[closed] hange, yes: vol.2 (the apothecary)

[wingbound]

WHO: shingekis
WHAT: turns out the people who never talk about their feelings is extra susceptible to the heartfreeze disease. everyone is shocked.
WHEN: july event!
WHERE: levi & eren's apartment
WARNINGS: shingeki no kokoro

::

Extra OOC information:
Known afflicted: Gabi, Reiner, Historia?
Surprise afflicted that will be revealed in log: Eren
Surprise afflicted that may or may not be revealed in log: Levi
Non-afflicted: Jean, Mikasa, Hange?

::

[ After Gabi scares the shit out of Levi during a quest, and he turns to Hange as he already knows they're part of the potion brewing crew, it doesn't take too long to find out that Gabi's not the only one suffering from the disease... ]

[ As the completion of the cure draws closer, they figure to start gathering the afflicted Scouts and those willing to ease their suffering in Hange's apartment, however as it turns out, running an alchemy lab from an apartment leaves very little leg (or butt) room, so in the end, everybody who showed up (and their +1s...) get shuffled into the much more unencumbered apartment next door belonging to Eren and Levi. ]

[ The ground rules will, of course, be laid out before entering as to avoid another sand incident: outside clothes and shoes must be left in the wardrobe by the door, absolutely no exceptions, unless somebody wants to be folded twice and thrown into the hallway. Any snot covered handkerchiefs must go into the special basket marked "biohazard", and there's several hand sanitizer spray bottles around just in case. ]

[ Assuming everyone is capable of following basic hygiene procedures, eventually they will all get served tea (yes, even Reiner, though he's probably getting an extra long stare in the face as the cup is being set down) at least once, possibly more, depending how long it takes. (Those shivering will also receive a throw blanket or two with the implicit instruction to not get disgusting body fluids on it.) ]

[ The apartment is clean and has little furnishing, but there's a nice big couch with some armchairs and a soft carpet in the living room, and of course a wide screen TV picture box. If anybody wishes to tune in to the latest Annika episode, they're free to do so. There's... maybe some leftover food in the kitchen, most notably stew in the fridge that seems to contain little pizza squares?.. but the pantry and most of the other cabinets are instead filled with tea, if anybody goes looking around. ]

[ There is also a (secretly cursed) Roomba that seems especially keen on hanging out on the walls today, and a terrifying cute Yamask shyly hanging about. A void cat might also join the party at some point and yowl until it receives a share of the pizza stew. ]

::

(( ooc: this is a mingle! toplevel, tag each other, thread out whatever you'd like. eventually, everybody who needs it will receive a cure potion one way or another, and the day will be saved! ))

Comments

2/2

[hometown]

Before Reiner can say more, an odd chill runs up his spine. ("Odd" because Jean is still hugging him, and his shivers have nearly faded.) Reiner's shoulders tense again, feeling like he's about to break into a cold sweat.

"Uh. Did you…" He pauses, feeling silly, but then presses on: "Did it just feel like someone walked over your grave?"

[rustyhonesty]

Jean has a moment to register Reiner's tone is 'fond' over talking about Eren. It's surprising, but also not considering the whole beach episode (or what he saw of their jousting spar anyway). But he gets distracted from the fact because of a very similar feeling that Reiner has. It's even more odd for him since he isn't even affected.

But... he knows. He knows what it is. Another oddity to explain to Reiner as he tries to sideglance towards the kitchen without looking like he's totally seeing where Levi is.

"... just how far does Levi hear", he whispers. "Does he have a super hearing whenever heights are mentioned?"

[hometown]

Levi? That deathly chill came from Levi? Reiner tenses a little more, vividly imagining the glare required to elicit such a chill. No wonder Reiner feels like he's going to start sweating like Bertolt; his body can sense the danger.

But Jean is still hugging him, and Reiner isn't about to pull away. Instead, he whispers, "Is he sensitive about his"—don't say height, don't say height—"self?"

Perfect save.

[rustyhonesty]

Not mentioning heights again sounds like the perfect plan going forward.

"I think so. I mean he's... Connie. At his age." Jean would feel pretty self concious if he was the same height as a 15 year old in his 30-40 however old Levi actually was. He's never found out and is too afraid to ask.

"Let's change the subject."

[hometown]

"Yeah. Yeah, good idea."

Reiner doesn't quite stumble over his words, but it's a near miss. Between that and the threat of a cold sweat, he really does feel like Bertolt. He can only hope he won't actually start sweating. Frost is already shining on the tips of his hair; he doesn't want his skin covered in it, too.

Fishing for a new subject, Reiner opens his mouth to ask about Connie, fresh in his mind. Then he shuts his mouth: for all he knows, Connie could be a touchy subject for Reiner, specifically, to ask about—or it could lead to more dreaded height talk. Instead, Reiner casts his mind about again, finally landing on what he hopes is a neutral subject.

"So, the other worlds you were in. What were they like?"

[rustyhonesty]

Jean'll take this topic. It works. It has nothing to do with heights.

"Well, the first one was a world where emotions manifested as magic. For example whenever I got angry I made fire and whenever I was sad it was raining. There were also these gods that all ruled over two emotions and everyone was aligned to one of them. Mine was Fear and Bravery. Communications were all done by telepathy."

