[Meanwhile, regardless of Eren's comment, he'll be greeted with Hange's wide smile and the vague waft of freshly brewed tea as soon as she opens the door.]
Eren! Good to see you being so prompt, as usual. Come on in.
[She closes the door behind him once he's inside, wandering back over to the counter to retrieve two piping hot cups to set on the table.]
First off, I want you to state your last recollection before reappearing on Ajna again.
[He's already done that once, but it'd been during a 'brief' briefing so a more thorough explanation would better suffice for her records.]
Eren! Good to see you being so prompt, as usual. Come on in.
[She closes the door behind him once he's inside, wandering back over to the counter to retrieve two piping hot cups to set on the table.]
First off, I want you to state your last recollection before reappearing on Ajna again.
[He's already done that once, but it'd been during a 'brief' briefing so a more thorough explanation would better suffice for her records.]
[Korra please. But come on, under all the grim child soldier bullshit he's still a teenaged boy, how is he going to turn up paintball.]
FROM: jaeger.eren@cdc.org
yeah, I'm in
FROM: jaeger.eren@cdc.org
yeah, I'm in
[It's bad. It's low. He can't stand it. He won't stand for it a second longer than it takes for him to find a way to stop them. Which makes it all the worse that Niko finds it so familiar.]
FROM: jaeger.eren@cdc.org
your home?
FROM: jaeger.eren@cdc.org
your home?
FROM: bellic.niko@cdc.org
FROM: bellic.niko@cdc.org
[Obviously they don't.]
My home. There are not very many good people there, and either they are dead, or you must become something you don't like to protect them.
FROM: bellic.niko@cdc.org
I would not consider putting a young man of adequate height (as the woman put it) in an idiot fruit costume if I did not take these people very seriously, even if they do not do the same for us.
[Obviously they don't.]
[Given leave to sit, he settles in at the table as Hange jumps right to the questions. He'd tried to explain what happened a few times to a few people yesterday and never did a very good job. Now that they're not on a battlefield and he's had some time to chew on it, he tries again.]
It happened while the Shai attacks were starting. Around twenty three hours, Ajna Day 40. [Give or take. That's the easy part.] We were defending the camp near the rovers. Something opened up underneath me on the ground. I'd never seen anything like it before.
[A pause. And he amends that. Even if it's still true that he'd never seen anything like it before, he has seen something like it since.]
It looked like that hole in the sky. The one from the drop. A whole lot smaller, though.
[The Bridge, he means. The hole in the sky, spitting lightning and new recruits. It had been pretty hard to miss. And pretty distinctive a shape.]
It happened while the Shai attacks were starting. Around twenty three hours, Ajna Day 40. [Give or take. That's the easy part.] We were defending the camp near the rovers. Something opened up underneath me on the ground. I'd never seen anything like it before.
[A pause. And he amends that. Even if it's still true that he'd never seen anything like it before, he has seen something like it since.]
It looked like that hole in the sky. The one from the drop. A whole lot smaller, though.
[The Bridge, he means. The hole in the sky, spitting lightning and new recruits. It had been pretty hard to miss. And pretty distinctive a shape.]
[Meanwhile, Hange's an attentive listener, allowing Eren to explain his recollection of the event and nodding when he allows her a moment to pipe in.]
Then it's definitely the work of the CDC. [There's no way that isn't a mere coincidence, especially given the recent events.] You then stated that you were returned to our world. What is the first thing you remember from there? Did you have any recollection of Ajna once you returned?
Then it's definitely the work of the CDC. [There's no way that isn't a mere coincidence, especially given the recent events.] You then stated that you were returned to our world. What is the first thing you remember from there? Did you have any recollection of Ajna once you returned?
[He nods once, leaning against the table to take the teacup Hange had provided in his hands. To busy them, or warm them, or both.]
Next thing I knew I was in Karanese. Everyone was still preparing to leave the city for the expedition.
