[Ah… he keeps begging. Sobbing, now. Aubrey is pulled in two: empathy for the mourning, and for the love of god shut up. It might be a clearer judgment call if he was a complete stranger, if she didn’t know he was just as if not more tortured than every single person she’s met out here. Or, of course, if he was Armin or Eren, someone she knew and would never dream of being… cold to....

[She would, though. She has been.]

[And so the hook pulls.] It wasn’t really him. [At least biting back irritation.] He’s not here.

[Like Armin’s not here, a shivering husk in his wake. Like Eren’s not here. Nothing but fog and grief.]