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seasonsgreetings2023-04-14 10:33 am
seasonsmods) wrote in seasonsgreetings2023-04-14 10:33 am
Entry tags:
Test Drive Meme #2
Test Drive Meme #2
LOGS | NETWORK | OOC | MEMES | NAVIGATION
You arrive in an unknown space, dressed in white clothes (player choice what kind of clothes, as long as they cover everything). Whatever was happening to you before no longer happens. It's like everything was put on a pause and you were transferred away from the situation without you realizing it happened.
The space that you find yourself in is one of these four options:
An empty landscape filled with snow and ice, almost like a blank canvas.
A field with cherry blossom trees and spring flowers.
A sunny beach near an ocean that seems never ending.
A quiet forest with falling autumn leaves.
All of the spaces seem to continue endlessly. No matter where or how far you walk it almost seems like you're not moving at all. There are no animals here - just those who happened to wake up there at the same time, in the same place. Everyone is wearing the same kind of plain, white clothes.
Despite the possible rollercoaster of emotions you might be feeling, the place somehow feels familiar. Like somehow you belong there.
And it looks like you're not alone.
After half an hour has passed the surroundings change as everyone is teleported into a room with all the other new arrivals, no matter what space they woke up in. It's a large place with plenty of seats to sit in and beverages to enjoy. Medical attention is offered to those who need it and the doctors here are very prepared for any challenging situations.
Here, in this room, everyone gets an answer to where they are and why. A hologram of a man appears at the center of the room, waiting to be heard. He brings a message on behalf of the leaders of Ellipsa.
The Message [ Click to Expand ]
Hello, my name is Olwen. I'm one of the leaders of Ellipsa as it currently is. I'm also one of the four who summoned you here.
Our world is in trouble and we need your help. I apologize for tearing you away from your world and forcing you to come here but I hope you understand. The magic we used doesn't let us ask in advance, nor does it let us choose who we bring here.
This world is composed of four Seasonal Segments. All of them represent one of the seasons. They were the places we used to get our resources from, but now they're dangerous places no one should go into unless they have the power to fight back. All of them have their own sets of powerful monsters and natural catastrophes.
We used to have plenty of people here who could control the powers of the four Seasons. We called them Seasonal Power Holders. Unfortunately, due to a tragedy you can read about later, we lost almost all of them. Now only four of us remain and the world is in chaos. We have done our best to protect the world, but we need more power holders to do that.
That's where you come in.
All of you have been assigned to one of the seasons. Whatever space you were in just now is what season you represent. You will learn different skills based on the season and those skills are going to help you save this world.
These powers don't interfere with your own natural powers. They use a new energy that has formed inside of you. It's harmless to your health, but it's vital to your seasonal powers. Your own powers should still work, even if the dark energy outside the city might interfere with them.
Unfortunately bringing you here wasn't as simple as it sounds. We couldn't do anything about how to keep you anchored to this world other than making a simple spell that helps with it. That is, you need to touch someone else who is not from this world ideally at least once a day. It will help you stay in control of your powers and boost your magical energy. If you don't, the consequences aren't very good. But as long as you hold someone's hand or give someone a handshake, you should be fine.
That's all I have to say about the situation. The staff of the Research Center will give you more information about housing and other necessary things. I will, however, promise that you will be sent home once the situation becomes better. That's the least we can do.
The hologram can be viewed in private in a separate room later, should someone wish to look at it again. For now, the staff of the Research Center hands everyone their new smartphones with their small flower lucky charms (the flower is anything the player decides). They're also told that the building next door is where everyone can find a room assigned to them with some of their belongings there and possibly even any animal companions. Those concerned about their mount-sizes companions are welcomed to the stables downstairs to see if their friends are there. The mounts are allowed to stay there until you find a place more suitable for them.
Once you get your smartphone and necessary information, you're urged to go out and find your apartment. After that whatever you want to do is up to you.
Part 3
The building next door is where everyone can find their new apartments. As you enter, you're told by a friendly native that for the first two months you can live anywhere rent-free and five meals a day are paid for you. After that they get a monthly payment that helps with some of their living expenses, but otherwise they have to have a job to support themselves.
All of the apartments are comfortable, two bedroom apartments with all necessary utilities. They are also completely soundproof. Sometimes the magic system, however, does glitch and you might find yourself rooming with a stranger. This is not the intention and the staff will immediately prepare you your own room if you ask them. But maybe having a roommate isn't all that bad?
Once you get your smartphone and necessary information, you're urged to go out and find your apartment. After that whatever you want to do is up to you.
The building next door is where everyone can find their new apartments. As you enter, you're told by a friendly native that for the first two months you can live anywhere rent-free and five meals a day are paid for you. After that they get a monthly payment that helps with some of their living expenses, but otherwise they have to have a job to support themselves.
All of the apartments are comfortable, two bedroom apartments with all necessary utilities. They are also completely soundproof. Sometimes the magic system, however, does glitch and you might find yourself rooming with a stranger. This is not the intention and the staff will immediately prepare you your own room if you ask them. But maybe having a roommate isn't all that bad?
April is the time for a strange weather effect that affects all of the districts, save for the one in the middle and Frostreign. It's not weird that it rains, but it's what the rain does that has been dubbed as the Rain of Affection.
Anyone who stands in the rain will feel the need to get close to someone. It starts with a need to gently touch someone gently, but can escalate into needing to hug someone. The ultimate craving of the rain is kissing in the rain but that's the most it can make happen. It's a very Safe For Work Rain Effect.
After a successful kiss in the rain, the cravings slowly become less urgent, but the effect can start all over again at any given time.
Of course, there are individuals who don't get too affected by the rain (at all or not as badly) and it only works if it directly hits someone. So staying in a shelter or being in Nightwake Center or Frostreign is definitely a way to avoid this whole phenomenon. Even avoiding the worst of the effect is easy by just going under a shelter or purchasing a nice, maybe even a color changing, umbrella.
It's raining very often until the end of the month at different times in each districts.