He'll wait for his reaction to it before telling about the other - or if he happens to have any questions.

[hometown]

Reiner listens, relieved when the deathly chill of Levi's glare seems to wane. Apparently, this is indeed a safe topic.

It's also a topic that sounds more like a storybook than a real place. Then again, they're all aligned with a Season in this world, receiving powers strengthened by emotions. So maybe it's not too unbelievable. Even so, the idea of actual gods is an odd one.

"Sounds like it could've been chaotic," Reiner says. "What happened if you got angry about making fire when angry? Did you make even more?"

[rustyhonesty]

Time to relax a little again. Danger dodged for now.

"Yeah, it would just turn into more fire. Eventually I learned to control my emotions not to be a totaly chaos all of the time." Not that the control over his emotion shows anytime Eren's around. Reiner also happened to see the not controlled side. "Of course mow that I no longer need to worry about causing a havoc I don't have a total control anymore."

Which is better than actually being careful about setting something on fire anytime he stubbed his toe, for example.

[hometown]

Reiner nods, refraining from mentioning the times that he has seen Jean's control slip. Jean has witnessed the same from him, after all. They've both shown each other far more than enemies should. That's probably why they're able to sit here on Levi and Eren's floor, embracing to keep Reiner from freezing over.

"Did that place have a name?" he asks. He's been trying to catalog them, idly curious about how many other worlds are out there.

[rustyhonesty]

They've both shown a lot of sides to one another, that was true. From the very first meeting they had here. He was very determined to go on hating and ignoring Reiner, but here he is.

"Empatheias. Though I mostly refer it as Verens, since that's the city we mainly lived in."

[hometown]

"Empatheias," Reiner repeats. "City of Verens."

The repetition may make it apparent that Reiner has decided to memorize this information as he might a lecture. Why not? If nothing else, it keeps his mind off Levi.

"What about the gods? Did you choose your alignment, or was it like the Seasons here?"

[rustyhonesty]

"They were decided for us. Apparently they were chosen by how well they'd suit us." Fear and Bravery did suit him, like Love and Hate suited Mikasa. But there were many other emotions that could have fit just as well.

"I'm not sure if the seasons are always made to suit us."

[hometown]

"Really? Do you think Summer doesn't suit you?"

Reiner doesn't comment on his affinity for Autumn. Courage, determination, and sadness… He's got those in spades.

[rustyhonesty]

"Nah, I think Summer is a little too on point for me. I just mean not everyone likely has a season they're suited for." There was a network post about it he happened to look at, but he can't remember the details.

[hometown]

Reiner makes a quiet noise of consideration. "Guess I haven't thought about that," he admits. Why would he when Autumn suits him so well?

"What about the other world? The one that came after Empatheias?"

[rustyhonesty]

"That was called Avalon. It's a straight up fantasy world. We were called there to prevent a calamity that threathened every universe in existence. All of us got a familiar and a type of magic along with it - later we got even a secondary type of magic. There were a lot of fae around."

Jean thinks for a moment before adding. "You and Eren might have found the place weird, since it took away powers from home. You wouldn't have been able to turn into a titan."

[hometown]

A calamity that threatened every universe? Reiner blinks, the thought that Jean might've helped save their universe occurring to him. Is that how this stuff works? It adds another complicated layer to the disparate timeline puzzle—and honestly, Reiner doesn't really have the head for it. He's smart but not 'untangling the multiverse' smart.

So, for now, he lets the thought go, focusing on the rest of what Jean says. Feeling a chill that has nothing to do with the sickness plaguing him, the idea of being stripped of his Titan abhorrent.

"Yeah," he agrees. "I doubt either of us would like that."

An understatement. Reiner hid what he was for five years; however, he never lost that power. He always had it in his veins, transformation just a sliced palm away.

"Speaking of Eren, have you checked on him lately?"

Much as Reiner is enjoying the heat of Jean's hug, he knows how cold Eren is. And while he and Eren were able to warm each other a bit, it was nothing compared to the warmth Jean brings.

[rustyhonesty]

Mentioning Eren made Jean a bit more alert again.

"No, I haven't. Why? Is there something I should know?"

If someone would try to hide their condition like a hurt animal, it would probably be Eren. With his expressionless gaze it was hard to get a read on him, too, to actually suspect anything.

[hometown]

On the one hand, Reiner isn't surprised that Eren didn't tell Jean about his affliction. Those two have always butted heads, fighting even when there was nothing worth fighting about. On the other hand, Reiner wants to shake Eren out of sheer exasperation. Here they are freezing from the inside out, a sickness that should never touch someone with their powers; and here is Jean, a walking heater. And Eren still hasn't said he needs help?

Reiner sighs. How typical.

"You should go check on him," he says, which is answer enough.

[rustyhonesty]

Great. Jean figured Eren would never talk to him if he had problems, but it felt like Hange and Levi didn't know either, so was it just Reiner who was aware of it? What a jerk.

"Guess I should. That fucking asshole-"

Jean holds back a sigh as he finally pulls away from the hug, letting his hand linger of Reiner's shoulder for a while longer.

"I'll come to check on you again later."


And he's off to eavesdrop on Eren and Levi on accident, before confronting Eren. Good times.