through a curtain. He can picture them, the way they were, curled against each other, looking out that broad window. Jean used to be what felt like Eren's only anchor in this place. He remembers that more than anything - crawling into his husband's lap and clinging on, grinning, or sobbing, or kissing, or sleeping. Surely, things won't be the same now. He's lost all of his innocence.
[Still. The first thing he did when he woke up in the Enchanted Garden was come to this farm, and there was only one reason.
[Eren watches Jean by the dresser.]
That band was your promise. Mine is still tied around your wrist. It hasn't broken.
You should be the one to find it. [Eren holds out his right hand, where the wristband used to be.] If this is what you want, then. I'm right here.
[Still. The first thing he did when he woke up in the Enchanted Garden was come to this farm, and there was only one reason.
[Eren watches Jean by the dresser.]
That band was your promise. Mine is still tied around your wrist. It hasn't broken.
You should be the one to find it. [Eren holds out his right hand, where the wristband used to be.] If this is what you want, then. I'm right here.
[ Maruki listens to it all, and–
He laughs. Subdued, softened, tight in his throat. ]
Not while I'm flipping okonomiyaki, you little– ah, hold on–
[ He rushes through flipping the second one, a little less done than the first as batter splatters across the pan. It's fine, that one will be his. He doesn't care.
He comes around, out of the kitchen, to the side of the bar where Eren's seated, and doesn't bother to wait for an invitation to wrap him up in a hug while he's still seated. ]
It was hell, but I feel like... I understand some things now, and I'll be able to better help others in the future.
[ He messes a hand through the top of Eren's hair, strands falling out of his bun as he does. ]
And I'm just happy to have you back. I'd rather focus on that.
He laughs. Subdued, softened, tight in his throat. ]
Not while I'm flipping okonomiyaki, you little– ah, hold on–
[ He rushes through flipping the second one, a little less done than the first as batter splatters across the pan. It's fine, that one will be his. He doesn't care.
He comes around, out of the kitchen, to the side of the bar where Eren's seated, and doesn't bother to wait for an invitation to wrap him up in a hug while he's still seated. ]
It was hell, but I feel like... I understand some things now, and I'll be able to better help others in the future.
[ He messes a hand through the top of Eren's hair, strands falling out of his bun as he does. ]
And I'm just happy to have you back. I'd rather focus on that.
Edited 2024-10-08 05:16 (UTC)
[Eren has found it easier and easier to touch. Nearly everyone that he loves still offers it. The truth being that he spends more time with Maruki than anyone, there's no reason to shy away when he comes around the bar and hugs him. Eren rests his head where it lands and puts his arms loosely around Maruki in return. He's always been the type; just hasn't been allowed to be in a while.]
I'm not worried about how well you can help others.
Someone ought to help you.
[Eren pulls back to look at his friend.]
I'm not leaving again until it's time, so. I will. That hasn't changed.
I'm not worried about how well you can help others.
Someone ought to help you.
[Eren pulls back to look at his friend.]
I'm not leaving again until it's time, so. I will. That hasn't changed.
I know you will. I know...
[ Maruki ruffles his hair once more, then swings back around the counter to return to the stove, gently nudging at the okonomiyaki and bending over to try to see how done they are underneath as he speaks. ]
You help me, we help each other. It's how things have always been. It won't change.
[ Quiet, calm reassurances that he's perfectly secure in. It still feels good to say them out loud, hear them echoed back.
Someone ought to help him, yes, and several do. It's just that no one could have helped him with what he went through without Eren around. The only person who would know how to get through to him during something like that is– well. Eren. Hence the problem. ]
[ Maruki ruffles his hair once more, then swings back around the counter to return to the stove, gently nudging at the okonomiyaki and bending over to try to see how done they are underneath as he speaks. ]
You help me, we help each other. It's how things have always been. It won't change.
[ Quiet, calm reassurances that he's perfectly secure in. It still feels good to say them out loud, hear them echoed back.
Someone ought to help him, yes, and several do. It's just that no one could have helped him with what he went through without Eren around. The only person who would know how to get through to him during something like that is– well. Eren. Hence the problem. ]
[Maruki's back to cooking. Eren lifts the phone again. He switches it back to the still camera, thus ending the recording. A few more candids of Maruki are taken.]
In ways...
It feels a bit like how things have always been. Doesn't it?
In ways...
It feels a bit like how things have always been. Doesn't it?
[ Jean reaches up to squeeze that wrist when Eren holds it out. ]
If it's not here, like I said - I'll get you another.
[ He doesn't want things to be the same. But he still wants Eren here - to laugh, to cry, to try to sleep with him and watch the sunset. He knows there are parts of Eren's mind hidden from even him. In a perfect world, one day, he might've known them.
Their world isn't perfect.
It's cruel, and unjust.