[Right where he'd been recruited from. Down to the second, apparently. No one around him had seemed to think anything strange had happened. And they'd sure as hell notice if their resident titan shifter had vanished on them.]
For a few seconds— [And here, he hesitates. Furrows his brow as he digs back through the past several days. The same sort of focused inward concentration on his face as when he reaches back for his memory of his father. But there's no painful bent to it, no headaches or broken flash of memory. Just an edge of frustration that he vents with a huff.]
I think I knew. It went away. By the time I realized where I was, I'd forgotten why I was wondering in the first place.
[And that's the hell of it. Because if he'd known then what he knows now—that the expedition would be attacked, that Annie and Reiner and Bertolt are titans, traitors—he sure as hell would have done everything in his power to keep things from playing out the same way.]
Next thing I knew I was in Karanese. Everyone was still preparing to leave the city for the expedition.
[Right where he'd been recruited from. Down to the second, apparently. No one around him had seemed to think anything strange had happened. And they'd sure as hell notice if their resident titan shifter had vanished on them.]
For a few seconds— [And here, he hesitates. Furrows his brow as he digs back through the past several days. The same sort of focused inward concentration on his face as when he reaches back for his memory of his father. But there's no painful bent to it, no headaches or broken flash of memory. Just an edge of frustration that he vents with a huff.]
I think I knew. It went away. By the time I realized where I was, I'd forgotten why I was wondering in the first place.
[And that's the hell of it. Because if he'd known then what he knows now—that the expedition would be attacked, that Annie and Reiner and Bertolt are titans, traitors—he sure as hell would have done everything in his power to keep things from playing out the same way.]
Interesting...
[Her expression's since shifted, brows knitting together as she rests her elbows on the table and rests her chin over her folded hands.]
I wonder if there's some sort of protocol set up by the CDC in order to prevent contradictions in world events. The fact that you were returned right to the point you'd been taken from is intriguing enough on its own, but they seem to put up measures to ensure that you wouldn't interfere with how our timeline had been laid out already.
[And Eren won't be the only one frustrated at the fact. To think that her subordinate's return could've potentially meant a different fate for the Survey Corps, and yet amnesia had settled in before Eren could even entertain the thought.]
What is the last thing you remembered in our world, and how long did it take for your memories of the CDC to resurface once you reappeared on Ajna? Had an eye opened up underneath you then as well?
[Her expression's since shifted, brows knitting together as she rests her elbows on the table and rests her chin over her folded hands.]
I wonder if there's some sort of protocol set up by the CDC in order to prevent contradictions in world events. The fact that you were returned right to the point you'd been taken from is intriguing enough on its own, but they seem to put up measures to ensure that you wouldn't interfere with how our timeline had been laid out already.
[And Eren won't be the only one frustrated at the fact. To think that her subordinate's return could've potentially meant a different fate for the Survey Corps, and yet amnesia had settled in before Eren could even entertain the thought.]
What is the last thing you remembered in our world, and how long did it take for your memories of the CDC to resurface once you reappeared on Ajna? Had an eye opened up underneath you then as well?
day 47 i should probably tag that other one but action is hard
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
hahahorsejokes
2014-09-26 03:46 am (UTC)(link)
FROM: kirstein.jean@cdc.org
hey
[ two can play at the vague messages out of nowhere game. ]
hey
[ two can play at the vague messages out of nowhere game. ]
[ Are all their serious conversations going to start this way now...]
FROM: jaeger.eren@cdc.org
Hey.
[And because it's only not annoyingly vague when he does it:]
FROM: jaeger.eren@cdc.org
You need something?
FROM: jaeger.eren@cdc.org
Hey.
[And because it's only not annoyingly vague when he does it:]
FROM: jaeger.eren@cdc.org
You need something?
[ Yeah... probably.......
But frankly, the short message was sort of the nature of his thought process. It was an impulse. A necessity. He has no idea what he wants or has to say, just that they should talk. The idea of trusting the CDC with his life and that death could be undone in the first place... it's ridiculous.
