[Closed Log] Fireflies are stars that couldn't journey to the skies

[rustyhonesty]

WHO: The Shingeki Cast
WHAT: Firefly catching
WHEN: During November Event
WHERE: Solarpeak Beach
WARNINGS: inevitable talk of death, likely gore and other attack on titan basic content warnings, will add as needed.

Just Shingeki cast seeing appreciating fireflies and catching them in jars while bonding on various levels.

Comments

[rollcharisma]

[Armin's brow furrows. It's definitely Eren, but...]

I was about to say the same about you...

[It's not just Eren's hair, though. He looks entirely different - taller, more...tired? Is that really all that Armin's picking up on? No. His entire expression-- What happened?]

Are...you alright? You look...

[He takes a few steps closer, coming to meet his friend.

[Something's not right. This world can be strange. Strange things happen all the time - magic, things like that. Armin hasn't forgotten.]

Well, you look...all grown up now.

[dreamsofwings]

[ Eren feels a little unmoored all of a sudden. He shouldn't be so shocked, so easy to push out of himself, but he is. He always is, really, but something like this just confuses his sense of time.

When are they?

How old is he?

Where are they?

The beach, a conversation he will now never have, a place out of time and memory fabricated from Eren's own malleable desires. The beach, in another world, fireflies and fairies. The beach, where everyone was in awe and all Eren felt was caged in despair. ]

I…what?

[ He struggles to even find words. ]

You saw me like this the other day when we watched Annika.

[ Didn't he? Isn't that right? Eren doesn't see Ellipsa's future in his head, even the Founder's unimaginable power unable to do that. So that can only be the past. He's not delusional enough to make shit up, so it has to be a thing that really happened. He's sure of it. ]

But you look…younger now.

[rollcharisma]

[He can tell that Eren's nervous; of course he can tell. Armin's always known how to read him (especially from his point on the current timeline). Something's happening here that shouldn't be; that much is obvious.

[Come to think of it, when was the last time he saw Eren? He's definitely never seen him like this, but if Eren saw him only a few days ago, and things were the same - well, it's hard to wrap Armin's mind around the idea that he'd be younger when he's only ever been...this age (to his knowledge), but...]

Another trick of this world...? [Armin's brow furrows. He glances down at the jar in his hands, removing one palm so he can look at it; there are no clues there, of course.]

That...has to be it, I guess, but...

[Looking back at Eren now:]

If I was ever any older than I am now, then...I don't remember it.

[dreamsofwings]

[ Armin at least believes him, which makes it a little easier. Armin not believing him would be too much; he'd be left questioning reality more than he already is, and no one wins when that happens. ]

What the fuck…

[ That's all he can manage for a moment, still trying to reassure himself that his memories are correct, that he really did see Armin just the other day.

They'd kissed that time at the party, something he has just adamantly refused to deal with in any meaningful way. That's typical; he doesn't like to deal with emotional things these days. He has slowly admitted to himself that he can't just pretend to not have emotions anymore. No one will buy that act now, and it's not really necessary; old habits, though. ]

I guess it must be some trick this place is playing on us. No idea how that's possible.

[rollcharisma]

Well...

There's a lot about this place that shouldn't be possible, don't you think?

We can tally this up right next to being transported to another universe.

[dreamsofwings]

Okay, sure, but...

[ But what is he supposed to do with Armin who doesn't know he's a monster? It's different with Jean. It's different with Mikasa. Keeping her from knowing the fate that would await her at home is a blessing. And Reiner...well, that's complicated.

But Armin, his best friend...he should know the truth. That's selfish, Eren knows. It's fine for Mikasa to not know but he wants Armin to know? Well, no one could ever accuse him of not being a hypocrite. ]

How do we get you back to normal? I mean...you are normal, obviously.

[ OBVIOUSLY, too bad only one of them is normal. ]

Sorry, it's just weird.

[rollcharisma]

[With a weak smile:] Not just for you.

How...old are you now?

[How much of Eren's life has he missed...?]

[dreamsofwings]

R-right. Of course it's weird for you too.

[ Does he even want to answer that question? Well, it's not like Armin at this age knows that at home Eren will never live to 20. Come to think of it, he's not sure that Armin at the age he expects him to be knows that either, not for certain. ]

…20. How old are you?