After the rain, a rainbow usually appears. Rainbows formed by the Rain of Affection are special, wish granting ones. The natives will explain that if you hold someone's hands and make a wish that wish will come true in some capacity.
Someone wishing for wealth may win a gift card for a shop while someone wishing to see a loved one they're missing may get pictures sent to their mobile devices (how? magic). Those wishing for world peace may find their very presence be calming to others. But the biggest prize is a free regain of a non-magical item or an animal companion. If someone asks for a magical item it will come as a non-magical item and the magical part of it would have to be purchased by a magical-regain, so it's cheaper to just not.
Be careful what you wish for, as each character only gets one wish, no matter how many rainbows they end up seeing during the rainy season.
Solarpeak has a new way of battling against the hot summer days (you know, when it isn't raining). Many shops along the streets sell ice cream mochis of varying flavors. You have your very normal flavors like different berries, fruit and chocolate, but also some very excotic and weird ones.
There's even a flavor called random mystery that is literally that. A randomized flavor that is a mystery to all. It can even be a flavor that no one has thought of before or even something that definitely should not be in any kind of food. Anyone who buys a pack of two mochis will get a free mystery one if they want it (and sometimes even if they don't).
Other districts also have some treats out for different climates. There are various flavors of hot cocoa in places like Amberfall and Frostreign, and nice light treats like macarons in Blossomcrown. Of course various restaurants have their own menus that fit their own season, so you could definitely have a gourmet journey all over the city of Nightwake if you wished.
One morning, on all of the bridges leading outside into the segments, round gates appear. They're portals that bring in monsters. They look normal from the outside looking in, like portals to a lovely garden. But the gardens are the problem as they are infested with different monsters, waiting to attack the city. This isn't the first time natives have seen these portals and before they had people to deal with them, but now? They need otherworlders.
All of the monsters inside need to be defeated for the portal to disappear. No one knows exactly how many there are, but with the defeat of the last one, the portal will disappear from around anyone inside of it, leaving the characters on the bridge.
The portal can be entered from both the city and the segment side and it looks flat when looked from sideways. Like it's just a random 2D structure in the middle of the world.
Those who explore the portal further will notice that they will loop around. It's very similar to the place they started in, back when they arrived, as it doesn't seem to have an end, no matter how you explore the place.
For noncombatants, natives have set up stations to help with first aid and making food for the fighters so they can occasionally come back from the portals to take a much needed rest.
Anyone helping with the fight, either in the portals or outside, will receive a hefty 5000 Moon Coin reward for their hard work. A good way to earn some starting funds!
Monster List [ Click to Expand ]
All of the Monsters listed here will be in all of the portals and there will be several of each to fight.The danger level is indicated with Stars. The lowest level threat is 0 while the highest is 10. From 7 and above, the likelihood of a beast going for a kill increases significantly.
| Name | Description | Stars |
|---|---|---|
| Bubblefish | Bubblefish are lumbering, two-legged creatures, with fins for arms, a long, muscular, finned tail, and a big fish face. They are fast, dangerous predators while in water, but do not count them out while on land, as regardless of whether they are above water or below it, they can blow large bubbles which capture their targets. Once inside the stretchy bubble, victims begin to go numb, their body feeling like it's on pins and needles as the Dragonfish begins to cast various debuffs on them. The bubbles are tough to escape despite their appearance, but the debuffs are lesser when shared, and can be escaped with the propper application of mint or minty treats! Mint has the effect of weakening the bubble to allow it to pop, although you may then find yourself being charged as the Bubblefish goes wild trying to get that minty goodness. | 5-8 |
| Bugboars | These are really more like rhinocerous beetles, but they are the size of wild boars, and they act similarly, roaming about in family groups together, rooting through the ground to unearth any edible material. They are highly territorial, and charge at anything or anyone who gets close. Their eyesight might be poor, but they make up for it with their antennae and the fact that these massive beetles do have wings, and they possess enough control over wind to lift themselves off of the ground at great speeds, or send powerful gales at those who come too close to their young. | 6 |
| Crockodile | Crocodiles with elemental powers of earth, leading to them being able to travel through dirt and stone as if they were water, these large reptiles often hide beneath the earth with only their eyes and nostrils peeking out, resembling the stone they hide within. They are ambush predators, popping out of the ground, large stony jaws open to crush their prey, but even once dragged out of hiding they are hardly easy to defeat. These crocks are stony in appearance and their hide is just as hard to pierce. In addition, they're a little closer to the size of a small car than your average crocodile. | 6-9 |
| Flurry Flock | White birds acting like a swarm that may deceive you into thinking they are harmless doves at first. Upon closer inspection, they more closely resemble a vengeful murder of crows with pure white feathers that they can use to reflect light so brilliantly that one can be blinded, leaving the flock's victim open to attack as they descend upon their prey like a group of voracious piranhas, claws and beaks as cold as ice as they try to tear their foes apart | 3-6 |
| Lavapotamus | These large hippo-creatures seem to be either made of or covered in molten rock that hardens over time when in the air. Usually they prefer to soak in lava and be left alone. Pulled through portals in an environment far too cool for their liking and with people so nearby has them aggressive and dangerous, charging down anyone who gets too near and leaving a red-hot trail of lava in their wake. | 3-8 |
| Minosaur | This creature seems to be a horrific mash of other creatures, similar to a traditional chimera; it possesses the body and horns of a bull, a head like a Tyrannosaurus, the plates of a stegosaurus all the way down it's powerful back and becoming spikes as they trail down it's tail, which ends in a very angry snake head. There is no end of this creature's body which is not hard, sharp, and completely pissed off. If you manage not to get bitten or gored at it's head, you will still need to contend with the powerful hooved legs attempting to stomp down on you, and take care to dodge as the snake head on it's tail spits fire. | 8-10 |
Even after the defeat of the Portals, there's still a lot of things to do! All of the Guilds are open. There's a good training space outside of them to test our powers and computers where you can learn all about what kind of powers you can unlock.
