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[rollcharisma]

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end of october

[wingbound]

[ There's a knock on Armin's door. ]

[ Maybe he's been conditioned by now to check the time and see if he's late for Annika again (he's not), but this time it's not Eren or a note behind his door. It's Levi himself, standing there awkwardly with a tiny brown paper package. ]

[ (It's a Safety Pin. Nearly all of their people have it at this point, and it may be in big part courtesy of Levi.) ]

[ The silence stretches for a few moments, then he shoves it at Armin's chest. Hopefully instructions of use are included in the package because Levi doesn't seem to be feeling particularly wordy just now. ]

Figured you should have one, too.

[rollcharisma]

[Armin looks a little dumb for a minute, blinking at Levi while he holds the package in his hands. Is...Captain Levi giving him a gift?

[Is he supposed to open it right now, or wait until Levi-- Well, he's not leaving, so. Armin takes the Safety Pin out of the package; mercifully, there is a little booklet inside which Armin hopes will explain more than Levi's willing to.]

It's-- Well. [???] Thank you! I'll have to read about what it does - does it do something?

It's really very nice.

1/2

[wingbound]

[ HE SURE IS. He's also staring back, but without blinking, at least until Armin finally takes the package, which seems to scale the overall intensity down. ]

[ "Really very nice" Armin please it's a fucking safety pin. ]

Oi. You don't need to lay it on so thick while you don't even know what it is. [ Said very flatly, so it's hard to say if it's chiding or humorous. ]

2/2

[wingbound]

...But yes, it does something. It's protection magic. You set a command and you'll be able to summon a shield with it.

[ He gestures at the booklet for the nitty-gritty of it. ]

I know you can protect yourself, but transforming isn't always a good idea. Especially for you. [ They don't want the city in shambles, right? ] Think of this as a safety net.

very early Nov; action

[rustyhonesty]

[Jean's aware Armin's birthday is around the corner, so he made sure to finish his present in time. He has a package with him that has a sword and sheath (colors on it are closely resembling Armin's eye color and the ocean blues).

Knock knock, you've got a visitor.]

[rollcharisma]

[Another note? It's not even Annika day--

[Oh, it's just Jean.]

Jean! Hey! This is unexpected. [He says this very pleasantly, however. He's never unhappy to see his friend.]

[rustyhonesty]

[One day Jean will learn not to just appear on someone's doorstep unannounced, but today was not the day.]

Yeah, sorry. I didn't catch you at a bad time, did I? I'm just here deliver something for you.

[He lifts the rather long package so Armin can see.]

mail/delivery, november 3rd

[wingbound]

[ Whenever Armin opens his door, he'll find a nondescript brown paper package waiting for him. It's definitely the shape and weight of a book, though. ]

[ Inside he'll find "The Sights Of Ellipsa", about two-hundred pages of full-sheet, high definition photos of various local landscapes, cityscapes and the segments' natural beauty with some blurbs of info about the locations. ]

[ A green sticky note on the front of the book says, Thought you might like this. Levi. ]

Picture Perfect Calendars

[essenceborn]

[ The message comes the day before, just as promised:

Hello Armin. It is Nenonen. The flowers and peanut butter will be ready tomorrow around noon. Please come to [address] at noon for photos!

It's the address to Shigeru Miyata's house, and where they live. They'd had some help getting everything together since Nenonen's never been part of a photo shoot before and isn't entirely sure what to expect, but Nen's excited nonetheless. The day of they've prepared as best they can, awaiting his arrival with anticipation. ]

[rollcharisma]

[After a confirmation text - which Armin tries his best to make very professional - he makes his way to the address in question. After making that network post, he used some of the money he's had saved up to get some additional photo equipment - a tripod, some different lenses, things like that. To that end, he has a few different bags strapped to him as he knocks on the door. He can only wonder what Nen might be like in person, given their first interaction...]

[essenceborn]

[ All things considered, at least in appearance, Nenonen is fairly normal. The only thing that might immediately stick out to him are their eyes, where their pupils are slits rather than round circles. Other than that though? It's normal eye colour, normal hair colour, and while they don't look outright masculine or feminine, there's nothing outlandishly different from a normal person.

When Nen opens the door they greet him with a not-quite smile (their best effort!). ]

Hello. Are you Armin, or a visitor for a husband in the house?

Gift Delivery!

[sunspotted]

[ The week of 12/24, Armin will find a square wrapped present on his doorstep. On top of the package is a plastic-wrapped paper plate of cookies; they appear to be sugar cookies with cranberries mixed in. The bottoms are a bit more brown than golden, but they taste delicious!

Inside, there's a deep sea exploration book that has a lot of details about the ocean of a planet called Earth, and pictures. It appears more technical in nature, and is quite thick. It comes with a poster inside that unfolds into the various oceanic zones and what lives inside them. There's also a glass jar that is upside down, using the lid as a base; there's tiny plastic fake fireflies inside that are charmed to float around. They throw off a glow if you tell them "Light up!"

There's also a little handwritten post-it from Marco. ]

Armin!

It's tradition to give gifts at this time of year, apparently, so here are some things for you. I thought you might like the light after our discussion about fireflies.

- Marco

Delivery

[rustyhonesty]

On 12/24, a delivery is made by a Fairy service.

There are two presents from Jean. One is a big magically reinforced package that says "Gear Blades for when you need them" that has, like the name suggests, ODM gear blades, made with different steel than their normal ones are. The note attached to the package says they're good against monsters in this world and are more durable. It also says that he can make more later, if necessary.

The second present is much smaller; a book with pictures and information of oceans from different worlds, as well as a gift card for a photography shop.

