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[He just said so, didn't he? It's a question he's gotten a lot of, lately, and there's a smallish flare of irrational irritation when he sees it. It's not Chief's fault. It's just been a Week.
(So no, he really isn't.)]
FROM: jaeger.eren@cdc.org
I'm not hurt.
(So no, he really isn't.)]
FROM: jaeger.eren@cdc.org
I'm not hurt.
[He should sound insane. And he isn't unused to that. Being looked at like he's delusional, foolish, suicidal and idealistic.
Hinata isn't looking at him that way. For once, it's not a matter of squaring up and baring his teeth and proving himself. And in the midst of days worth of frustration, failure, (trauma, injury, exhaustion,) it looses something in his chest a little, just the same as Hinata's long exhale. Something settled. Grim but resolute.
He knocks his head back against the hull of the medical rover. Works his jaw and closes his eyes for a second, breathing out the thick feeling of smoke in his lungs.]
Yeah.
[Confirmation, inane and distracted. Nearly non sequitor. He doesn't voice it, but after so long spent railing against the inevitable, beating himself up over things he had no power to change, there is something in his slowly decompressing posture that is appreciative of the solidarity. (The faith.) If he has to, he'll find a way.]
Hinata isn't looking at him that way. For once, it's not a matter of squaring up and baring his teeth and proving himself. And in the midst of days worth of frustration, failure, (trauma, injury, exhaustion,) it looses something in his chest a little, just the same as Hinata's long exhale. Something settled. Grim but resolute.
He knocks his head back against the hull of the medical rover. Works his jaw and closes his eyes for a second, breathing out the thick feeling of smoke in his lungs.]
Yeah.
[Confirmation, inane and distracted. Nearly non sequitor. He doesn't voice it, but after so long spent railing against the inevitable, beating himself up over things he had no power to change, there is something in his slowly decompressing posture that is appreciative of the solidarity. (The faith.) If he has to, he'll find a way.]
[He sure does. Though he sure as hell wouldn't call her—]
FROM: jaeger.eren@cdc.org
scary?
FROM: jaeger.eren@cdc.org
scary?
[He's seen Petra get short with Oluo. (He's seen her on form as one of humanity's most talented titan killers.) But save for the misunderstanding with his shifting, she'd always been kind to him.
So.]
FROM: jaeger.eren@cdc.org
what the hell did you do
So.]
FROM: jaeger.eren@cdc.org
what the hell did you do
[That was a legitimate question???
Petra's come and gone here twice already. It's not enough to get used to it, really, but it's enough that the weight of it settles on him slow instead of punching him in the gut all at once. There's a shortish pause. And maybe sort of abruptly, instead of carrying on the argument—]
FROM: jaeger.eren@cdc.org
is she ok
Petra's come and gone here twice already. It's not enough to get used to it, really, but it's enough that the weight of it settles on him slow instead of punching him in the gut all at once. There's a shortish pause. And maybe sort of abruptly, instead of carrying on the argument—]
FROM: jaeger.eren@cdc.org
is she ok
[She could be a smart ass here, but it must be scary to have people you know from back home show up here. Sometimes she envied Eren and all of his friends, but at the same time, she's glad she doesn't have to worry about them here.]
FROM: korra@cdc.org
Yeah. She's fine.
We're sharing a rover now, I guess.
FROM: korra@cdc.org
Yeah. She's fine.
We're sharing a rover now, I guess.
[It's scary. It's strange. He'd seen her die once already, and he cannot forget it. (She's alive here, because the CDC wants her to be. All they need to do is change their minds.)
She's ok. That much taken care of, he finally gets around to answering Korra's original question.]
FROM: jaeger.eren@cdc.org
she was part of captain levi's squad
[So, yes. He knows her.]
She's ok. That much taken care of, he finally gets around to answering Korra's original question.]
FROM: jaeger.eren@cdc.org
she was part of captain levi's squad
[So, yes. He knows her.]
FROM: korra@cdc.org
No wonder.
