[Something isn't right. Armin can tell that Mari doesn't trust him; more so than that, he reminds himself that she has no real reason to trust him. Aubrey being friendly with him is the only thing he has working for him. He still can't shake the sensation that Eren has something to do with all this. When Mari says that she believes the figure wants to hurt Aubrey, it - for whatever reason - only reinforces that suspicion. Not because Armin thinks Eren would hurt Aubrey, but because he knows his friend can come off as quite...intense in regard to the people he cares about.
[Just what is going on here, exactly...?]
We've all been alone here at one time or another. We try our best to stick together, but we don't always have that choice.
[To his credit, he tries to keep his tone a bit more casual.]
When you say figure...[Maybe if he slips it in casually enough, she won't head for the hills about it.]
Was this thing you saw...not a human?
[An idea occurs to him quite suddenly. He straightens up in the booth and pats the ODM gear on his hip.]
If what you saw was a monster, it might be one I'm familiar with. I'm a soldier where I come from - a Commander, actually. Fighting monsters is all I know.
[Mari is quiet for a moment, to allow Aubrey a chance to speak again. She doesn’t.]
[In fact, Aubrey feels strangely wounded, and stays turned away from both. But she is, through her ever-gnawing concern for Eren, trying to listen. What’s Armin getting at now…?]
[Pause aside, Mari plays casual right back; and really, the surprise at Armin’s gear is no act.] A soldier! [If he truly is keeping Aubrey safe (and Aubrey did call him a friend), however much or little they’ve managed to stay together, it’s good to see Armin has the gear and know-how to back that up.
[It also, Mari notes, means he’s an even more dangerous threat if he’s allied with that monster.]
I couldn’t tell if the figure was human or not. [Slight concession, nonetheless. Mari knows she doesn’t a chance should Armin turn that gear on her. She grasps in the dark for any sort of advantage. What does he want, really…?]
It was hard to see anything clearly. All I knew was that it talked like a human man. [And whistled that song, hollow and dead.]
[Armin nods, a gesture of understanding. It doesn't confirm nor deny that the monster sounds familiar, and that's by design. He saw her surprise (and, perhaps, intimidation) at the ODM gear.]
And he said...
[Sorry, Aubrey. Armin can tell that she's put off, and he doesn't blame her, but...he wants to find Eren as badly as she does. He lowers his voice for Mari again, leaning in a bit for effect.]
[Aubrey, detecting only mind games that are flying by and large over her head, turns back to them both with a huff.]
If there’s something after us then why mess around? I’m not gonna be upset. [She sounds pretty damn upset.] If we knew where Eren was he’d take care of it anyway.
[She knew she should have had this conversation away from Aubrey. For the briefest moment, irritation flashes across Mari’s face—and settles to a baseline neutral.]
[Aubrey. Aubrey. Doesn’t Aubrey understand that Mari is being evasive for her? This interrogation, in any direction, brings Mari no joy. She would have been happy to trust Armin and Eren, and they could all band together in this terrifying empty limbo.]
[But Aubrey says nothing, only glaring at them both—and mostly, inexplicably, Mari.]
[ . . . ]
Armin. [There’s no attempt to keep it sweet.] We both have Aubrey’s best interests at heart, don’t we? I don’t understand this tension over Eren, when I’m truly not sure if—
Because Eren might be trapped. With a— whatever talked to you. [That dot, to Aubrey, remains unconnected.]
“Aubrey, I’m not lying to you—”
I never said you were! [Her voice wavers, furious and, strangely, somewhere close to heartbroken. Why? Why is she having this… conversation? argument? What is going on?!] Please, just… tell us what you saw. Everything.
[Aubrey, unhelpfully, is staring down at her hands again—at that ring, the finger of which is not lost on Mari. What, has she been brainwashed? She does look ready to cry again, which could go either way—
[—but it pulls at Mari, all the same. And even if Mari is correct, then escalating tensions with her… captors, or whoever Armin and Eren truly are, can only make the situation worse. It’s bad enough Armin knows Mari doesn’t trust him.]
[She’ll hear him out, she decides. Just to see. For context, information.
[But first…]
Aubrey… [Mari’s tone is, though not without an edge, mostly gentle.]
[It’s Eren. It has to be Eren. That’s what Armin was getting at. Just one eye?! Eren. Eren, hurting, caged.