So. Yeah. Hey. ]
FROM: kirstein.jean@cdc.org
Sort of.
[ This is the worst. ]
But frankly, the short message was sort of the nature of his thought process. It was an impulse. A necessity. He has no idea what he wants or has to say, just that they should talk. The idea of trusting the CDC with his life and that death could be undone in the first place... it's ridiculous.
So. Yeah. Hey. ]
FROM: kirstein.jean@cdc.org
Sort of.
[ This is the worst. ]
[Yeah that really clears things up.
The atmosphere in camp is tense enough that he doesn't bother being difficult back. It doesn't stop him from being impatient. Because the atmosphere in camp is tense enough. Locked down and grimmer than ever, in stark contrast to the few days that preceded it. He has dirt under his nails because his team had been tasked with digging what suspiciously still sort of sounds like a mass grave. Something is going on.]
FROM: jaeger.eren@cdc.org
So spit it out. [Jean's never needed encouragement to run his mouth before, which only makes this weirder.] Something happen?
The atmosphere in camp is tense enough that he doesn't bother being difficult back. It doesn't stop him from being impatient. Because the atmosphere in camp is tense enough. Locked down and grimmer than ever, in stark contrast to the few days that preceded it. He has dirt under his nails because his team had been tasked with digging what suspiciously still sort of sounds like a mass grave. Something is going on.]
FROM: jaeger.eren@cdc.org
So spit it out. [Jean's never needed encouragement to run his mouth before, which only makes this weirder.] Something happen?
[ Yeah, because Eren's so much more eloquent.
Things are tense, and he's already starting to wonder if he hadn't jumped into this conversation a little too thoughtlessly. If Jean can't be honest, he doesn't really know what to say at all. He's not being obtuse on purpose. It's just... difficult. Knowing what to say and what to guard, what words to use to say goodbye to someone who probably doesn't even like you very much without saying just that: goodbye. ]
FROM: kirstein.jean@cdc.org
I want you to stay away from any blues
Things are tense, and he's already starting to wonder if he hadn't jumped into this conversation a little too thoughtlessly. If Jean can't be honest, he doesn't really know what to say at all. He's not being obtuse on purpose. It's just... difficult. Knowing what to say and what to guard, what words to use to say goodbye to someone who probably doesn't even like you very much without saying just that: goodbye. ]
FROM: kirstein.jean@cdc.org
I want you to stay away from any blues
[This conversation is getting weirder by the second. Raising all sorts of red flags, but none of them seem to want to fit together. Jean's not one to beat around the bush, Blue's the command team, the medical team, the one in charge of sorting supplies and petsitting and all sorts of noncombatant duties. Jean was (is?) a blue. Armin is a blue, if one who's been laid up for weeks—
And ignorant of just how difficult this is for Jean to work through:]
FROM: jaeger.eren@cdc.org
what the hell is that supposed to mean
And ignorant of just how difficult this is for Jean to work through:]
FROM: jaeger.eren@cdc.org
what the hell is that supposed to mean
[ It'd be great if he didn't have to explain this in detail, but it sounds like Eren's missed the memo on what's going on. Which isn't too odd, the Oranges were whisked away for whatever the fuck it is they do, but... ]
FROM: kirstein.jean@cdc.org
Wow. I don't know. Maybe it means stay away from any blues?
FROM: kirstein.jean@cdc.org
They're a liability right now
[ He doubts that anyone would be stupid enough to ask Eren to help them—or that Eren would throw his life away on a whim—but their task is to be convincing. Better to leave the danger out entirely. ]
FROM: kirstein.jean@cdc.org
Wow. I don't know. Maybe it means stay away from any blues?
FROM: kirstein.jean@cdc.org
They're a liability right now
[ He doubts that anyone would be stupid enough to ask Eren to help them—or that Eren would throw his life away on a whim—but their task is to be convincing. Better to leave the danger out entirely. ]
[Yeah, for some reason no one thinks it's a good idea to tell the emotionally volatile shounen asshole about the casual murder that's going on. It's only a matter of time before something comes out. But Orange Team's been busy, and murder doesn't make for great chit chat.