[rollcharisma]

Fifteen...

Who told you you could go and grow up without me, huh? [His smile is lighthearted, but...false, somehow. It's disturbing to think that he and Eren would be so far apart, even if it's only temporary - which Armin hopes (naively) that it is.]

[dreamsofwings]

I'm lucky I grew up at all.

[ Whoops, he can't be normal, or not morbid. He's too aware he outran his clock already, too aware he could die at 23.

Maybe it's true that he won't in Ellipsa. But Eren knows very well that anyone could die at any time. ]

Who told you you could age in reverse? Seems unfair.

[ His attempt at humour, unsurprisingly, sucks. ]

[rollcharisma]

[It doesn't suck. Armin smiles, reaching over to nudge Eren with one of his elbows.]

Don't tell them I've discovered the fountain of youth. I'm still figuring out how to package the water for resale.

[dreamsofwings]

[ Eren doesn't smile back. Stay tuned for future developments on that front. ]

Only if you cut me in on the profits.

[ He wishes this were easier, more natural, that there wasn't a rift of time and memory between them.

But there has been for years, so what's one more bizarre fucking thing? ]

But I hope this place puts you back how you were.

[ Selfishly, he hopes that. It's hard enough that Jean and Mikasa will never know some of the things he wishes he could share with them. Now Armin too.

On the flip side, none of them know that he's a monster and he doesn't want them to — for both selfish and unselfish reasons. ]

[rollcharisma]

There has to be some way, don't you think...?

My concern is...we might have to figure it out on our own.

Have you ever seen anything like this happen before? You've been here a while, haven't you?

[dreamsofwings]

Maybe we will...

[ Eren's aware he's not exactly the brains of this operation though. ]

I haven't seen this. I don’t even know if there's some clue. Like when Hange and I were stuck in...something bad that happened, we had to keep living it over and over. I never figured out what exactly got us out of it.

My point is maybe there's not a hint. We just try things until they work.

[rollcharisma]

What first, then...?

[He's only half asking Eren; thinking out loud. His brow furrows in thought. Idly, he looks himself over, hands running over his sleeves, his chest, as if searching.]

If there is a clue, it wouldn't be with you...

[dreamsofwings]

I don't know. You're the thinker here. Even younger, you're still smarter than me.

[ He might sound vaguely annoyed, but not because Armin is smarter than him. That's always true. Probably Armin at eight would be smarter than him when it comes to actually thinking through anything. He just...is Eren, and gets frustrated at things. It's almost an emotion! ]

Do you...feel weird? Anything out of the ordinary? If you're saying you might have some kinda clue we didn't know about yet.

[rollcharisma]

Well...

[He's still patting himself down.]

I figure the best type of clue would be one you could hold in your hand. We'd be pretty lucky to find something like that.

But it makes sense, right? In fairytales, magic is always tied to some sort of object--

[His fingers ghost over his chest and he feels it. A pendant, which he pulls out of his shirt.]

There we are, then...

I don't recognize this.

[It's a deep, blood red, framed by sharp metal points that look almost like a ribcage.]

[dreamsofwings]

[ Eren feels fondness rise in his chest. Of course Armin remembers fairytales. Eren was never much of a reader; he never cared about stories. Most of the stories they had were so regulated that now he just resents them! At least he likes television. Books are still not his thing.

He considers what that could be here, though. Is there something somewhere projecting outward causing this? If so, why didn't it affect everyone? Eren knows he's not smart enough to figure that second part out. ]

I don't recognise it either. Can I?

[ He reaches for it just to get a better look. ]

cw: gore, death, genocide, etc. etc.

[rollcharisma]

Mm. [Armin nods, removing the pendant and holding it out for Eren.

[He doesn't realize that there's a nightmare tied to it; doesn't recall the nightmare itself either.

[The Rumbling. His worst fear, realized. Millions of colossus titans, marching across the world in every direction, with The Founder's massive, monstrous form at the helm; oceans of blood, steam rising from the fractured earth, bodies crushed into pulp - screams upon screams upon screams of innocent people, pleading for their lives.

[For the moment, it's only a piece of jewelry.]