He turns away from Eren, though, to look through the dresser. It's the last draw he examines; the ones stocked with clothes and training uniforms are untouched. But at the bottom of this last drawer - things he hasn't looked into too much. There are mementos, here, too precious to lose but too painful to look upon every day.
In there, the bracelet sits, the leather worn, a cut mended. Jean picks it up and turns to face Eren again. His expression is serious, but his eyes are warm. ]
This is a promise. We don't take it off, or it's bad luck.
[ He mirrors Eren's words to him as he reaches out, tying the leather band securely around his wrist. He has to adjust for the wider size, a bit, but there's more than enough give to fit it.
His fingers linger his wrist, holding his hand in both of Jean's. ]
It's my promise to you.
[ I love you.
I won't let you go without a fight. ]
As a husband, to my husband...
If it's not here, like I said - I'll get you another.
[ He doesn't want things to be the same. But he still wants Eren here - to laugh, to cry, to try to sleep with him and watch the sunset. He knows there are parts of Eren's mind hidden from even him. In a perfect world, one day, he might've known them.
Their world isn't perfect.
It's cruel, and unjust.
He turns away from Eren, though, to look through the dresser. It's the last draw he examines; the ones stocked with clothes and training uniforms are untouched. But at the bottom of this last drawer - things he hasn't looked into too much. There are mementos, here, too precious to lose but too painful to look upon every day.
In there, the bracelet sits, the leather worn, a cut mended. Jean picks it up and turns to face Eren again. His expression is serious, but his eyes are warm. ]
This is a promise. We don't take it off, or it's bad luck.
[ He mirrors Eren's words to him as he reaches out, tying the leather band securely around his wrist. He has to adjust for the wider size, a bit, but there's more than enough give to fit it.
His fingers linger his wrist, holding his hand in both of Jean's. ]
It's my promise to you.
[ I love you.
I won't let you go without a fight. ]
As a husband, to my husband...
Edited (ONE FUCKING TYPO) 2024-10-08 05:56 (UTC)
[ He turns to get plates for them, sees Eren back to taking photos and laughs to himself. He really is serious about capturing everything now... ]
In ways, it does. In the ways that matter most, I think.
[ Some things feel wholly different in a way that can't be reconciled well with the past, but they're fewer in number than one might expect. But that can't be a universal experience for Eren at the moment. ]
It doesn't feel like that with everyone, does it?
In ways, it does. In the ways that matter most, I think.
[ Some things feel wholly different in a way that can't be reconciled well with the past, but they're fewer in number than one might expect. But that can't be a universal experience for Eren at the moment. ]
It doesn't feel like that with everyone, does it?
[It's not nearly as warm as it was the first time. Eren supposes it can't be. They are, indeed, bound here by a promise. Neither of them intends for that promise to be broken. Eren should be glad for that. He is, in a way.
[He doesn't deserve to be hurt, really. He knows that too.
[He lowers his wrist. He wonders if they'll be watching the sunset through this window tonight, or if they're meant to be elsewhere.
[He takes Jeans hand at the wrist where his own band is tied; runs a finger carefully over the leather.]
These bands are a tradition from my home. They represent an eternal commitment. One that transcends even death. Bodies are buried with these wristbands still tied in place.
[Eren's gaze tries to catch Jean's; he'll stare right at him either way.]
Understand what that means to me, Jean.
You are my husband. [Eren pulls his hands away, now turning over that which wears his own wristband. He touches that band with two fingers, the same way he'd touched Jean's.] As long as I wear this wristband, that will never change.
This is more than a promise.
[He doesn't deserve to be hurt, really. He knows that too.
[He lowers his wrist. He wonders if they'll be watching the sunset through this window tonight, or if they're meant to be elsewhere.
[He takes Jeans hand at the wrist where his own band is tied; runs a finger carefully over the leather.]
These bands are a tradition from my home. They represent an eternal commitment. One that transcends even death. Bodies are buried with these wristbands still tied in place.
[Eren's gaze tries to catch Jean's; he'll stare right at him either way.]
Understand what that means to me, Jean.
You are my husband. [Eren pulls his hands away, now turning over that which wears his own wristband. He touches that band with two fingers, the same way he'd touched Jean's.] As long as I wear this wristband, that will never change.
This is more than a promise.
[The plates are set down. Eren lowers the camera. No instagram meal photos.]
No, it doesn't. Not with anyone else, really. I'd say...only you and one other person.
No, it doesn't. Not with anyone else, really. I'd say...only you and one other person.
[ Wouldn't it be crazy if one could make phenomenal amounts of money just from photographing and filming their meals? Wild...
Maruki comes around to join him, pauses as he's halfway up onto the chair, slides back off to remove the apron. He has a bad habit of cooking and then eating standing up in the kitchen, talking to Akechi from across the bar, but he wants this to be a proper meal.