Also, shockingly: Jean isn't the boss of him. So he's going to have to do better than that.]
FROM: jaeger.eren@cdc.org
I can still read, asshole
FROM: jaeger.eren@cdc.org
what's going on
Also, shockingly: Jean isn't the boss of him. So he's going to have to do better than that.]
FROM: jaeger.eren@cdc.org
I can still read, asshole
FROM: jaeger.eren@cdc.org
what's going on
[ See, Eren, maybe if you weren't liable to make a choice with so many regrets you'd be included in the inner murder circle more often.
Jean doesn't have much patience for this—he hasn't slept right, hasn't had a chance to stop thinking about death and dying and that's not so different from usual but it wears. It's fortunate that he's enough of a pigheaded bastard to keep up with Eren anyway, but still. ]
FROM: kirstein.jean@cdc.org
Frankly I don't have time to explain the whole thing to you
FROM: kirstein.jean@cdc.org
So can you please just tell me you won't do anything stupid
[ That please is a little more earnest than he cares for. ]
Jean doesn't have much patience for this—he hasn't slept right, hasn't had a chance to stop thinking about death and dying and that's not so different from usual but it wears. It's fortunate that he's enough of a pigheaded bastard to keep up with Eren anyway, but still. ]
FROM: kirstein.jean@cdc.org
Frankly I don't have time to explain the whole thing to you
FROM: kirstein.jean@cdc.org
So can you please just tell me you won't do anything stupid
[ That please is a little more earnest than he cares for. ]
[Woah, breaking out the P-word. And maybe that odd earnestness actually carries through the text, echoes through the humming unhappiness that's been hanging over camp, lately. There's a slightly longer pause between messages. He's grinding his teeth the whole time.
Jean isn't a liar. If he says there isn't time...]
FROM: jaeger.eren@cdc.org
Armin's in blue.
[He's also in stasis. He can't even know if that means anything if he doesn't know what's going on.]
Jean isn't a liar. If he says there isn't time...]
FROM: jaeger.eren@cdc.org
Armin's in blue.
[He's also in stasis. He can't even know if that means anything if he doesn't know what's going on.]
[ Of course Eren doesn't actually use his words to assure Jean of anything, but it's good enough. Nothing could put him at ease, but knowing that Humanity's Last Hope might avoid horrible and wholesale slaughter brings him a little welcome peace of mind.
...Which isn't much, since he's been worried about Armin too. There's not much to be done about how sick he apparently is, but at the very least... there's no feasible way for him to be involved with the mission when it necessitates conversation. Maybe he lucked out. ]
FROM: kirstein.jean@cdc.org
From what I've heard I don't think it'll affect him
[ ... ]
FROM: kirstein.jean@cdc.org
Speaking of Armin though, I've got something to leave him in your rover
...Which isn't much, since he's been worried about Armin too. There's not much to be done about how sick he apparently is, but at the very least... there's no feasible way for him to be involved with the mission when it necessitates conversation. Maybe he lucked out. ]
FROM: kirstein.jean@cdc.org
From what I've heard I don't think it'll affect him
[ ... ]
FROM: kirstein.jean@cdc.org
Speaking of Armin though, I've got something to leave him in your rover
[It's not the first time his faulty memory has held them up. It's hard to tell if it's a comfort to think they could probably throw the blame at the CDC. Just how much control do they really have over them? How much of what happened could he have changed? It's impossible to know, infuriating that he couldn't even try. His hands go tight around his untouched cup of tea, neck and shoulders a little too stiff.]
We were on our way out of the interior. We heard there was a breach in the wall. [There wasn't, Armin told him that much, here. After Reiner, he'd cleared the air about a lot of things. Filled Eren in on much of what he should know. So instead of dwelling on it, he continues answering Hange's questions.]