All guilds also have the same Questboard open! Why not take a look and see what adventures await?
- Ask your questions related to the TDM here.
- The TDM is available only to friends of the mods and their friends. If you're not a friend of the mods and want to play in the TDM, please leave a note here to inform us who invited you over. We will get to you as soon as possible!
- Feel free to visit the EMP/ATP - meme!
- New characters can add TDM on their subject line to indicate they're new! They can also comment HERE to promote their new top levels.
- Test Drive is open for current characters to make a top level as well.
- Current characters cannot access the starting area again to meet new arrivals. They can, however, be at the Research Center when the newbies are teleported in.
- The TDM is game canon so anything in the TDM can happen for your character(s) in the game as well.
- Smut is not allowed on the TDM. You can play situations leading to it, but if the thread is turning into smut, please move it to a private space such a post in your character's journal, or a locked post in the game's log community if you decide to app!
- Check Locations: City to find more areas to explore inside the city. Every place in the districts are open. Similarly, Locations: Segments is useful for outdoors adventures.
- You can find monsters to encounter on Beastiary.
- FAQ has information on characters' smartphones as well as general things about the world that might be handy.
no subject
if I kill all our enemies across the sea, will we finally be free?
They hadn't understood what he was really asking them. He'd barely understood it then himself. Even now, there are things he doesn't -- can't -- know. He's not a god. A monster, sure, filled with more power than one person should ever hold. But there are gaps. Questions. Things can still go wrong. Marley hadn't gone right, exactly.
He's quiet for too long again, sifting through memories like that endless stretch of sand. The Paths. He hasn't actually been there, not yet, hasn't lost his head (ha) and actually gotten to Zeke. But he knows it, dreams it, lives it.
Eren turned out to be a better liar than anyone, himself included, would have ever guessed he'd be. But he hates doing it. He doesn't like lying to his friends. He's always cherished them above anything, and hurting them directly is the thing he's hated doing the most. His priorities suck.
So he could say stop me from doing what? but he doesn't. He's not innocent and he won't pretend he is.
So instead.
Levi looks at him and Eren wants to look anywhere else. He doesn't. He meets Levi's eyes with his own too intense gaze, somewhere between the boy he was and the half-dead thing he became. Just a man, was it? ]
I haven't done that yet.
no subject
[ But even then, things may have turned out shitty. They'll never know now. It is what it is, a cruel fucking joke at that, but there's no changing what happened. ]
[ Except, apparently, it hasn't yet happened to the boy-slash-monster in front of him. ]
[ Levi studies his face, expression carefully blank. ]
[ But you will, won't you? ]
[ He won't get into a discussion whether or not he still deserved a cracked skull in these circumstances, because surely they both know the answer. ]
You haven't told Mikasa and Jean, either.
[ Does he simply want to avoid a conversation like this, having his friends look at him like they can't stand the sight of him, or does he want to spare them the nightmare, now that they know they somehow managed to get away from it all? The first option doesn't sound much like him, but then, he's been full of surprises lately. ]
I'm sorry I'm just absolutely as weird as possible this whole thread :')))
It was over years ago.
It hasn't happened yet.
He can hear the screams.
When are they, he thinks again.
Something that might be sadness crosses his face for a moment, real emotion, where he can't rein it in or pretend he doesn't feel it. Fuck, he hates this. That careful gaze on Levi's face and the terrible weight of the future.
He doesn't exactly tell people he meets about his plan to kill basically everyone. But he told a couple people, back in Folkmore. A friend there, who somehow remained a friend even knowing, kept trying to convince him there were other options.
He can't see them. He'd tried. Sort of?
He finally looks down at his hands, clenched into fists on his legs. Tight enough to break skin, but he's not a threat to Levi, not here and now. Those tiny cuts are accidents, healing as soon as he manages to release his grip enough. ]
They don’t need to know about that nightmare. What would that do? It would just hurt them.
[ Hasn't he hurt them enough? ]
I don’t plan to go home again, Captain.
[ A roundabout answer to a question Levi didn't ask. If Eren goes home, they know how it ends. Here, he's...still wrong and fucked up, sure. But maybe he could be something else.
He tries to believe that.
But in the end, Eren doesn't actually know what to do with freedom. It's a work in progress for him. ]
There was another world. Before this one. I chose to go there.
[ One of the only right choices he's made in years, probably, choosing to just leave a timeline he couldn't stop. ]
GO WILD also it deff seems game canon material to me
[ He nods, once. There's no visible hint of approval, but there might as well be. ]
I don't intend to tell them either.
[ It would be pointless cruelty. They're the ones who managed to get away; it should stay that way. He's actually... maybe not glad, but definitely a teensy little bit less hostile now that they've shared this agreement. ]
Assuming you can hold it together, it should be fine.
[ Yeah, he's not letting you off the hook just yet. Sure, Eren may not have a gazillion Wall Titans here, but he could likely still cause a decent amount of damages if he decided to snap and eradicate the town or whatever. Even if he's stopped, that little bubble around Jean and Mikasa they're trying to protect might shatter. ]
[ He's just making sure he's aware of that. ]
[ He hadn't asked for the extra information, but he's not displeased with it. This is interesting. Jean had mentioned being to some other places before, places that worked kind of like this one, but he had not implied anything about a choice. Was this also something that Paths could make happen, or just a coincidence? ]
[ It makes sense, honestly. Who wouldn't leave that clusterfuck if they could? ]
...Whether you leave the room afterwards or not, you've still shit the bed.
[ ...And that must be his friendly way of saying, It still happened. Even if this particular Eren chooses to stay away forever, there was still another -- perhaps multiple ones across timelines -- that saw his plan to the end. Levi's a living testament to that. He should know that. ]
[ But at the same time, he isn't going to push this further. Technically, this Eren seems to be trying to do something different, and while it doesn't do shit for Levi's timeline, it might for another. And also -- ]
But this could be a chance for you.
