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[Wow. Should he be offended by that, he hasn't decided. ("Idiot," he's gotten before, plenty of times. It's familiar enough to only make him hackle a little, reflexively. Tone is hard to tell through text.)]
FROM: jaeger.eren@cdc.org
what do you mean
FROM: jaeger.eren@cdc.org
what do you mean
[ The question earns a curious look from her, and she takes a moment to pinch a couple strands of hair between her fingers to check the length. It is, even with semi-regular maintenance from Ino, longer than she normally keeps it. But it's not as though a couple of inches really makes a difference at this point.
Letting it fall again, she shrugs in response. ]
I don't know. It might save time just to use a hair tie.
[ Like nearly every other girl from their year, but that's not important.
She settles back in her chair then, already tired of the wait, before she focuses again on Eren, giving him a contemplative stare. ]
Yours is getting pretty long.
Letting it fall again, she shrugs in response. ]
I don't know. It might save time just to use a hair tie.
[ Like nearly every other girl from their year, but that's not important.
She settles back in her chair then, already tired of the wait, before she focuses again on Eren, giving him a contemplative stare. ]
Yours is getting pretty long.
[Every other girl in their year who was just asking to get scalped or something!!!! Idk.
He raises his head to frown at her, when he feels her watching him. Is it? His hair had been scorched shorter after the Neraki set his cage ablaze, and he hadn't really touched it since. Things had been busy. He's not very good at paying attention. It's been a while.
He raises a hand to rake it through his bangs, as if only then noticing.]
I guess.
[Not so long that it was getting in the way and irritating him, but getting there.]
He raises his head to frown at her, when he feels her watching him. Is it? His hair had been scorched shorter after the Neraki set his cage ablaze, and he hadn't really touched it since. Things had been busy. He's not very good at paying attention. It's been a while.
He raises a hand to rake it through his bangs, as if only then noticing.]
I guess.
[Not so long that it was getting in the way and irritating him, but getting there.]
[ It's not exactly a surprise that Eren hadn't noticed. He probably wouldn't even notice that his own arm was missing if it didn't hinder his fighting ability.
Needless to say, Mikasa isn't that shocked, nor is she all that invested in the state of Eren's hair as silence spreads between the two of them again. She looks again around the area, until she scissors and bottled water(?) on the ledge under the window catch her attention again.
Then, absentmindedly: ]
I could cut it.
Needless to say, Mikasa isn't that shocked, nor is she all that invested in the state of Eren's hair as silence spreads between the two of them again. She looks again around the area, until she scissors and bottled water(?) on the ledge under the window catch her attention again.
Then, absentmindedly: ]
I could cut it.
[Look, he would have noticed once it got long enough to like...obscure his vision. (Then again he manages alright with his titan's longish hair so maybe he wouldn't.)
A few seconds pass with nothing but the wind howling and the sandstorm battering at the windows. He pulls his hand through his apparently overlong hair, pushing it back from his face and shaking the remnants of the sand from it.
And instead of hackling, posturing, bristling, (you're not my mother, Mikasa)—]
Okay.
A few seconds pass with nothing but the wind howling and the sandstorm battering at the windows. He pulls his hand through his apparently overlong hair, pushing it back from his face and shaking the remnants of the sand from it.
And instead of hackling, posturing, bristling, (you're not my mother, Mikasa)—]
Okay.
[ His easy compliance is unique enough to earn a raised eyebrow from her, though she doesn't say anything, simply acknowledging his response with a soft nod.
She pushes herself off the chair then, gathering the scissors from the shelf and snipping a small portion of her own hair to test how sharp they are. The water stays put for now; she knows already that it's not safe for consumption. Though no one had mentioned that it wasn't safe to make contact with (they are presumably going to need some for hygienic purposes eventually), it's not necessary so she leaves it be.
Scissors in hand, she walks over to stand behind Eren, watching with an impartial eye before she reaches out to straighten it, tugging the tangles and the sand out. ]
She pushes herself off the chair then, gathering the scissors from the shelf and snipping a small portion of her own hair to test how sharp they are. The water stays put for now; she knows already that it's not safe for consumption. Though no one had mentioned that it wasn't safe to make contact with (they are presumably going to need some for hygienic purposes eventually), it's not necessary so she leaves it be.
Scissors in hand, she walks over to stand behind Eren, watching with an impartial eye before she reaches out to straighten it, tugging the tangles and the sand out. ]
FROM: jaeger.eren@cdc.org
of course we didn't
[Let him get beat up if they could help it. Though.]
FROM: jaeger.eren@cdc.org
he isn't weak. he didn't fight back because he called it stooping to their level
[But he'd never let them silence him, either, and that's a sort of conviction Eren could respect, even if Armin had refused to throw a well-deserved punch in his own defense.
Eren, on the other hand, had no problem stooping in Armin's defense. And Mikasa had followed to bail them out when he inevitably got in over his head in the process. (Naturally, they'd been twice as scared of her as they were of him, but don't expect him to admit that.)]
of course we didn't
[Let him get beat up if they could help it. Though.]