[And all Aubrey can do is sit here, struggling to stay afloat, while the person who meant the most to her in the world—besides Eren, before Eren—talks down to her.]
[Meanwhile, Mari turns to Armin, sharp. But she says nothing. What, exactly, is the misunderstanding?]
[It seems that Aubrey understands now. Armin wishes she'd say more, that she'd assure her friend that Eren wouldn't hurt her, that this is a misunderstanding, that he isn't a monster, but...
[Well, Armin doesn't like to think of him that way. Right now, he can't afford to. He'll lie to himself as much as anyone about what Eren Is and Isn't.]
That figure you mention is our friend Eren. Whatever happened between you two, we can talk through it here and now.
[It won't be easy to explain the "rotting flesh", but...]
Eren isn't a bad man. [He's not sure he believes it anymore. Mari doesn't need to know the details.] And I don't believe that he said he wanted to hurt Aubrey. He's done everything in his power to protect her while we've been here.
[Armin is good with words. Too good. What he’s saying is the honest truth, from his perspective. He doesn’t know that Eren didn’t seem to care about her life until she almost lost it. He doesn’t know that Eren has hurt her, sometimes intentionally and just as often not; and Eren does want to protect her, now, all the same; and she’s not sure if Eren is a good person but fuck if she doesn’t want to protect him, too.]
[Whatever impression Mari got, of a monster in the dark… it can’t have been entirely wrong.
[Only Eren would say that Aubrey belongs to him.]
[She needs to explain this damn ring.
[Eren is in a prison, and he could very well be dying.]
Did he call for me? [Finally, Aubrey looks up, just as Mari was going to speak. It’s Mari who she looks at, and Mari who stares right back with abject concern.] Where was he? I need to find him.
“It doesn’t matter, okay? You don’t— You don’t know what you’re talking about. [And with that, Aubrey stands, tears flowing anew; she talks through them, not quite yelling but louder than she should be.] You’re dead. You haven’t been there— You didn’t even know me until Armin said my fucking name.”
[Mari reaches out. Aubrey backs away.]
“Just— Let Armin explain.” [She shoots him an apologetic look; it’s a lot to ask. But…] “I shouldn’t be here. I need to save Eren.”
Aubrey—
[She makes a run, passing closer to Armin and out of Mari’s reach, for the door.]
[Aubrey is… so very tired. Of feeling like she wants to implode, of actually exploding, of feeling anything at all. But Armin has a point, and she can’t shut down again.
[She doesn’t meet his eyes, but she does stop. Yeah… she needs more info, at least. If she rushes out and still can’t find Eren it’ll all have been such a waste....]
[Aubrey rubs her face, wiping her eyes in the process, and returns to her seat. There’s a dejected air about it, like a child trudging to time-out.]
S-sorry. [To both of them, really. She looks at her ring finger instead, other hand pinching at it lightly, as if she could roll or move the mark in any way.] I… guess I should explain this.
[Mari, internally, is still catching up with “you’re dead.” She objectively does not remember dying—but people can die in their sleep, none the wiser. It’s a horrible explanation for Aubrey’s growth, and that terrible relief upon seeing Mari, but an explanation nonetheless. Are they all…?]
Or— I don’t know, [Aubrey glances between Mari and Armin, looking for any excuse to delay the inevitable;] is that too much? [But Mari seems lost in thought; looking Aubrey’s way, but not seeing her. She’s probably explained all she can, or so Aubrey figures....]
Eren and I… made a promise to each other. Of sorts. [Although, really, Aubrey did. Didn’t she? All Eren said was that she’s stuck with him. The marriage… what, proposal? demand? It’s secondary to that, somehow.] As long as we’re here, we’re not leaving each other… we never can, for long. [God, she hopes that’ll prove true even now.]
He really… he does love me. [And hate her, maybe all the more for it. She knows she’s fudging the timeline.] And I want to help him—not just this time, but…
[She trails off. It’s impossible to summarize, isn’t it? Only Reiner would truly understand.
[Maybe the mark will speak for her.]
When we made that promise… this.
[Reluctantly, Aubrey pulls up her sleeve and lies her arm on the table, palm up. It shivers for a moment, cold and exposed. The gash runs even further, trailing up her inner arm, but she’s not ready to show the rest to anyone—maybe not even Eren.]