[ To do something different. To have a life. ]
[ So go for it. ]
[ It's not like he needs Levi's approval anyway, but after he'd told him his intentions without so much as a prompting, he feels inclined to respond somehow. ]
[ And maybe there's a part of him that wants to believe that it's not too late, that maybe in this weird world the kid they all placed their hope in might at least be able to save himself in some way. It's probably all kinds of stupid just letting him live, knowing what's going to happen but... Maybe he's getting sentimental with old age. Damn it all. ]
no subject
(He hasn't, not yet, just on the precipice of doing it. But like everything, he lives it through memory, out of time. He is always, in so many ways, out of time.)
Maybe not here. He can't sort his stupid bullshit out entirely, because he can't undo the past/future/whatever it is. But he doesn't have to be the same person Levi saw, on the airship or at the end.
He can choose to be someone else. Or try. ]
I'm holding it together fine.
[ Is he? Is that even true? He's not sure. It's not a lie on purpose. At the moment he feels completely out of sorts. It was different with Jean and Mikasa. He told Jean once that he knew nothing about the world, but that was true. They didn't even know there were other people beyond the walls, the island, the ocean, a world of people who hated them, something Eren reflected back at millions of them whether they deserved it or not.
But he doesn't have any desire to hurt his friends or anyone here, not at the moment. It could change. He could pick a fight with someone that he couldn't win, go on a rampage, destroy half the town with crystal spikes. Anything is possible.
It's nice to not know what might happen next, actually. It seems like a strange luxury for things to happen like…normal.
He looks back up at Levi. ]
I know.
[ What can he do? Apologise? For what? Destroying the whole fucking world?
I haven't done that yet.
For the depths of his madness, the machinations, the fact that he manipulated so many people? That's not exactly something he's really shared. Parts of himself are still somewhere else, hidden from his own memory, locked behind doors he can't open and now (maybe) never will.
For Levi's scars that he didn't directly cause? Well. He is sorry for that, sorry for the fallout that people he cared about suffered/will suffer. But they get to live, damnit, free of the threat of the world beyond.
He's always cared about them too much. ]
For all of us, I guess. I know you already lived through everything. But you have a life now that isn't fighting titans. You can be something else too.
[ Jean and Mikasa don't have to know. Mikasa doesn't have to kill him. Levi has to live with the weight of it, Eren can't change that, but what now?
Freedom. Obviously. ]
no subject
[ It's not that he thinks Eren's lying, exactly. It's just that there's really no way of knowing, even for him it seems, so the only option is to wait for whatever happens and react accordingly. He's been prepared for that since he heard the brat was here. Maybe he could have phrased it in a more encouraging way, but it's not like he's known for his good bedside manner. ]
[ He just gives him a nod of acknowledgement when Eren confirms it. Levi's not looking for apologies. Words are wind, anyway. The main reason to make sure everyone's aware of all the shit that went down or could still go down is that their future decisions are better informed. ]
[ It's not much, but for now, it might have to be enough. ]
...
[ That last part seems to have surprised him, what little of it actually reflects on his face. He... wasn't expecting to be brought up. He doesn't consider himself an important topic, so he's not sure how to take that. ]
[ A new life, huh? ]
[ He's not sure if he can still walk, back home. Hell, he's not even sure if he's alive. His experience in the steam was... it felt a little too freeing to not be the end, honestly. But that doesn't change the fact that now he's here, in this place, with nothing that he necessarily has to do, and nobody that necessarily needs him (even if he fully intends to look out for the brats still). ]
[ It's weird. He's not sure what to do with it. Is this what retirement feels like? ]
...If you're trying to convince me to give up kicking you, fat chance.
[ Don't worry, he got it. He appreciates it, even, though it's way too soon to express something like that. He just doesn't know what to say back. ]
[ Hence, circling back to practical problems: ]
And if you're going to live here, I expect you to make yourself useful. [ What was that? This was Eren's place to begin with? Well, joke's on whoever thought Levi would blink twice at having to bunk with somebody, because he's done that for most of his life. ] You're on floor duty.
[ Because his knee still doesn't work right and somebody needs to clean these fucking floors. Guess who won the lottery? ]
I'll get supplies.
[ Yeah, that's enough heart-to-heart, it seems. ]
[ Aaaaaaand he's getting up to snail back out of the kitchen, apparently on a quest to hunt down some cleaning equipment. ]
no subject
Later.
Already.
Someday.
Never?
He shakes his head, tries to stay now, remind himself that now matters more than then for a few minutes. He's not planning anything more than how to do another quest here, learn to use whatever new power he gets. As if he needs more of that, more destructive power that could backfire on him or spin out of control. He has it whether he needs it or not.
He's still looking at Levi closely enough to catch that tiny bit of surprise. The captain does matter to him. He isn't Mikasa or Armin, but they were comrades. Levi has seen some of the worst of him, even long before any of them knew the truth of the world. Levi has always let him make his own choices.
Only now, which of them has to live with that? ]
I won't stop you from kicking me.
[ He doesn't say can't. He's not sure if he could or not; he's not sure if Levi's leg will heal (was this supposed to happen? He didn't mean for this). He's not sure if Levi could take him one on one if he wasn't a human, but he's not going to tear down the apartment building or anything.
But won't. Again, he's aware that it's deserved. He won't just stay a punching bag or whatever, but if Levi wants to kick him a few more times, he can live with that. His face will heal.
It's his turn to be surprised at the next part, though. Levi isn't just going to turn and walk out of here? Ignoring the fact that Eren already lives here, thank you, why would Levi stay? Surely Levi can't stand to look at him…?
Oh.
Of course.
Levi's been babysitting him since the day they met. Just in case. ]
You don't have to worry about me, Captain. About what I'll do.
[ But he already pushes himself back out of the seat, automatic. He's not a good soldier, not really. Following orders who? He's been following his own agenda since before he knew he was doing it.
For another moment he feels differently out of time, 15 and bright eyed, ready to take on the world after he scrubs a floor to Levi's impossible standards. That moment can't last, but he guesses he can still clean the fucking floor. ]
They're in the hall closet.