FROM: jaeger.eren@cdc.org
he isn't weak. he didn't fight back because he called it stooping to their level
[But he'd never let them silence him, either, and that's a sort of conviction Eren could respect, even if Armin had refused to throw a well-deserved punch in his own defense.
Eren, on the other hand, had no problem stooping in Armin's defense. And Mikasa had followed to bail them out when he inevitably got in over his head in the process. (Naturally, they'd been twice as scared of her as they were of him, but don't expect him to admit that.)]
[Look, he's capable of being Not-A-Brat. Sometimes. Given their particularly unorthodox and uneven relationship, it's rare that they're on the same wavelength when things aren't otherwise...terrible.
And right now...
It is a painfully mundane thing, really. They've done it a dozen times before, after the wall fell. It's practical, necessary. (It's quiet and close, and she's been gone for weeks. They've lost more than they've found, and his heart is hurting for it. He's burned through the bulk of his initial anger at the way Macha had ended, his hopeless and helpless guilt at the fate of the Neraki. It's still there, hanging around his neck, settled on his shoulders. The sand is battering the windows and driving them to shelter and his hair is falling in his eyes and Mikasa is at his back.) Her fingers catch on a knot in his hair, and he sucks a breath in through his teeth, reaches up reflexively to catch her wrist and still her before he can think better of it.
His mouth presses thin, but he doesn't say anything. Just holds on a second or two too long before letting her go. He closes his eyes, head bowed, humming tension slowly sinking out of his shoulders as she gets back to carding her hands through his hair and going through the motions of trimming it.]
And right now...
It is a painfully mundane thing, really. They've done it a dozen times before, after the wall fell. It's practical, necessary. (It's quiet and close, and she's been gone for weeks. They've lost more than they've found, and his heart is hurting for it. He's burned through the bulk of his initial anger at the way Macha had ended, his hopeless and helpless guilt at the fate of the Neraki. It's still there, hanging around his neck, settled on his shoulders. The sand is battering the windows and driving them to shelter and his hair is falling in his eyes and Mikasa is at his back.) Her fingers catch on a knot in his hair, and he sucks a breath in through his teeth, reaches up reflexively to catch her wrist and still her before he can think better of it.
His mouth presses thin, but he doesn't say anything. Just holds on a second or two too long before letting her go. He closes his eyes, head bowed, humming tension slowly sinking out of his shoulders as she gets back to carding her hands through his hair and going through the motions of trimming it.]
FROM: serket.vriska@cdc.org
Really?
FROM: serket.vriska@cdc.org
I guess I am sort of surprised to hear that. You struck me as the type of person to hold a grudge.
FROM: serket.vriska@cdc.org
Hey........ can I tell you something? A8out that day. I was going to explain a lot sooner, 8ut I never really got a chance. Mostly 8ecause I was too pissed at you to 8other.
Really?
FROM: serket.vriska@cdc.org
I guess I am sort of surprised to hear that. You struck me as the type of person to hold a grudge.
FROM: serket.vriska@cdc.org
Hey........ can I tell you something? A8out that day. I was going to explain a lot sooner, 8ut I never really got a chance. Mostly 8ecause I was too pissed at you to 8other.
FROM: jaeger.eren@cdc.org
I didn't say I wasn't holding a grudge
[Just not against her, not anymore. Because the thing is, he is that type of person. But he's also particular about the grudges he holds. His focus is cast a lot wider than her. At the people who are really to blame for all this.
Whoever they really are. As for the rest—]
FROM: jaeger.eren@cdc.org
what
I didn't say I wasn't holding a grudge
[Just not against her, not anymore. Because the thing is, he is that type of person. But he's also particular about the grudges he holds. His focus is cast a lot wider than her. At the people who are really to blame for all this.
Whoever they really are. As for the rest—]
FROM: jaeger.eren@cdc.org
what
FROM: serket.vriska@cdc.org
........
FROM: serket.vriska@cdc.org
Hahahaha. Ok, point taken. I guess I'm just glad you're not still mad at me.
FROM: serket.vriska@cdc.org
You know how when we met up, I seemed distracted?
FROM: serket.vriska@cdc.org
I mean, I don't know what it looked like to you. I can only guess.
FROM: serket.vriska@cdc.org
Did you ever hear a8out what happened to some of the people who completed that mission? That they started hallucin8ing?
........
FROM: serket.vriska@cdc.org
Hahahaha. Ok, point taken. I guess I'm just glad you're not still mad at me.
FROM: serket.vriska@cdc.org
You know how when we met up, I seemed distracted?
FROM: serket.vriska@cdc.org
I mean, I don't know what it looked like to you. I can only guess.
FROM: serket.vriska@cdc.org
Did you ever hear a8out what happened to some of the people who completed that mission? That they started hallucin8ing?
[He remembers. She'd been acting weird. Distracted. He'd been too pissed off to care.