[Mari says nothing, but the sight of the… It’s not quite a wound, flat to the skin, but it looks like one. It’s horrifying. And despite what Armin said about Eren being a good person, and Aubrey confirming their loyalty… none of it sounds very good at all. If anything her worse impressions are only fueled.
[She frowns. But she’ll hold her tongue.]
[The vow, the word "love", the brand - all of it is new to Armin, and more than a bit baffling. It's the mark, really, that throws him. The scar looks deep, like the wound it came from must have been unimaginably painful. Surely Eren didn't actually scar her - no. It wouldn't look like that in such a short amount of time if he had, and the shape is too precise. So, the world they're in can physically alter them as well...?
[Up to this point, Armin hasn't been sure exactly what Eren and Aubrey would consider themselves; the mark wraps around her left ring finger. It seems obvious now - obvious and bizarre. Armin's never known Eren to be romantic with anyone else. Did he tell Aubrey that he loves her? Armin can't remember Eren ever using quite that word either. Armin knows what Eren's love is capable of, of course; he doesn't doubt that it's true. It's just...news to him.
[There is, to this, some small injury. It shouldn't matter, of course. Other things matter more. Armin and Eren haven't been "Armin and Eren" for a long time. But the memory aches all the same. Was he always just something to fall back on? For lack of better options, maybe?
[It isn't wise to start thinking like that now. It isn't Aubrey's fault that Eren broke everyone's heart. It's Armin's responsibility to be realistic. Nothing ever could have come from it anyway - not now that the world is ending.
[That Aubrey wants to help Eren - that isn't news to Armin at all. It's what everyone who loves Eren Jaeger wants, isn't it?]
Edited (PERMISSION TO SAIL, SIR - GRANTED ) 2023-10-18 16:21 (UTC)
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[Just what is going on here, exactly...?]
We've all been alone here at one time or another. We try our best to stick together, but we don't always have that choice.
[To his credit, he tries to keep his tone a bit more casual.]
When you say figure...[Maybe if he slips it in casually enough, she won't head for the hills about it.]
Was this thing you saw...not a human?
[An idea occurs to him quite suddenly. He straightens up in the booth and pats the ODM gear on his hip.]
If what you saw was a monster, it might be one I'm familiar with. I'm a soldier where I come from - a Commander, actually. Fighting monsters is all I know.
1/1
[Mari is quiet for a moment, to allow Aubrey a chance to speak again. She doesn’t.]
[In fact, Aubrey feels strangely wounded, and stays turned away from both. But she is, through her ever-gnawing concern for Eren, trying to listen. What’s Armin getting at now…?]
[Pause aside, Mari plays casual right back; and really, the surprise at Armin’s gear is no act.] A soldier! [If he truly is keeping Aubrey safe (and Aubrey did call him a friend), however much or little they’ve managed to stay together, it’s good to see Armin has the gear and know-how to back that up.
[It also, Mari notes, means he’s an even more dangerous threat if he’s allied with that monster.]
I couldn’t tell if the figure was human or not. [Slight concession, nonetheless. Mari knows she doesn’t a chance should Armin turn that gear on her. She grasps in the dark for any sort of advantage. What does he want, really…?]
It was hard to see anything clearly. All I knew was that it talked like a human man. [And whistled that song, hollow and dead.]
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And he said...
[Sorry, Aubrey. Armin can tell that she's put off, and he doesn't blame her, but...he wants to find Eren as badly as she does. He lowers his voice for Mari again, leaning in a bit for effect.]
...that he wanted to hurt Aubrey...? Really?
[At this, Armin looks genuinely disturbed - looks.]
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[The intensity is either legitimate or a herring. It’s not a play Mari can afford to misread.]
[“She belongs to me.” It’s all he said, in truth. But even a 16-year-old Aubrey wouldn’t have sworn herself to him… Would she?]
[Simply, mirroring Armin’s seeming disturbance, Mari nods.]
2/3 whoops
Oh, for the love of—
[Aubrey, detecting only mind games that are flying by and large over her head, turns back to them both with a huff.]
If there’s something after us then why mess around? I’m not gonna be upset. [She sounds pretty damn upset.] If we knew where Eren was he’d take care of it anyway.
3/3
[…Aubrey’s really worried about this Eren person, isn’t she?]