[ Probably not enough for Levi, but Eren isn't living in filth, here.
He'd offer to get them, but he knows how that would seem. Levi of all people won't appreciate it, offering to take care of things to compensate for the injury he obliquely caused.
Eren's not actually sure how that injury happens. He sifts through a ridiculous amount of memories trying to sort it out, but the details are hazy and he'll have to just…live with it for now. Maybe he'll ask someday. For the moment, he goes to wash the blood off his face. ]
no subject
[ Still changes nothing. He's not afraid. ]
[ Levi's got his back to him so nonchalantly, as if he's a cadet being punished for roughhousing and not a monster with the power to end everything. Well, maybe being treated like a human will help him feel more like one, too. Who knows. ]
[ Slowly but surely, he makes it to the closet in question. He knows how it looks. He's also glad Eren didn't decide to interfere. The last thing he wants is to be pitied, or treated like he's broken (even if he kind of is). No, he needs to do this. For himself, if nobody else. He's allowed to do that now, isn't he? ]
[ Funnily enough, of all things, he doesn't blame his injuries on Eren. That was all him fucking up by himself, as far as he's concerned. Too impatient, too blinded by revenge, too eager to set things right. Too dismissive of his enemy. In the end, he'd ended up drunk on something too, hasn't he? ]
No? [ He reiterates, his head practically in the closet as he retrieves, indeed, all of the cleaning supplies that Eren apparently owns. ] That's new.
[ Because it definitely would be. He's just humoring Eren, though; it will take more than that to convince him that it's really fine to leave him alone. ]
[ He shoves the box with the cleaning supplies in Eren's general direction once he moves. ]
--Oy, don't just dribble blood all over.
[ Whose fault is that, though?! ]
This should be enough to get you started. [ Ouch, only that. Levi slowly stands back up. ] I'm going to get more things from the store.
[ Of course. Eren's cleaning stash: snubbed. ]
[ He contemplates getting a new crutch, too, not that he's going to mention it aloud right after they both so successfully ignored his injury. Just getting there is going to be a pain, though. He notices a large, sturdy looking umbrella in the corner of the closet -- maybe left by previous tenants, who knows -- and decides that it'll do in a pinch. ]
Later.
[ The stains better not be set in when he gets back. ]
ok i know this thread is over but pls allow me one more moment of being absolutely batshit
He would say, if pressed, that he's the same as he's been since he was born, but a lot of what he says if pressed is bullshit. Of course he's changed. He's grown up, even if what he grew up to be is something horrific. ]
Oh. Right.
[ He holds a hand up, too late, uselessly, to catch blood that drips down his face, off his chin. Sure, there's some on the floor tiles. Of course.
He's fast enough to get to the kitchen sink without too much of a mess. He's an idiot, but smart enough not to talk back about this particular subject.
Everything is different.
Nothing is.
Rewind, repeat.
He glances over his shoulder to watch Levi leave. He wonders if he'll actually come back, but…the captain's word is good. If he means to play babysitter, then he'll do it.
He'll probably figure out how to kick Eren in the face or break something else and repeat this whole thing if Eren doesn't do a good enough job at this. He knows Levi's standards. He can live up to them, when it comes to cleaning at least. More or less.
But first.
The door closes.
His hands grip the stainless steel of the sink, smearing blood there. That will clean easily once he notices that it's there. It makes his hands too slick and they slide a little before catching at the edges. He's all tension in his shoulders, leaned over the sink for a minute while he tries — fails — to get 2,000 years of his own and everyone else's memories to fall back into some semblance of order.
How he just never expected to run into someone from a point in time where they knew he was a monster is naive bullshit. Jean and Mikasa made him feel…not safe, nothing is ever safe.
Free, is that it? Always that.
He finally laughs, the sound echoing in the empty metal sink, because this is all so…typical. Inescapable. Even two worlds removed from home.
He's aware he must sound like he's lost his mind, but hasn't he? He told Levi he was holding it together fine, then immediately after Levi left proved to be on shaky ground, but you know. Just Eren things!
He does pull it back together, clean his face, his clothes, the fucking floor.
And he has no idea what happens next. At last. ]
syke, you THOUGHT
[ The umbrella bends slightly when he puts more weight on it, but seems to be holding. It's not ideal, and Levi thinks the pain in his knee is getting stronger, but with how battered all over he is, he's not sure he can really tell. ]
[ It would be so damn easy to just leave. Pull a Kenny, leave the kid wondering whatever the fuck he did wrong. Well, go figure. Even he deserves better than that. ]
[ Besides, this is too damn big to be a coincidence. He doesn't know who exactly decides which keys to hand out to whom, and if he did he wouldn't flatter them by assuming it was on purpose, but what matters is the result. He went to hell and back, woke up in a new world, and was once again sent right toward Eren fucking Jaeger. ]
[ What if he's meant to be here right now? ]
[ True to his word, he's back at the apartment a couple hours later, a reasonable amount of time considering where he went and how slow he is at the moment. He's carrying about three bags worth of deep-clean supplies -- there might have been a sale -- and it seems he's also successfully bullied the medical center into giving him a new crutch and a spare, a foreboding reminder that he doesn't mind breaking another one if he needs to. ]
[ He sets everything down in the hall and makes his way to the kitchen, stopping at the doorway to inspect Eren's work. There's a long moment of silence where his eyes are darting critically along the tiles and planks, but it seems he deems it acceptable, as he then simply limps into the kitchen to put a box of tea leaves on the table. ]
[ (He's been surprised how relatively cheap it is in this place. He's going to buy so much tea. Maybe even try a few different kinds.) ]
Not your shabbiest work. Did you finish the other rooms?
[ Levi himself will be getting started on the surfaces he doesn't need to bend down or tiptoe to reach. It's probably best not to question it. ]
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Levi, always, even before. Oh well. Nothing for that.
He moves like he might help, take a bag, do something. But he's not sure where the boundaries here even are. He doesn't want to overstep, make it seem like pity.