He hadn't heard. (Mikasa, she hadn't—
had she?)]
FROM: jaeger.eren@cdc.org
hallucinating?
[As if to be sure he got it right. He has to guess around her quirk sometimes.]
He hadn't heard. (Mikasa, she hadn't—
had she?)]
FROM: jaeger.eren@cdc.org
hallucinating?
[As if to be sure he got it right. He has to guess around her quirk sometimes.]
FROM: serket.vriska@cdc.org
Yeah. I ended up hearing a8out it from another recruit 8efore it happened to me, so I don't think we were the only ones to go through it.
FROM: serket.vriska@cdc.org
I hallucin8ed a8out Noh-Varr for seventy-two str8 hours, Eren. Since I don't sleep I never got a 8r8k from it.
FROM: serket.vriska@cdc.org
When I met with you, I could see him! Sometimes just standing around and smiling. 8ut a lot of the things I experienced were his memories. Happy ones.
FROM: serket.vriska@cdc.org
It felt like a 8ig flashing sign in my face going "this is what you just ruined, you fuckup!"
FROM: serket.vriska@cdc.org
I always wanted to tell you that was why I was acting so jumpy. I wasn't trying to get out of our conversation or anything like that.
FROM: serket.vriska@cdc.org
8ut it's hard to focus when your dead 8est friend is standing next to you and only you can see him.
Yeah. I ended up hearing a8out it from another recruit 8efore it happened to me, so I don't think we were the only ones to go through it.
FROM: serket.vriska@cdc.org
I hallucin8ed a8out Noh-Varr for seventy-two str8 hours, Eren. Since I don't sleep I never got a 8r8k from it.
FROM: serket.vriska@cdc.org
When I met with you, I could see him! Sometimes just standing around and smiling. 8ut a lot of the things I experienced were his memories. Happy ones.
FROM: serket.vriska@cdc.org
It felt like a 8ig flashing sign in my face going "this is what you just ruined, you fuckup!"
FROM: serket.vriska@cdc.org
I always wanted to tell you that was why I was acting so jumpy. I wasn't trying to get out of our conversation or anything like that.
FROM: serket.vriska@cdc.org
8ut it's hard to focus when your dead 8est friend is standing next to you and only you can see him.
[More pride than you'd think. Armin never took help he didn't need, even from Eren or Mikasa.
That said, just what are you insinuating, Ino. There's a pause before he answers. (Not least because thinking too hard about his father still makes his temples pound and his gut clench and he doesn't know why.)]
FROM: jaeger.eren@cdc.org
it was better than letting 'em get away with it
[That's a "yes." Far more frequently, before Mikasa came along. But he'll take a few bruises over an injustice any day. (In some ways, it's a bitter thing to talk about. It doesn't excuse the things they did, but he's aware that some of his neighborhood adversaries never made it out of Shiganshina. And that is also an injustice, a far greater one, and those responsible haven't paid for it.)]
That said, just what are you insinuating, Ino. There's a pause before he answers. (Not least because thinking too hard about his father still makes his temples pound and his gut clench and he doesn't know why.)]
FROM: jaeger.eren@cdc.org
it was better than letting 'em get away with it
[That's a "yes." Far more frequently, before Mikasa came along. But he'll take a few bruises over an injustice any day. (In some ways, it's a bitter thing to talk about. It doesn't excuse the things they did, but he's aware that some of his neighborhood adversaries never made it out of Shiganshina. And that is also an injustice, a far greater one, and those responsible haven't paid for it.)]
[Mikoto, you underestimate Eren's ability to piss people/animals/various sentient and nonsentient beings off. And Eren's ability to conduct himself in the most casually disastrous way possible.
Shortly thereafter—]
FROM: jaeger.eren@cdc.org
you come deal with it then
Shortly thereafter—]
FROM: jaeger.eren@cdc.org
you come deal with it then
[ There isn't an immediate response, but eventually— ]
FROM: misaka.mikoto@cdc.org
can I really?
FROM: misaka.mikoto@cdc.org
can I really?
[You'd think that. Warriorhead is the strangest superior Eren's ever worked under. (And considering that list includes sterling individuals like Hange and Levi, that's saying something.)
Curious, since that sort of attitude isn't always common, here—]
FROM: jaeger.eren@cdc.org
are you a solider?
Curious, since that sort of attitude isn't always common, here—]
FROM: jaeger.eren@cdc.org
are you a solider?
[He'll take that as a "no."]
FROM: jaeger.eren@cdc.org
an aide to what
FROM: jaeger.eren@cdc.org
an aide to what
[???? Why is that so surprising.]
FROM: jaeger.eren@cdc.org
I said so didn't I
FROM: jaeger.eren@cdc.org
I said so didn't I
FROM: misaka.mikoto@cdc.org
shut up
where are you?
shut up
where are you?
[Don't be rude and make him reconsider his life choices, Mikoto.]
FROM: jaeger.eren@cdc.org
rover 007
FROM: jaeger.eren@cdc.org
rover 007
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