[He waited so long for this kiss - for Aubrey's kiss.
[She doesn't realize how remarkable it is, he doesn't think. Aubrey worried over others and their affections. They talked about it, but Eren never left feeling as though she understood. She is not Mikasa - she is not any of them. She stumbled in from the Enchanted Garden and enchanted him. They were always meant for this.
[The kiss is warm; Eren is capable. Broad hands cup her face, slide to her shoulders, back up to the base of her skull.
[He loves her desperately. He has.]
I'm selfish. [He murmurs this against her lips.] You're still here. I'm glad...
[Eren has aggravated Aubrey before; infuriated, even. Feels like lifetimes ago now. It didn’t last; couldn’t.
[She can’t imagine ever being upset with him again. That won’t last, either. She doesn’t care. It doesn’t matter. Eren says he’s glad, and he doesn’t smile anymore, and Aubrey believes him.]
Then… I’m selfish, too. [He doesn’t want to be here. It’s what’s left. Aubrey’s hands slide back, around his neck, over his nape; he’s held her there before. The impulse is secondhand; there all the same.] I missed you....
[The nape really is a special place for a titan shifter. Eren is not human, but the impulse feels human. It's the closest thing to safety that he knows. It makes his head fall heavy, cheek pressing up against Aubrey's eyes falling closed. He lifts his hand and covers her nape as well, though it won't matter.
[She missed him. He misses her every time they part. He would have said so, back then. Maybe he should now. He's gotten so terrible with words, with opening his heart, if there's any heart left beating at all.
[She doesn’t have to think twice. Aubrey nods into the crook of Eren’s neck.
[It’s barely daybreak. They could stay here forever, she thinks, as the sky rolls by, breathing each other in. It wouldn’t waste a second.
[But she won’t worry Sunny. And she can’t be the only one Eren’s returning to. A self-serving thought, that Aubrey might be one of the first, but… hell. It was every day.]
Tonight, and… [Her fingers curl around the base of his skull, lightly stroking.] Morning, too. [One way or another.]
[She agrees. Eren used to ramble endlessly, thoughtlessly - about anything, even when he didn't understand what he was trying to say.
[It's so difficult now to use words when they haven't been recited, rehearsed, steeled into something cold and false. He doesn't want to give Aubrey cold, false.
[Some impulse overcomes him. The only warning is the slow ease with which he stoops down, hooks his arms beneath her thighs, and lifts her up until he's holding her, as effortless as picking up a ten-pound housecat.
[He'll let her cling - legs, arms, all of her. She can hold him truly and completely, and he'll support the weight. He wishes he could say the words, "I love you," but they still in his throat.
[He holds her tight, close, with a strong arm beneath, and the other around, hand gripping the back of her head.
[Whispers:] How could I ever walk away? [Then, now - how could he ever?]
[Despite the warning of his ease, it’s a surprise. For all that’s happened, he still wants to carry her. Eren asks how he could ever walk away, and Aubrey’s reminded acutely that she’s so often been the one turning away from him. Is that giving up or letting go?
[For now, she holds on to him. Maybe the rest doesn’t matter. He’s here now, and he’ll go when the fight is done, and they don’t have a breath left to waste.
[Aubrey can’t answer with anything they don’t already know, so she kisses him again. Slow. Indulgent, maybe. Wraps her legs around his waist and clings, parting with a soft] I love you.
[Eren breathes in Aubrey's words. It's been so long since he said them himself. What comes instead is a whispered:]
I do...
[Because he does. He loves her desperately, painfully, wretchedly. It can't go unspoken. He offers that soft assurance again - I do - whispered between melancholy kisses.
[He's not particularly concerned with any audience they might have. It's early enough that there aren't that many people around. It's easy enough to shift Aubrey into his arms like a bride and start walking toward the farm. She's not the type that needs to be carried, really, but he doesn't want to let go.]
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[She doesn't realize how remarkable it is, he doesn't think. Aubrey worried over others and their affections. They talked about it, but Eren never left feeling as though she understood. She is not Mikasa - she is not any of them. She stumbled in from the Enchanted Garden and enchanted him. They were always meant for this.
[The kiss is warm; Eren is capable. Broad hands cup her face, slide to her shoulders, back up to the base of her skull.
[He loves her desperately. He has.]
I'm selfish. [He murmurs this against her lips.] You're still here. I'm glad...
no subject
[Eren has aggravated Aubrey before; infuriated, even. Feels like lifetimes ago now. It didn’t last; couldn’t.
[She can’t imagine ever being upset with him again. That won’t last, either. She doesn’t care. It doesn’t matter. Eren says he’s glad, and he doesn’t smile anymore, and Aubrey believes him.]
Then… I’m selfish, too. [He doesn’t want to be here. It’s what’s left. Aubrey’s hands slide back, around his neck, over his nape; he’s held her there before. The impulse is secondhand; there all the same.] I missed you....
there/they're all the same I see u
[She missed him. He misses her every time they part. He would have said so, back then. Maybe he should now. He's gotten so terrible with words, with opening his heart, if there's any heart left beating at all.
[He nudges his nose into her cheek.]
Aubrey. Stay with me tonight...
no subject
[She doesn’t have to think twice. Aubrey nods into the crook of Eren’s neck.
[It’s barely daybreak. They could stay here forever, she thinks, as the sky rolls by, breathing each other in. It wouldn’t waste a second.
[But she won’t worry Sunny. And she can’t be the only one Eren’s returning to. A self-serving thought, that Aubrey might be one of the first, but… hell. It was every day.]
Tonight, and… [Her fingers curl around the base of his skull, lightly stroking.] Morning, too. [One way or another.]
no subject
[It's so difficult now to use words when they haven't been recited, rehearsed, steeled into something cold and false. He doesn't want to give Aubrey cold, false.
[Some impulse overcomes him. The only warning is the slow ease with which he stoops down, hooks his arms beneath her thighs, and lifts her up until he's holding her, as effortless as picking up a ten-pound housecat.
[He'll let her cling - legs, arms, all of her. She can hold him truly and completely, and he'll support the weight. He wishes he could say the words, "I love you," but they still in his throat.
[He holds her tight, close, with a strong arm beneath, and the other around, hand gripping the back of her head.
[Whispers:] How could I ever walk away? [Then, now - how could he ever?]
no subject
[Despite the warning of his ease, it’s a surprise. For all that’s happened, he still wants to carry her. Eren asks how he could ever walk away, and Aubrey’s reminded acutely that she’s so often been the one turning away from him. Is that giving up or letting go?
[For now, she holds on to him. Maybe the rest doesn’t matter. He’s here now, and he’ll go when the fight is done, and they don’t have a breath left to waste.
[Aubrey can’t answer with anything they don’t already know, so she kisses him again. Slow. Indulgent, maybe. Wraps her legs around his waist and clings, parting with a soft] I love you.
[I’ll miss you.]
So much…
no subject
I do...
[Because he does. He loves her desperately, painfully, wretchedly. It can't go unspoken. He offers that soft assurance again - I do - whispered between melancholy kisses.
[He's not particularly concerned with any audience they might have. It's early enough that there aren't that many people around. It's easy enough to shift Aubrey into his arms like a bride and start walking toward the farm. She's not the type that needs to be carried, really, but he doesn't want to let go.]