It isn't pity, not really. Regret…? Maybe. It's hard to regret something as big as the world, something you haven't done, something you know you will do, something you have experienced in a visceral way even having not done it.
He can never actually get right again, no more than he could make it right, take it back, do it over.
But what he told Levi is the truth. He chose to leave, to take a chance on potential, the potential to have some other life, some other ending.
Even if it's only three years. It is, he thinks. It's only three years or so left now, clock's ticking. Better than only months, though.
In the end, he doesn't help with the bags, he just kind of stares. Did they really need all that cleaning stuff? It's not that dirty in here; he's not that messy a person on the outside, not usually, unless he's bleeding all over something. Whoops.
Speaking of which, sure, he catches there's an extra crutch. In case of emergency, break here, written on his forehead. Yeah, he gets it.
He stands and watches Levi's critical eye inspect the kitchen, and again he feels younger than he is, like a cadet needing approval. He doesn't really need Levi's approval anymore, though how the hell they'd ever coexist if he couldn't do this much, he doesn't know.
But on some level, maybe he does need it, the familiarity of it, an anchor in time and space. Acknowledgement. Levi didn't just fuck off and leave, for whatever reason, and here they are.
The tea almost makes him smile, but he doesn't really do much of that anymore. It's also familiar, though, something much more precious at home, in abundance here. He'll tell Levi about all the strange food he's encountered later, when he's sure they can talk about…anything. Anything else. ]
The hallway and the bathroom.
[ Shared spaces. He didn't touch the other bedroom. It was no one's space, a place he didn't bother going, and now it's Levi's space and he's not a total idiot. ]
I'll get the floors in there when you need me to though.
[ Not pity, but accommodation. Practicality. They both know Levi's not going to crawl around on that busted knee, and pretending otherwise serves no one.
He didn't bother with his own room because why? He's been a soldier since he was a child, really. He doesn't own many things. He's not sure what to do with things. He folds his clothes and they're tucked away. The bloody shirt and rags are in the washing machine, which he'll have to explain (someone had to explain it to him in Folkmore).
Of course Levi can't just settle down, make some tea, whatever. He has to still clean things. Eren won't question it; there's no point. He also won't get in the way.
But he lives here, goddamnit, so he's not going to go hide in his room either.
Which means, fine, there's still the living room. He'll go dust the television or something and wait until Levi asks him what the fuck that even is. ]
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[ He does briefly look at Eren himself, too, deciding that he does seem to look fairly put together for now. He's not holding his breath on it, but all in due time. For now, there's no cause of alarm. Yet. ]
[ He does notice that apparent hesitation, too, and clenches his teeth a little tighter. He could do things, he just did this and it went fine, but of course from the outside he must look like a poor cripple struggling with some measly groceries. At least the brat doesn't do anything, but he can tell he's thinking about it. ]
Relax. I can still wipe my own ass.
[ ...well, that was ought to get the point across. ]
[ He takes a mental step back, examining his annoyance. Was this the only reason?.. Or maybe it was also once again driving the point home that Eren hadn't quite changed as much as it seemed. That he was still that same kid they shared a roof with, and that it was that same kid who chose to trample the world. It would be so much easier if he didn't acknowledge that, after all. ]
[ (Maybe he contributed, he considers. Back at that forest, when he'd told the brat to trust them, or trust his own power. And he chose his squad, and they all died. Was this the moment that lead to him deciding to carry his plan out all by himself?) ]
[ He scrubs away at the kitchen counter, using his injured hand to help support himself on it. The silence stretching may imply that Eren's answer was not correct. That gets confirmed a minute later. ]
Did I say you're on three quarters of the floor duty?
[ Look, he's not going to come out and say it, but they indeed both know it. And he does need it. Just the whole landing in a new world thing is a lot to take in, let alone with all the baggage that they have (not) unpacked right here in this kitchen. At this point he's stressed out enough that the mere thought of dust in his space is making him feel itchy. ]
[ No time like the present, indeed. ]
[ (He hasn't even seen the living room yet. That's sure going to be a shock. He'll probably enjoy the washing machine a lot once he confirms it's trustworthy, though. RIP Eren's water bill.) ]
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It's weird now, too, the city shoving them together like this. It's probably just coincidence, but then again, Eren has lived through a lot of things that were anything but. So who knows.
He has the presence of mind to look a little embarrassed at Levi's comment. Of course Levi of all people can function for himself, serious injuries or not. ]
I know that. But you don't have to do things on your own either.
[ He says, always a hypocrite, like he ever asks for help. He opens his mouth to say something insane like I know what it's like to lose a leg, but catches it before he can.
Do they even know? They didn't see him grow it back. Only Reiner and that kid — Falco, right? — saw that happen. Zeke knew about it, obviously. But his actual friends, the 104th, they didn't see him missing his leg and his eye, just missing a shoe or something. In the chaos and the death, probably no one thought much about it.
Maybe sometime.
He's tense watching the (former) captain scrub the kitchen counter. It doesn't really need it, but maybe Levi needs it, and even Eren isn't stupid enough to say anything about it. ]
…Right.
[ After some messing around in the living room, he'll manage the bedrooms. He's about to start back down the hall to his own to open the door and let Yamask out before he remembers and turns back around. ]
Captain. I…have a pet. It's a weird thing but it won't make a mess.
[ He's not asking permission, of course, since again he did already live here. And it's not like a dog, loud and messy. Actually a dog would probably be better, less unnerving than his crying ghost creature but WHATEVER. ]
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And that's why I delegated some tasks to you. [ The floors, Eren. The fucking floors. Maybe he also wants the ceilings? He's probably tall enough to scrub the ceilings. These ceilings look kind of weird to be honest but it's not like they clean themselves, right? ] Stick to it.