I’m sorry, Aubrey. [It’s not ingenuine.] Eren might be stuck with them, too.
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1/3
[She knew she should have had this conversation away from Aubrey. For the briefest moment, irritation flashes across Mari’s face—and settles to a baseline neutral.]
The figure was trapped.
There were multiple cells.
2/3
Were they empty?
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I couldn’t tell.
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[Why is Mari lying?]
What else did the figure say to you?
If you think our friend might be there, then we need to know everything.
[At least Armin can lend real concern to his words. Whether Eren is the beast or another prisoner, they need to know.]
I think you might be right, Mari. I think Eren really might be trapped.
1/3
[Aubrey. Aubrey. Doesn’t Aubrey understand that Mari is being evasive for her? This interrogation, in any direction, brings Mari no joy. She would have been happy to trust Armin and Eren, and they could all band together in this terrifying empty limbo.]
[But Aubrey says nothing, only glaring at them both—and mostly, inexplicably, Mari.]
[ . . . ]
Armin. [There’s no attempt to keep it sweet.] We both have Aubrey’s best interests at heart, don’t we? I don’t understand this tension over Eren, when I’m truly not sure if—
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Because Eren might be trapped. With a— whatever talked to you. [That dot, to Aubrey, remains unconnected.]
“Aubrey, I’m not lying to you—”
I never said you were! [Her voice wavers, furious and, strangely, somewhere close to heartbroken. Why? Why is she having this… conversation? argument? What is going on?!] Please, just… tell us what you saw. Everything.
3/3 imagine remembering title numbers
[Aubrey is going to get them both killed or worse.]
[Mari can’t lie to her.]
[She takes in a steady breath.]
It was some sort of prison.
All I saw was the lower half of a man, surrounded by rotting flesh, behind bars. There was one green eye in the darkness.
He said you belonged to him, Aubrey.
Does that make sense?
I lied I’m up
[Armin’s tone is very careful now.]
Mari…
I think there’s been…a misunderstanding.
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[Has there ever been.]
[Aubrey, unhelpfully, is staring down at her hands again—at that ring, the finger of which is not lost on Mari. What, has she been brainwashed? She does look ready to cry again, which could go either way—
[—but it pulls at Mari, all the same. And even if Mari is correct, then escalating tensions with her… captors, or whoever Armin and Eren truly are, can only make the situation worse. It’s bad enough Armin knows Mari doesn’t trust him.]
[She’ll hear him out, she decides. Just to see. For context, information.
[But first…]
Aubrey… [Mari’s tone is, though not without an edge, mostly gentle.]
Does what that figure told me make sense to you?
[There’s a pronounced delay.]
2/2
[Aubrey nods, miserable.]
[It’s Eren. It has to be Eren. That’s what Armin was getting at. Just one eye?! Eren. Eren, hurting, caged.
[And all Aubrey can do is sit here, struggling to stay afloat, while the person who meant the most to her in the world—besides Eren, before Eren—talks down to her.]
[Meanwhile, Mari turns to Armin, sharp. But she says nothing. What, exactly, is the misunderstanding?]
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[Well, Armin doesn't like to think of him that way. Right now, he can't afford to. He'll lie to himself as much as anyone about what Eren Is and Isn't.]
That figure you mention is our friend Eren. Whatever happened between you two, we can talk through it here and now.
[It won't be easy to explain the "rotting flesh", but...]
Eren isn't a bad man. [He's not sure he believes it anymore. Mari doesn't need to know the details.] And I don't believe that he said he wanted to hurt Aubrey. He's done everything in his power to protect her while we've been here.
1/2
[Armin is good with words. Too good. What he’s saying is the honest truth, from his perspective. He doesn’t know that Eren didn’t seem to care about her life until she almost lost it. He doesn’t know that Eren has hurt her, sometimes intentionally and just as often not; and Eren does want to protect her, now, all the same; and she’s not sure if Eren is a good person but fuck if she doesn’t want to protect him, too.]
[Whatever impression Mari got, of a monster in the dark… it can’t have been entirely wrong.
[Only Eren would say that Aubrey belongs to him.]
[She needs to explain this damn ring.
[Eren is in a prison, and he could very well be dying.]
Did he call for me? [Finally, Aubrey looks up, just as Mari was going to speak. It’s Mari who she looks at, and Mari who stares right back with abject concern.] Where was he? I need to find him.