A quick, quiet thanks, and then he demonstrates to Eren how to top it with the sauce. ]
It's like a savory pancake– although, saying that, I don't know that you've had a normal pancake...? Well, regardless, I hope you like it! But whether you do or not–
[ A triumphant bites from his chopsticks and a blissful little sigh. It tastes as close to home as he can get. ]
You're required to tell me who the other person is. As your best friend, I need to know!
Maruki comes around to join him, pauses as he's halfway up onto the chair, slides back off to remove the apron. He has a bad habit of cooking and then eating standing up in the kitchen, talking to Akechi from across the bar, but he wants this to be a proper meal.
A quick, quiet thanks, and then he demonstrates to Eren how to top it with the sauce. ]
It's like a savory pancake– although, saying that, I don't know that you've had a normal pancake...? Well, regardless, I hope you like it! But whether you do or not–
[ A triumphant bites from his chopsticks and a blissful little sigh. It tastes as close to home as he can get. ]
You're required to tell me who the other person is. As your best friend, I need to know!
Hm? [He already has his mouth full, you see. At least he chews and swallows before speaking these days.]
It isn't a secret. Just Kanoa.
He acts exactly the same. He wasn't even angry at me. He wanted to know where I'd gotten longer legs...[There's no humor in his voice when he says that, but he recognizes that it's funny. More than anything, he's devastatingly fond. The mere mention of that little anecdote at all really does all the talking.]
It isn't a secret. Just Kanoa.
He acts exactly the same. He wasn't even angry at me. He wanted to know where I'd gotten longer legs...[There's no humor in his voice when he says that, but he recognizes that it's funny. More than anything, he's devastatingly fond. The mere mention of that little anecdote at all really does all the talking.]
Some time. [Eren walks side by side with Akechi.]
It would be difficult to describe to you. I have a lot to sort out that most people probably wouldn't have to think about. [His tone is "casual" if you could call it that.]
It would be difficult to describe to you. I have a lot to sort out that most people probably wouldn't have to think about. [His tone is "casual" if you could call it that.]
Edited 2024-10-08 06:40 (UTC)
I understand, Eren.
[ His tone is sincere. There's a reason despite everything he's willing to tie this back onto Eren. That Eren allowed him to, despite the anger he was met with. ]
You told me before you won't forget our time here. I believe you because I don't want to forget you, either. You are important to me. You're one of the most important people to me, here.
[ He reaches out for Eren's hand, pulling it up so he can press a kiss to his palm. ]
Not even in death will we part. That's what I want.
[ His tone is sincere. There's a reason despite everything he's willing to tie this back onto Eren. That Eren allowed him to, despite the anger he was met with. ]
You told me before you won't forget our time here. I believe you because I don't want to forget you, either. You are important to me. You're one of the most important people to me, here.
[ He reaches out for Eren's hand, pulling it up so he can press a kiss to his palm. ]
Not even in death will we part. That's what I want.
[ Maruki takes the joke for what it is and laughs around his own mouthful of piping hot fried cabbagey goodness. ]
Ah, that sounds like Kanoa-kun. I tried to talk to him while you were gone, too, but he would only send me photos of frogs... I hope it helped in some way. They were certainly cute, either way.
Ah, that sounds like Kanoa-kun. I tried to talk to him while you were gone, too, but he would only send me photos of frogs... I hope it helped in some way. They were certainly cute, either way.
[At that, Eren frowns just a little bit - subtle enough that it's easy to miss, but there, nonetheless.]
He was probably upset, then.
I'm not surprised. He did tell me that too.
With Kanoa...[Eren pauses for a thoughtful bite.] He seems like a little kid, but he has a lot going on. When his mother left this place...
[Ah. Eren sets his fork down.]
It was terrible. Him sending you those pictures...that was probably a good thing for him.
He was probably upset, then.
I'm not surprised. He did tell me that too.
With Kanoa...[Eren pauses for a thoughtful bite.] He seems like a little kid, but he has a lot going on. When his mother left this place...
[Ah. Eren sets his fork down.]
It was terrible. Him sending you those pictures...that was probably a good thing for him.
[ Maruki looks over at him, doesn't even try to suppress the warmth in his smile. ]
You really do know him well... I'm so glad he has you back. Especially in lieu of his mother.
[ And then, tone noticeably lighter, eyes wandering toward the ceiling as he munches on his okonomiyaki: ]
I just thought you might bring up another name, that's all...
[ Is there a slight teasing lilt?
There certainly is. ]
You really do know him well... I'm so glad he has you back. Especially in lieu of his mother.
[ And then, tone noticeably lighter, eyes wandering toward the ceiling as he munches on his okonomiyaki: ]
I just thought you might bring up another name, that's all...
[ Is there a slight teasing lilt?
There certainly is. ]
[Eren doesn't seem to get the joke. He raises an eyebrow.]
Which is that?
Which is that?
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