[ Worrying about him or whatever the hell just happened isn't one of said tasks, damn it. He is fine. Everything is fine. ]
[ Everything is maybe not entirely fine, considering he's going over the same surface twice even though it's absolutely cleaned to perfection at this point. He catches himself after a while and moves to the next spot. ]
[ He's feeling tired, like he's about to start shaking any moment. His injuries are still pretty fresh, he's been in the middle of a war and the only real rest since then was when the medics here conked him out to do surgery. But he refuses to acknowledge it. It's still his body, damn it, it's going to do what it's told-- ]
[ ...He finally bites the bullet and takes a seat to clean the table. Immediately, he feels better, and he hates it. ]
If it does, you're cleaning it up.
[ He says, not turning his head. He doesn't want any pet hair around, but maybe it's good for the brat or whatever. He figures it's just something innocent, like a giant rat or something. Definitely not prepared for what he's about to witness. ]
mixes weird angst with absurd pokemon shit JUST RP THINGS
Is it worry? Well…sure. Of course it is. Levi might not have looked in a mirror lately, and he looks better than he did before, but he still looks like shit. During the midst of it, Eren would never stop or slow down or let himself consider the damage to each of them. How could he? He'll see it in the Paths, spying on them, listening, whatever. At that point, he can't let himself stumble on their injuries, not Levi's or anyone else's.
But Eren here and now hasn't seen it outside of memory. Has this even happened yet when Eren comes from, the thing that wrecks Levi's face, takes half his hand? Eren isn't sure; he's not actually sure when that happens anyway, since he's not there when it does, and there's a big missing piece on how and what goes on. That whole lack of omniscience.
And Eren, especially now, returned somewhat to himself, isn't made of stone. He is worried. He's still a person behind his madness, but he doesn't know how to be one, and he knows he has no right to say anything that might be compassion.
What would people like them do with that?
He'll try to find ways to make it easier that won't piss Levi off. That's all he can do. He really does know what it's like to be missing a leg, and Levi isn't actually missing one.
So he opens the door.
And the pet in question floats out of the room. It doesn't talk, but it makes sort of…noise? Eren is used to hearing it, seeing its sort of crying face.
He knows a little more about what it is now thanks to that Pokemon professor guy. Explaining it to Levi…well, whatever.
He just closes the door again so Levi can't find some fault with his room for the time being. ]
It doesn't make a mess. Really.
[ Yamask is a shy sort of creature, lingering in the hallway half-visible when it catches sight of an unfamiliar person.
This is all completely normal, obviously!
Eren slips past it and leaves it to peer at Levi from where it is while he goes to finish the goddamn floors. At least the captain finally sat the hell down. ]
AND THINGS JUST GOT WEIRDER SOMEHOW,,
[ ...It's all over. Why is he still here? ]
[ He's still absently scrubbing at the table, including the underside, when the new kind of movement in the corner of his eye catches his attention. ]
--!
[ It's... some kind of a giant bug, he thinks, but why the fuck is it wailing?! He half-lifts himself out of the chair, brandishing the cleaning rag at the weird creature like a weapon, and glances around for Eren for an explanation. ]
The hell is that?
I'M LAUGHING
If he were someone else, he'd laugh.
Good thing he doesn't, or he might get something thrown at him. ]
It's…a Pokemon.
[ Nice explanation, Eren. ]
I got it from Folkmore and I guess it came with me. You're probably scaring it.
[ He's scaring it, as if a freaky ghost creature isn't scary on its own, carrying around that face thing. ]
It doesn't make noise all the time or anything. Just relax.
[ He got used to how absolutely weird Yamask is, but Folkmore was weirder all around than this place, and Eren's head is just an insane place to be, so his threshold is pretty high. He should have warned Levi better than "I have a pet" as if this is normal! ]
"oh a pet cool that's probably good for-- WHAT IN THE F**K"
[ None of those words mean anything to him -- who or what is "Folkmore"? Is it some weird pet store? -- but the thing is, apparently, not dangerous, so he slowly sits back down, though still keeping a suspicious eye over the spot the creature was just in. ]
It's disgusting.
[ Great, he's scaring it and hurting its feelings. ]
[ He's not telling Eren to get rid of it (yet) though, which is pretty much a victory. Truth is, this is about the last thing currently on his list of things worth stressing about, and he's certainly had A Week, so he elects to simply not deal with it. ]
[ Well, aside from making it known that he will not have some creepy infestation in his house. ]
If it drops that weird egg I'm burning everything it touches.
couldn't even get a NORMAL PET, so typical
It can apparently curse things, but not people. Probably? Look, he still doesn't actually know how Pokemon work, but it's never done anything more harmful than cry. ]
It's a mask, not an egg. I don't think I've ever seen it let go.
[ Even Eren doesn't know the horrible origin of Yamask carrying around its past life face or some awful thing. Who needs to know that! ]
Why don't you go sit on the couch instead? It's probably nicer than anything you've sat on in a long time. Maybe ever?
[ Eren could say the same, though it's on par with the one he had on Folkmore. As far as couches go, it's pretty standard, but modern middle-of-the-road couches feel amazing as far as he's concerned.
This also isn't pity, exactly, but Levi needs to rest and stop fussing over the already clean table. Maybe he'll fall asleep on the couch or something, though Eren has rarely seen him sleep anyway, and he figures Levi doesn't — can't — trust him. But baby steps. He can't chase the captain into his room and tell him to sleep so his injuries heal faster, but he can show him the unimaginable things that just exist in the living room and let Yamask float around undisturbed, and hopefully without bothering Levi too much. ]
fr fr
[ More importantly, if this exists, there's probably more. He feels like he should steel himself for that revelation. ]
...Are all animals in this place fucked up?
[ (He's going to see a whole bunch of them live a few days/weeks later when the portal invasion happens, but for now he's blissfully unaware of the odd local fauna.) ]
[ He frowns. He knows what a couch is (albeit it's quite different from the one in question, probably) and he doesn't think it's that important... although it's definitely kind of fancy if they have one in here. It was usually furniture for posh offices and rich bastards. ]
I'm fine here. [ Don't tell him what to do! ] I'm not done yet.