[The little she interacted with Captain Levi, he seemed like the kind of person you'd have to be tough as nails to work under.]
FROM: korra@cdc.org
One of your superiors?
[She's still... not totally sure how the chain of command goes with all of them, but Petra's an adult at least.]
No wonder.
[The little she interacted with Captain Levi, he seemed like the kind of person you'd have to be tough as nails to work under.]
FROM: korra@cdc.org
One of your superiors?
[She's still... not totally sure how the chain of command goes with all of them, but Petra's an adult at least.]
[Easy, when you're the military's pet titan, pretty much everyone's your superior. But yeah, he'd worked pretty directly under her for the first month or so he was in the Corps.]
FROM: jaeger.eren@cdc.org
yeah
FROM: jaeger.eren@cdc.org
the captain took responsibility for me after trost
petra and the others were assigned to help keep an eye on me
[Kind of like the White Lotus, but with kill orders. If nothing else, he's frank about it.]
FROM: jaeger.eren@cdc.org
yeah
FROM: jaeger.eren@cdc.org
the captain took responsibility for me after trost
petra and the others were assigned to help keep an eye on me
[Kind of like the White Lotus, but with kill orders. If nothing else, he's frank about it.]
[Sort of.]
FROM: jaeger.eren@cdc.org
it was one of the stipulations for me joining the corps
she's one of the best titan killers in all of humanity
[And he says (types?) that latter part with admiration, honestly. (There's only a few reasons you'd assign your best titan killers to watch over your pet titan. As protection. And as a failsafe, in case it goes rogue.)
And ah. Yeah.]
FROM: jaeger.eren@cdc.org
the captain's pretty strict about that sort of thing
[Clean...ing... Eren's rover's always been pretty neat as a result. These things get beaten into your head pretty quick.]
FROM: jaeger.eren@cdc.org
it was one of the stipulations for me joining the corps
she's one of the best titan killers in all of humanity
[And he says (types?) that latter part with admiration, honestly. (There's only a few reasons you'd assign your best titan killers to watch over your pet titan. As protection. And as a failsafe, in case it goes rogue.)
And ah. Yeah.]
FROM: jaeger.eren@cdc.org
the captain's pretty strict about that sort of thing
[Clean...ing... Eren's rover's always been pretty neat as a result. These things get beaten into your head pretty quick.]
FROM: korra@cdc.org
i'm guessing you didn't have much choice there.
[About the stipulations. That's how bodyguards go, in her experience, and knowing what she does about Eren's powers, and his world, she's guessing that he would have been assigned them whether he joined the Survey Corps or not.]
FROM: korra@cdc.org
Why do I get the feeling that your captain's expectations are going to get pushed onto me?
[Korra's not exactly a messy person, but it's not the sort of cleanliness that military training beats into you, and sometimes water fights happen with your new roommates and, well, what is she supposed to do about it?]
i'm guessing you didn't have much choice there.
[About the stipulations. That's how bodyguards go, in her experience, and knowing what she does about Eren's powers, and his world, she's guessing that he would have been assigned them whether he joined the Survey Corps or not.]
FROM: korra@cdc.org
Why do I get the feeling that your captain's expectations are going to get pushed onto me?
[Korra's not exactly a messy person, but it's not the sort of cleanliness that military training beats into you, and sometimes water fights happen with your new roommates and, well, what is she supposed to do about it?]
[Not really. But that doesn't matter, because it's nothing that he didn't plan on doing in the first place.]
FROM: jaeger.eren@cdc.org
I enlisted to fight. for the first time in a hundred years we had a way to launch a counterattack against the titans. I'd do whatever it takes to make it happen
[Even if it meant being held on a short leash for a while. Sleeping underground, doing tests to figure out how dangerous he really is. Eren's always been willing to give just about everything up for humanity. So even if it got lonely sometimes, he can't feel right complaining about it. The alternative to having the Special Ops Squad keep tabs on him was imprisonment or execution under the Military Police. And he got to train under the most talented fighters in the whole of humanity. It's really not too raw a deal.