The card simply says: "Happy Holidays from Jean"

gift delivery

[hometown]

[ On the Solstice, a package appears on Armin's doorstep. It contains a bottle of Feel Invincible potion, as well as a handmade metal amulet with a spiraling circular design.

A note accompanies it, written in Reiner's neat (Eldian) script: ]

Armin,

The potion is called "Feel Invincible." It will create a physical barrier around you for two hours, protecting you from any physical harm. [ Alas, Reiner doesn't know that said barrier is also "glitter and bling," causing the user to glitter everywhere for two hours. Oh well! ] The amulet provides moderate protection against slashing and bludgeoning damage.

- Reiner

gift delivery

[abnormalizes]

[A book about photography and its various techniques, use of the golden ratio in layouts, use of perspective, etc. etc.]

I hope this is useful and/or not stuff you already know. Happy holidays!

-Evangeline

text; post brainblast/christmas, this will actually be about brainblast but lets start cute

[sunspotted]

Armin -

Galliard mentioned you're going to be taking a picture of him when you do your photos. If it's not too much of a pain, do you think I could get a copy of his?

- Marco

[ Usually he'd provide a reason for such a request - Marco likes to explain his reason for doing things, after all. This time it's suspiciously light on explanation. ]

[rollcharisma]

[It is a bit of a strange request, but beyond that...]

Hi, Marco.

I will be taking Galliard's photo, yes; however, he did request that I take it privately, so I'm not all that comfortable giving away copies without his permission. You should probably ask him if you'd like one.

- Armin

[Of course, Armin is feeling a bit Strange about Galliard anyway; not through any fault of his own, but the memory they shared was...highly disturbing for Armin. He's not really sure how to face him - or Reiner, or Annie, or anyone from the Marley side.

[With Bertholdt, and now Eren - the end of the world, with Armin's consent - he feels more like a monster than he ever has. Marco wouldn't be wrong to think he'd been withdrawn lately.]

[sunspotted]

Armin -

I guess that makes sense. It's not the answer I was hoping for, but I can't be upset.

Beyond that, though, I wanted to check in with you and see how you've been? I don't know if you got caught up in that strange experience that happened earlier in the month with the memories...

[ Marco and Armin hadn't shared any memories - but Marco and others had, like Galliard, so he knew it was possible he had. ]

voice; un: jean

[rustyhonesty]

[After sorting out his thoughts and despairing a little about Reiner and Bertholdt, Jean decides to contact Armin. Not through text, but by an audio. He can't be bothered with more text right now.]

Where are you? I want to meet.

voice

[rollcharisma]

[He can only guess what this is about, and he is not in the mood. It's hard to keep his voice pleasant when he answers the phone, but he's a good liar.]

Is everything alright?

[rustyhonesty]

Everything's fine with me. I just want to talk to you. You know what about, and you probably don't want to.

[At least he guesses so. Easier to pretend you're fine if you don't talk about it, right? Jean did that with his siblings recently. Just didn't talk to them about an attempted murder. It sucked.]

But at least give it a chance. We can do something else if it doesn't work. I just don't want you to be on your own right now.

text; un:jaeger (after Reiner texts Eren about Bertholdt)

[dreamsofwings]

Hey. You okay?

[rollcharisma]

[Normally, Armin might lie, but the concern is so unexpected and genuine, that he can’t quite bring himself to. Aside from that, his trust in Eren has been reignited. He wouldn’t believe him even if Armin did say he was fine…

[Just seeing his username is a comfort.]

I guess you’ve talked to Reiner.

I’m not at all, really. No.

This isn’t really about me, though. Thanks for checking in, Eren. <3

action;

[hometown]

[ Reiner is trying.

He's trying because if he stops trying, he'll vanish into another Segment, this time alone. He's trying because there are still people who need him. He's trying because he told Galliard he couldn't do it, and Galliard told him he didn't have a choice. He's trying because his feet keep carrying him forward, and he keeps staggering after them.

But fuck, it feels impossible.

He winds up in a bar for the first time since his eighteenth birthday, having a drink to take the edge off. Then another drink for Bertholdt, who can't drink again. Then another for no particular reason. Why not? It's not like he has a mission in the morning. Who cares if he winds up shitfaced?

He wanders out of that bar eventually. Wanders through a few more until he ends up who knows where. He's still in Coldreach, which is good; he hasn't liked the cold since July, so no one will think to look for him here.

Which is all the more reason to be surprised when he looks up from his latest drink to see, ]

Armin?

[rollcharisma]

[Not a big drinker, Armin. Idly, as he set out on his own tonight, he warned himself not to "make a habit of it".

[Life has just been...strange since Eren brought him into The Paths. There's a certain sense of relief to it all; can't very well worry about the future when you know how the story ends. Of course, this is a miserable sort of relief. Armin's a good liar, a master at masquerade - so good he fools himself, even. He's been "fine". Fine! He'll endure. He'll carry on because he has to, and because that's what a Scout does. He has Eren. That's a plus.

[He's all but destroyed his relationship with Reiner; not so much a plus. Marco knows his sins, Galliard knows his sins - everyone seems to know, most of all Armin. Aside from that, he never did give himself the time or space to actually adjust to the fact that he can have a life here that isn't characterized by death and suffering. He feels out of his depth; has for months now.

[So, a little drink. No harm in that. Maybe two. Maybe three. It's a warm, pleasant feeling. He deserves that much at least, doesn't he?

[No. He doesn't deserve anything. But it feels nice. He's only human.

[Face flushed, Armin's head turns when he hears his name. Think of the devil, as it were - or however that saying goes. He doesn't much like that word anymore.]

Reiner.

[Time to leave, then, he assumes.

[He doesn't want to. Whenever he sees Reiner, something in him aches. They both know very well what to attribute that to now...]

M'sorry. Sorry.

I'll go, I can-- I can just go.