[ Except depending how much time has passed, he's probably done with the kitchen. But he also wants to clean his room, and the bathroom, and wash up himself, and have some tea, and he's extremely aware that he currently has enough energy for maybe 0.5 of those things which he should probably preserve anyway in case Eren does not have it together after all. ]
[ But if he acknowledges that, it means going to rest in a dusty room with dusty clothes and being annoyed by it instead. It's just too tempting to keep sitting here and postpone that moment indefinitely. Maybe he'll pass out right there on the kitchen chair if he stays long enough, and none of the other things need to be addressed until he's had his entire two hours of sleep and can actually take care of it. ]
kicks the pendulum back to angst sorry
[ He just lets the explanation go there. Folkmore can come later. Though Yamask isn't technically from Folkmore, is it? What a headache.
Speaking of headaches.
Eren's face, more or less expressionless for a lot of this, finally shifts towards anger. Anger is familiar, easy, so much easier than worry, sadness, despair.
He has almost never in his life talked back to Levi of all people, and he's not looking to do something that will start a fight, break a crutch or a chair or his face.
He has to swallow the words he wants to say.
What the fuck was the point if you just die anyway.
Levi might not include himself in the equation, the leftovers of Eren's devastation, but Eren includes him. How could he not? Levi was meant to live, too, though he didn't mean him to live like this. It is what it is, but living is living, isn't it?
He knows he has to be careful, but despite the next word that comes out of his mouth, Levi isn't his superior officer anymore and he's not a child who has to walk on eggshells to avoid latrine duty.
Well, that second part, who knows. ]
Captain. It's clean.
[ What he means is it's over. ]
You can take a fucking break awhile.
[ If Levi won't move, can't relax, doesn't want to go gape at the television or the washing machine or at the longest lasting shower in the world (by Eren's estimation), fine, but this…is too much to keep handling. For either of them. Something has to give, and Eren thinks he needs that something to be Levi instead of him, as unlikely as that is.
They know what Eren giving looks like, after all, and it's just violence. He doesn't know how to be anything else, though he's tried, spent months that Levi doesn't know about trying. But he's never been a softer person, he's been killing people since he was a child (something else Levi probably doesn't know about), and he can barely recall the years in between now that were good. If he thinks too much about them, he'll choke on it, on the memory of his parents, alive, and his friends, happy and naive and safe inside the walls that he tore down and ended the world with.
Will tear down. Whatever, same thing.
He takes a breath, audible in the room, too loud in his ears. ]
Please.
[ Please, what? Please rest? Please let me off the hook for five minutes? Not likely. Please take care of yourself so you will live? All of the above, captain. ]
oh no, how terrible. also i wasn't sure where to take this so hope this works, 1/3
[ He was just so tired of it. ]
[ And he's ready to bristle, to fight back, break a chair rather than a crutch this time, or maybe to deflect, demand Eren polishes the rest of the flat himself, or applaud him for being the first Titan to grow a serious pair to speak to him like that, but it's that final please that stops him in his tracks. ]
[ He thinks back to the first familiar face he ran into, Jean practically begging him to ask for help with anything, and now this. Sure, they might not need him, maybe never had, but he was still at the very least still responsible for his place in their lives, wasn't he? The place that circumstances carved out for them, for better or worse, but there was no making it disappear. And now he's just making everyone worry. ]
[ If someone was being a stubborn shithead like this in his own squad, he probably would have knocked them out himself and told them to stay in bed. ]
2/3
Guess I was asking for that one.
[ Almost like that time when Historia punched him, except Eren does not have the whole being the Queen thing going for him, so he'd better not get used to this. But at least this once, today, it seems Levi's going to let it slide for the sheer quality of him being right. ]
3/3
[ Guess that's that. His final effort of this awake-cycle not being productive. ]
Fine. Show me that thing you're so excited about.
[ Couch, television, or whatever else he hasn't mentioned aloud yet. ]
this works perfectly thx for not breaking a chair on him ;D
[ Eren slowly lets his breath go. He wasn't even totally aware he was holding it. He's not afraid of Levi, not now. He might have been once. He's afraid of…fucking up worse, maybe, which is an absolutely insane thing when he's done more than anyone can ever do (not yet), when nothing he's done is forgivable, when whatever is between them can't possibly be salvaged.
But Levi is still here, and like Eren has said over and over, they just…keep moving forward. Forward is a nebulous concept for Eren, stuck in what time even means, but that's all right.
The anger drains back off his face for the time being.
He'd offer an arm but he doesn't think Levi would appreciate that much. Maybe someday Levi can stand to touch him, or stand to accept his help, but it's been a long…however long it's actually been. Day. Week. Two thousand years.
But he's there, strong and alive and as present as he knows how to be, if Levi can't stay upright on his own.
At least the living room isn't far away. It might not be the thing the neat freak captain will appreciate most, like the washing machine still making noise down the hallway or the shower that runs hot for like an hour, but the television is a thing Eren can't even explain. He doesn't know if Levi has really seen the network devices, which are another entire thing. Eren himself has barely really watched the television but it's a distraction, something that requires absolutely no effort on either of their parts and is…miraculous, isn't it?
So that's where they'll go, the living room with the soft couch (it's not that soft but it seems impossible to Eren). He already dusted in here a little, made sure the floor was…well, passable. ]
You see that black square thing over there? It's…a television. It has pictures in it. Like photographs, but they move and talk.
[ This explanation is going to make so little sense, probably, because Eren doesn't understand it himself. ]
maybe next time :p
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i heard there were calls for more angst
:'))))
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i made it weird again soz
unforgivable tbh
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can either wrap here or play out the laundry inspection too o/
not me continuing this thread forever ig
LMAO also gently alters the timeline, hope that works
yes ofc
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i almost wrote "soup" in this thread so many times
the new trend: washing out blood stains with soup
don't put soup in the washing machine captain it won't get cleaner
me thinking about one of them washing a chapstick and ruining a bunch of clothes hahahahaha
oh no,,,