2/2
Aubrey, don’t be ridi—
“It doesn’t matter, okay? You don’t— You don’t know what you’re talking about. [And with that, Aubrey stands, tears flowing anew; she talks through them, not quite yelling but louder than she should be.] You’re dead. You haven’t been there— You didn’t even know me until Armin said my fucking name.”
[Mari reaches out. Aubrey backs away.]
“Just— Let Armin explain.” [She shoots him an apologetic look; it’s a lot to ask. But…] “I shouldn’t be here. I need to save Eren.”
Aubrey—
[She makes a run, passing closer to Armin and out of Mari’s reach, for the door.]
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[He holds out his arm - not enough to touch her, but hopefully enough to give her pause. He tries to meet her eyes.
[What if this is the last time she ever gets to see her friend alive again...?]
We shouldn't run into this head first. I want to find Eren too - we will. But we need to stop and think first.
1/1
[Aubrey is… so very tired. Of feeling like she wants to implode, of actually exploding, of feeling anything at all. But Armin has a point, and she can’t shut down again.
[She doesn’t meet his eyes, but she does stop. Yeah… she needs more info, at least. If she rushes out and still can’t find Eren it’ll all have been such a waste....]
[Aubrey rubs her face, wiping her eyes in the process, and returns to her seat. There’s a dejected air about it, like a child trudging to time-out.]
S-sorry. [To both of them, really. She looks at her ring finger instead, other hand pinching at it lightly, as if she could roll or move the mark in any way.] I… guess I should explain this.
[Mari, internally, is still catching up with “you’re dead.” She objectively does not remember dying—but people can die in their sleep, none the wiser. It’s a horrible explanation for Aubrey’s growth, and that terrible relief upon seeing Mari, but an explanation nonetheless. Are they all…?]
Or— I don’t know, [Aubrey glances between Mari and Armin, looking for any excuse to delay the inevitable;] is that too much? [But Mari seems lost in thought; looking Aubrey’s way, but not seeing her. She’s probably explained all she can, or so Aubrey figures....]
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1/1?
[…Fine.
[She’ll bite the bullet.]
Eren and I… made a promise to each other. Of sorts. [Although, really, Aubrey did. Didn’t she? All Eren said was that she’s stuck with him. The marriage… what, proposal? demand? It’s secondary to that, somehow.] As long as we’re here, we’re not leaving each other… we never can, for long. [God, she hopes that’ll prove true even now.]
He really… he does love me. [And hate her, maybe all the more for it. She knows she’s fudging the timeline.] And I want to help him—not just this time, but…
[She trails off. It’s impossible to summarize, isn’t it? Only Reiner would truly understand.
[Maybe the mark will speak for her.]
When we made that promise… this.
[Reluctantly, Aubrey pulls up her sleeve and lies her arm on the table, palm up. It shivers for a moment, cold and exposed. The gash runs even further, trailing up her inner arm, but she’s not ready to show the rest to anyone—maybe not even Eren.]
[Mari says nothing, but the sight of the… It’s not quite a wound, flat to the skin, but it looks like one. It’s horrifying. And despite what Armin said about Eren being a good person, and Aubrey confirming their loyalty… none of it sounds very good at all. If anything her worse impressions are only fueled.
[She frowns. But she’ll hold her tongue.]
introspection only tag for u
[Up to this point, Armin hasn't been sure exactly what Eren and Aubrey would consider themselves; the mark wraps around her left ring finger. It seems obvious now - obvious and bizarre. Armin's never known Eren to be romantic with anyone else. Did he tell Aubrey that he loves her? Armin can't remember Eren ever using quite that word either. Armin knows what Eren's love is capable of, of course; he doesn't doubt that it's true. It's just...news to him.
[There is, to this, some small injury. It shouldn't matter, of course. Other things matter more. Armin and Eren haven't been "Armin and Eren" for a long time. But the memory aches all the same. Was he always just something to fall back on? For lack of better options, maybe?
[It isn't wise to start thinking like that now. It isn't Aubrey's fault that Eren broke everyone's heart. It's Armin's responsibility to be realistic. Nothing ever could have come from it anyway - not now that the world is ending.
[That Aubrey wants to help Eren - that isn't news to Armin at all. It's what everyone who loves Eren Jaeger wants, isn't it?]
1/1 wow novel
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