[Tone noted. Ignored. Akechi wants to incite in any direction. See what pushes his buttons. Relearn someone he thought he knew and exploit it in the future. ]
A boy takes up a mantle against an unjust world - drowns it in rot, the way those around him were drowned in the guts of executioners.
There are plenty of people that feel that way. An entire movement.
[As for Eren himself, though...]
Both sides are the same. I came to realize that too. My actions weren't meant to be just. They were a means to an end. To say I stooped to their level...
[It tumbles out of his lips before he can stop it. The warmth of a bath, the knowledge of shared rot between them. It slips, for a second. For a minute.]
When left with no other option, no other path, with a world on your shoulders - what good does it do to be the bigger person?
[The water laps at his lips and cheeks, submerged and staying that way. Eyes fixated on water between them, on Eren's face reflected in it. Voice light despite the topic.]
It's a thought exercise of sorts - of course, no outcome was ideal. The world would have ended to another's hand if not yours.
[A pause - strands of wet hair pushed behind his ear.]
[Eren tries not to let what Akechi says get to him - not in the way that makes him angry, and not in the way that makes him feel...whatever it is when Akechi calls his actions a mercy.
[He doesn't flinch, but he feels like he has. He watches Akechi over the water. Sometimes it's impossible to tell whether or not he's being genuine. Eren wonders, though...]
[They don't deserve mercy - no one does. A world razed deserves it. It doesn't matter who starts it or whose arm raises to deal the killing blow. Everyone in society has a hand in ruining it. Everything that follows is deserved.]
I have no opinion on the matter, truly. It's beyond my scope and my opinion is irrelevant as an outsider. I'm only speaking in hypotheticals.
[A mercy. A burden, yes, but a mercy? He tries to imagine it being placed in someone else's hands - Mikasa, Armin, Jean...
[And he knows that weight. It hung around his neck until his head came off his shoulders. He's quiet for too long. He doesn't look cold; some pain bleeds in his eyes, staring ahead, away from Akechi, searching for something unseen.]
The people on Paradis Island were considered devils. Dangerous. Savage. Less than human.
Killing me made the Scout Regiment heroes. It should protect them for a long time.
[Is that the same thing as mercy?]
To say that I did it so they wouldn't have to, though...
[Another long pause. His brow pinches. He sinks deeper into the water.]
If they benefited, it doesn't matter if your intent was to help them. You did, in the end.
[The world itself is impossible for Akechi to grasp. The lives of all are meant to live in misery and what can be done for a reality where every single being is seen as an ant.
Akechi doesn't give a shit about ants.
Eren isn't an ant.]
Good intentions can't save the world. Bad intentions don't always doom it. If both actions end up helping - what does the origin matter?
[And that's all there is to it, really. A detective prince ready to raze the world. A god dooming it in a different way.]
But I think this discussion has given us enough to think about for one day.
[Eren's eyes are on Akechi - ever on Akechi. There's almost something to them. What he feels is that odd fondness that exists only for one person - this person.
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no subject
You think so?
no subject
[Tone noted. Ignored. Akechi wants to incite in any direction. See what pushes his buttons. Relearn someone he thought he knew and exploit it in the future. ]
A boy takes up a mantle against an unjust world - drowns it in rot, the way those around him were drowned in the guts of executioners.
no subject
[As for Eren himself, though...]
Both sides are the same. I came to realize that too. My actions weren't meant to be just. They were a means to an end. To say I stooped to their level...
You'd be right about that.
no subject
[It tumbles out of his lips before he can stop it. The warmth of a bath, the knowledge of shared rot between them. It slips, for a second. For a minute.]
When left with no other option, no other path, with a world on your shoulders - what good does it do to be the bigger person?
[The water laps at his lips and cheeks, submerged and staying that way. Eyes fixated on water between them, on Eren's face reflected in it. Voice light despite the topic.]
It's a thought exercise of sorts - of course, no outcome was ideal. The world would have ended to another's hand if not yours.
[A pause - strands of wet hair pushed behind his ear.]
It's almost a mercy for you to take burden.
no subject
[He doesn't flinch, but he feels like he has. He watches Akechi over the water. Sometimes it's impossible to tell whether or not he's being genuine. Eren wonders, though...]
Is that really how you feel?
no subject
I have no opinion on the matter, truly. It's beyond my scope and my opinion is irrelevant as an outsider. I'm only speaking in hypotheticals.
no subject
[And he knows that weight. It hung around his neck until his head came off his shoulders. He's quiet for too long. He doesn't look cold; some pain bleeds in his eyes, staring ahead, away from Akechi, searching for something unseen.]
The people on Paradis Island were considered devils. Dangerous. Savage. Less than human.
Killing me made the Scout Regiment heroes. It should protect them for a long time.
[Is that the same thing as mercy?]
To say that I did it so they wouldn't have to, though...
[Another long pause. His brow pinches. He sinks deeper into the water.]
I don't know.
no subject
[The world itself is impossible for Akechi to grasp. The lives of all are meant to live in misery and what can be done for a reality where every single being is seen as an ant.
Akechi doesn't give a shit about ants.
Eren isn't an ant.]
Good intentions can't save the world. Bad intentions don't always doom it. If both actions end up helping - what does the origin matter?
[And that's all there is to it, really. A detective prince ready to raze the world. A god dooming it in a different way.]
But I think this discussion has given us enough to think about for one day.
however we can still wrap if you'd like hehe
[Eren's eyes are on Akechi - ever on Akechi. There's almost something to them. What he feels is that odd fondness that exists only for one person - this person.
[Grief, rage, even hatred, but still...]
I'm not ready to leave you yet.
<3 wrappin but they still hanging <3
Akechi feels a gaze on him again and-
Watches him from the reflection in the water, raises his head to match and-]
Neither am I.
[Not for a long time.]
Maruki-san made a meal yesterday I think you would enjoy - there are leftovers if you come over tomorrow.
[And for the remainder of the their time in the bath, he speaks - sparse and lighthearted. Topics easy to navigate and answer.
Stays there, until they're both ready to go home.]