I came in through that hole in the sky, like the new recruits did. [Just a few hours earlier. He stops, as if remembering something he hadn't considered at the time. There'd been so much going on at the drop, it hardly seemed important.] I saw something inside, on the way back.
[He sketches a shape out on the table. It's probably not a great help, since it's a fairly complicated design.]
It was green. It was only there for a second.
We were on our way out of the interior. We heard there was a breach in the wall. [There wasn't, Armin told him that much, here. After Reiner, he'd cleared the air about a lot of things. Filled Eren in on much of what he should know. So instead of dwelling on it, he continues answering Hange's questions.]
I came in through that hole in the sky, like the new recruits did. [Just a few hours earlier. He stops, as if remembering something he hadn't considered at the time. There'd been so much going on at the drop, it hardly seemed important.] I saw something inside, on the way back.
[He sketches a shape out on the table. It's probably not a great help, since it's a fairly complicated design.]
It was green. It was only there for a second.
[Look, it's about as close to a promise to not do something stupid as he's going to get without actually knowing what he's promising not to do. (He's probably going to end up doing a stupid thing like picking a fight with Vriska or something anyway. That's still better than getting himself actually murdered. Jean.)
It's some small relief, at least, to hear that Armin's likely safe from whatever's going on. Not much of one, because the whole reason he's exempt is probably because Armin's been out cold in the medtent for ages, and he hasn't shown any signs of getting better any time soon.]
FROM: jaeger.eren@cdc.org
He isn't here.
[As if any one of them's forgotten.]
It's some small relief, at least, to hear that Armin's likely safe from whatever's going on. Not much of one, because the whole reason he's exempt is probably because Armin's been out cold in the medtent for ages, and he hasn't shown any signs of getting better any time soon.]
FROM: jaeger.eren@cdc.org
He isn't here.
[As if any one of them's forgotten.]
[ This is almost literally his last request and you can't manage it for two Ajna days. Eren, you actual piece of shit.
He actually scoffs quietly to himself. Of course Armin's not there. But whatever he wants to drop off is going to have to wait until he wakes up anyway, and his trust for the med staff isn't incredibly inspiring. And it'd be nice for him to actually get this delivery... whenever he decides to wake up. Selfishly, he thinks it'd have been nice if they could've talked face-to-face.
But it's better this way. ]
FROM: kirstein.jean@cdc.org
I know, but I'm not keeping stuff in the med tent
FROM: kirstein.jean@cdc.org
Drop it off on his bunk for me when you get back
He actually scoffs quietly to himself. Of course Armin's not there. But whatever he wants to drop off is going to have to wait until he wakes up anyway, and his trust for the med staff isn't incredibly inspiring. And it'd be nice for him to actually get this delivery... whenever he decides to wake up. Selfishly, he thinks it'd have been nice if they could've talked face-to-face.
But it's better this way. ]
FROM: kirstein.jean@cdc.org
I know, but I'm not keeping stuff in the med tent
FROM: kirstein.jean@cdc.org
Drop it off on his bunk for me when you get back
[Maybe if he actually knew it was a last request he would have tried harder??
He frowns down at the text. But he doesn't ask why Jean can't do it himself. (He couldn't get into the rover, for one.)]
FROM: jaeger.eren@cdc.org
what is it?
He frowns down at the text. But he doesn't ask why Jean can't do it himself. (He couldn't get into the rover, for one.)]
FROM: jaeger.eren@cdc.org
what is it?
FROM: kirstein.jean@cdc.org
It's...
[ wait for it. ]
FROM: kirstein.jean@cdc.org
...none of your business.
It's...
[ wait for it. ]
FROM: kirstein.jean@cdc.org
...none of your business.
[Small flaw in your plan, Jeanbo.]
FROM: jaeger.eren@cdc.org
I can't drop it off if I don't know what it is, smartass
FROM: jaeger.eren@cdc.org
I can't drop it off if I don't know what it is, smartass
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