And suddenly a few things fit into place.]
FROM: jaeger.eren@cdc.org
is that why you're calling her scary
FROM: jaeger.eren@cdc.org
I enlisted to fight. for the first time in a hundred years we had a way to launch a counterattack against the titans. I'd do whatever it takes to make it happen
[Even if it meant being held on a short leash for a while. Sleeping underground, doing tests to figure out how dangerous he really is. Eren's always been willing to give just about everything up for humanity. So even if it got lonely sometimes, he can't feel right complaining about it. The alternative to having the Special Ops Squad keep tabs on him was imprisonment or execution under the Military Police. And he got to train under the most talented fighters in the whole of humanity. It's really not too raw a deal.
And suddenly a few things fit into place.]
FROM: jaeger.eren@cdc.org
is that why you're calling her scary
[She wonders what it would be like to be in a situation like Erens. They're not entirely dissimilar, but her unique powers are largely seen as something to respect and protect, not something to fear and control.]
FROM: korra@cdc.org
Well, she kind of flipped her lid when she saw water all over the rover
But it was probably because we were kind of throwing it
[Ok, so it's not totally a mystery why Petra wasn't pleased when she got to the rover. Korra doesn't have any beefs about that, but man, the lady has a set of pipes.]
FROM: korra@cdc.org
Well, she kind of flipped her lid when she saw water all over the rover
But it was probably because we were kind of throwing it
[Ok, so it's not totally a mystery why Petra wasn't pleased when she got to the rover. Korra doesn't have any beefs about that, but man, the lady has a set of pipes.]
["Kind of throwing it..."]
FROM: jaeger.eren@cdc.org
throwing it?
[He's seen the sort of things she can do with water. But in the rover. . .?]
FROM: jaeger.eren@cdc.org
throwing it?
[He's seen the sort of things she can do with water. But in the rover. . .?]
FROM: jaeger.eren@cdc.org
she broke it up?
[Sounds about right.]
she broke it up?
[Sounds about right.]
[Well.]
FROM: jaeger.eren@cdc.org
why would she be? you're supposed to be living together. fighting and messing things up isn't going to do any good.
[And Petra's always been a big advocate of teamwork, trust. Having a military perspective is sort of different, maybe. Even back in training, Eren and Jean would bicker, but they'd still get their jobs done.]
FROM: jaeger.eren@cdc.org
why would she be? you're supposed to be living together. fighting and messing things up isn't going to do any good.
[And Petra's always been a big advocate of teamwork, trust. Having a military perspective is sort of different, maybe. Even back in training, Eren and Jean would bicker, but they'd still get their jobs done.]
[Just telling it like it is, Korra.]
FROM: jaeger.eren@cdc.org
she just told you to cut it out
[What's the big deal? Child soldier maturity levels vary greatly and strangely. And in this, she sort of sounds like a kid to him.]
FROM: jaeger.eren@cdc.org
if we got caught screwing around like that we'd get punishment detail for days
[Back in training, anyway. He can't even imagine anyone screwing around like that in front of Levi. But Shadis had been quick enough to hand out swift punishments. Laps for hours, cleaning the mess they'd made, probably gone without dinner to boot. (Because their instructors seemed to believe that if you've got the energy left to let off steam, you're not working hard enough.)]
FROM: jaeger.eren@cdc.org
she just told you to cut it out
[What's the big deal? Child soldier maturity levels vary greatly and strangely. And in this, she sort of sounds like a kid to him.]
FROM: jaeger.eren@cdc.org
if we got caught screwing around like that we'd get punishment detail for days
[Back in training, anyway. He can't even imagine anyone screwing around like that in front of Levi. But Shadis had been quick enough to hand out swift punishments. Laps for hours, cleaning the mess they'd made, probably gone without dinner to boot. (Because their instructors seemed to believe that if you've got the energy left to let off steam, you're not working hard enough.)]
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