[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

[offeredhearts]

[ Perhaps at some point, Erwin will share his father's story with all of them. Levi and Hange already know, but the rest of them perhaps should learn it, too. He may never share his true goals with them - it's a secret only Levi knows, and even now Erwin isn't sure it's something he could trust anyone else with without risking losing them. Of course, one could argue that it's less vital now, but a selfish part of him doesn't want to damage those bonds, even if they'd well be within their rights to turn away.

He smiles; he does understand. ]

I know what you mean. Even looking at it now, it's hard to believe it. It's not the one that we might have had - who's to say how different or similar they are? But to think that you could go out into the middle of it and never see a hint of land...it's simultaneously fascinating and terrifying...and to think of what's beneath it, how could we discover all there is to know about such an environment? Could we? Perhaps it should make us scared, of so much unknown and something so different. But it just makes you want to learn even more.

And here it is, in front of us. Can we truly trust our eyes and our senses when the horizon seems to just end into nothingness? And yet, how can we deny them?

What do you dream when you dream of it?

I could listen to him talk all day tbh

[rollcharisma]

Mhmm. [There's a smile on Armin's face as he nods. It's an exciting conversation. The more Erwin talks about unknowns, the more Armin realizes that that's what's always excited him the most. He wants to know. He wants to know everything. Fiery water, lights in the sky, the ocean with its salty water; he wants so badly to know all of them.]

You're right. It is a little terrifying. But it's wonderful too. Not knowing anything about it, well...

I've been able to read some books, and I've learned a lot from them - but do you know what most of them say?

That even with all of the research that's been done, they still don't know everything. Only about twenty percent, in fact. Just twenty percent. Can you believe that?

[With all that Erwin's just said, Armin can.]

When I dream about this place...I just lie there at the edge where the water meets the shore. The water rushes over me every time the tide comes in. It's warm. I don't even mind the salt in my eyes. I just rest...

aaa I'm so glad <333

[offeredhearts]

[ In a way, Erwin envies him. Armin gets the chance to see the world with young eyes. They've seen their fair share of horror, too, but he still gets to have some of those dreams realized. With what he knows of their own world, Erwin wonders if he ever feels disappointment with their discovery. Seeing him here, though, listening to him talk in earnest about his dream, Erwin truly feels nothing but gladness. He might not have gotten to go beyond their walls, but Armin did, and will, as did many of them. And in the end, it can only make him happy. ]

That sounds very peaceful.

[ Something they all deserved.

He smiles, almost a laugh. ]

Twenty percent...I can imagine that to be true, considering we need air to breathe and fish do not. Tell me something else that you've learned from these books. Anything.

[rollcharisma]

[Armin's smile brightens even further. To think that he and someone he admires so much are sitting together, sharing knowledge and dreams - common ground that Armin had never fully realized until this conversation.]

Well, here's one that really shocked me. Apparently there's enough salt in the ocean to cover every inch of the entire planet. Can you believe that?

It's such a valuable resource, but removing it from the ocean is actually quite difficult...

You can't even drink the water from the ocean without getting sick or dehydrated - that's due to the salt too.

[offeredhearts]

Salt...

[ Yes, he's heard something of that. It's difficult to imagine, though he's since been able to experience that it's true. Erwin has to wonder how alike the ocean here is to the one he almost knew in their own world. That much it seems, at least.

It is wonderful to see the spark he's felt so many times before in Armin, in someone else so young, carrying on that legacy of curiosity. ]

Believing and being able to comprehend something can be difficult sometimes, can't it. For things we can't see for ourselves, we have to have some faith that they are real or true, until we can confirm otherwise. It's hard to say you can believe the salt in the sea can cover the entire world when you can't see either.

And then it begs the question, what purpose does salt play in that environment? How do the living things there adapt? How would we adapt to living near the sea, and would we independently come up with similar ideas to the people who we now know exist out there who have done so for hundreds of years already? Is there a similar current of human ingenuity that exists within all of us?

[rollcharisma]

There must be. [Armin sounds certain, tilting his head to rest his cheek against one of his arms two arm privilege.]

There are some people who are content to live the lives they have, only knowing what they know - I realize that, but...

Still, I think in everyone, there must be some sense of that spirit - wanting more, even if it's something simple. They might not dream about the ocean, or want to explore the world, but I just know that everyone out there must have some sort of dream. Could be anything, really...

And you know, Commander...I think humankind is a lot more resilient than a lot of people give it credit for. Especially where we come from...

[It's so common back home; human beings, crushed like bugs without a second thought, or devoured in seconds, never to be seen again.

[But humans aren't weak. For as much death as Armin has seen in his young life, he's also seen indomitable resolve, bravery - the audacity to continue trying despite insurmountable odds.

[It means something. It means a lot.]

[offeredhearts]

[ Erwin just nods as he listens - these are all familiar thoughts, ones he's had multiple times on his own, but rarely voiced to anyone else. It's encouraging, heartening, to hear it from Armin; to know that he isn't alone in such ideals, that someone else can have them independently from himself. Hange carries a similar line of thinking, he knows, which is precisely why they had always been his pick for successor when his time came. But they'd then had to have the extra burden of stepping into a wholly unknown world. ]

Yes, I agree with you, Armin - on all points.

The resiliency of humanity is why we are still here. There is no shame in desiring safety or comfort of what is known, but I think it is human nature to want more. Even if, as you said, it is only for something simple.

It is what we do with that desire that makes us who we are.

[rollcharisma]

[Armin nods, a complicated smile on his face.]

I'd have to agree with that too, Commander.

I feel lucky to have met the people I have, who are acting on that desire the way they are.

[When he looks at Erwin next, his chest swells with pride. In the corner of his eyes, little tears glisten. He's still smiling.]

Suffice to say...when it comes to being a Scout?

I'm proud, sir. I'm very proud.

[offeredhearts]

[ Armin's expression, his words, touch something so wonderful and deeply bittersweet in Erwin's heart. So many of his soldiers he'd doomed to die. Armin's friends, his own comrades, all the others of the Survey Corps who followed him to an early grave. His real motives had been selfish, and in a way he had exploited the very same spark of interest, of hope and pride, that Armin wears now, just for his own means.

But it had been more in the end, hadn't it? Erwin had wanted to vilify his father, but he, too, so desired to know more about the rest of the world. None of those who'd gone to their deaths had done so in vain; those that had continued after him had seen to that. All of them. Armin is their future.

It hurts a little, but it's nothing.

His eyes soften to something closer to an ache, careful to let only so much emotion show, even now, but he's still obviously very, very touched. ]

Thank you, Armin. That means a great deal to me. I'm sorry we didn't have more time together.

[ And for everything that is eventually on his shoulders, later. ]

[rollcharisma]

Well...

[Armin can see the emotion in The Commander's eyes. It's subtle, but a bit jarring all the same. It makes Armin's own heart swell. He wants to make him proud. He wants to make him proud for the rest of his life.]

We have that time now. I'm grateful for that.