[There's a pause on his end, because boy, this is a lot of unpack. He feels for Eren and he feels for Mikasa, but...this solution doesn't sit right with him]
I won't say anything.
[To make that clear]
But is that really your plan? Pretend you're not here and hope everyone whose ever met you plays along?
Keeping her in the dark won't keep her safe from that, Eren.
What if someone tells her that you're here, and she decides to go looking for you before you're "ready"? She could walk right into a very dangerous situation.
[ there’s silence, but only in text. eren reads and rereads and— if she went after him, or they, after everything— he did something wrong. he fucked something up. it’s all a possibility but it’s one that feels like a pitchfork was stabbed into his belly and someone was dragging the rest out mercilessly. himself, maybe.
and now she’s fae, the scent barely there but enough to remind him of the fizzy tang of exoskeleton and liquid between his teeth. he wouldn’t try to eat her if he were lucid enough, the true fae had simply bothered him. but what if he imprisoned her (again)? what if, what if, what if? he was already following her when she wasn’t looking. his feelings are tangled in a web of possibilities and all he could feel was— what was he feeling?
it wasn’t regret. it wasn’t disdain. ya boi’s simply sad and confused. ]
Did she have a scarf anywhere?
[ change of subject, but important. eren didn’t see one, but he had to be sure it wasn’t resting anywhere after getting drunk on milk. ]
[He can't say he's surprised by Eren's sadness and confusion. Eren liked to think he had handles on situations, but sometimes? That simply wasn't possible. Sure. It was possible that Mikasa might want nothing to do with him again.
But he doubts it. Bonds like that aren't so easily severed.]
She didn't.
Honestly, she was acting like someone who had a break up when we talked about Bonds. Seems like she's refusing to get one. She's looking into alternatives at least, but...
I wouldn’t blame her. [ not when he made it seem like he enslaved her— not that he made that information readily available to elliot. jumbled up words and out of context clues weren’t enough to point to anything solid. ] She’ll come around to it. For now, that’s all I need to know.
[Talk about defeatist. Elliot is tempted to say more, but luckily he has talked to Crow by now, and Crow did point out that maybe Mikasa won't be as forgiving. They don't know yet.]
Well, thanks for letting me know. I'll try to keep quiet about you. But let me know if you need anything, okay?
[ or was hiding under a rock, forever, a possibility? not the first or the last time his directness is considered pessimistic, even when he was nine. fifteen. seventeen. temporary as it was— eren already told elliot once before: he doesn’t want forgiveness to begin with. if anything, he’s glad she’s upset. it means he did something right. wrong. you know what? whatever. either way it went, even if it upsets him deeply, he’s relieved about the ill-feeling. something god damn twisted to be feeling relieved about, but that’s how the story goes. her feelings down a drain and her scarf in the trash. ]
Thanks.
[ that’s really all he wanted in the end, but unasked opinions would always be littered in between the second he opened up. it makes him wonder for a second, if he made the right choice in saying anything at all. it makes him think if he should be going at things alone again because no one could be trusted with his intimacy but himself. it’s in elliot’s hand now, and after this— he still doesn’t feel as emotionally safe as he would humanly like to be. judgement follows left and right. or was he just projecting? maybe he’ll never be, with anyone. maybe he needs a double? bad idea. cut off all his bonds? also bad idea. emotions . . . relationships . . . they’re all complicated and eren is constipated on both accounts.
it’s easier when you just fuck.
he’ll find out. whether he closes off further for a while or manages to stay the same would depend heavily on how much he doesn’t want to hear a single drop more of how much he’s wrong. ]
[He leaves the conversation there and feels ... tired. He can tell Eren didn't like his opinions, it was obvious enough. But...Eren so rarely liked his opinions whenever things got Real. Where Class VII thrived on hearing different perspectives to help make decisions, Eren seemed to shun them more and more.
Ah well, he's not going to take it personally this time since he knows Eren is upset about his friend showing up. Eren may be off doing...whatever it is he does, but at least Elliot had some plan to handle things, for now]
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I won't say anything.
[To make that clear]
But is that really your plan? Pretend you're not here and hope everyone whose ever met you plays along?
Are you planning to ever be ready?
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I don't know when she's from and she smells like fae. I ate the last fae we dreamed about without thinking twice.
Until I figure this out, I can't risk her survival.
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What if someone tells her that you're here, and she decides to go looking for you before you're "ready"? She could walk right into a very dangerous situation.
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You don't have the whole picture. At least trust what I gave you.
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You don't know that for sure. We went after Crow, even after everything he did.
I don't. But I don't think you have the whole picture either.
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and now she’s fae, the scent barely there but enough to remind him of the fizzy tang of exoskeleton and liquid between his teeth. he wouldn’t try to eat her if he were lucid enough, the true fae had simply bothered him. but what if he imprisoned her (
again)? what if, what if, what if? he was already following her when she wasn’t looking. his feelings are tangled in a web of possibilities and all he could feel was— what was he feeling?it wasn’t regret. it wasn’t disdain. ya boi’s simply sad and confused. ]
Did she have a scarf anywhere?
[ change of subject, but important. eren didn’t see one, but he had to be sure it wasn’t resting anywhere after getting drunk on milk. ]
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But he doubts it. Bonds like that aren't so easily severed.]
She didn't.
Honestly, she was acting like someone who had a break up when we talked about Bonds. Seems like she's refusing to get one. She's looking into alternatives at least, but...
[That's going to be a worry]
I'd be willing to bet she remembers the fight.
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I wouldn’t blame her. [ not when he made it seem like he enslaved her— not that he made that information readily available to elliot. jumbled up words and out of context clues weren’t enough to point to anything solid. ] She’ll come around to it. For now, that’s all I need to know.
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Not sure I'd be so optimistic about that.
But you didn't answer me before, are you going to let her know you're here one day?
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It’s inevitable.
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[Talk about defeatist. Elliot is tempted to say more, but luckily he has talked to Crow by now, and Crow did point out that maybe Mikasa won't be as forgiving. They don't know yet.]
Well, thanks for letting me know. I'll try to keep quiet about you. But let me know if you need anything, okay?
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[ or was hiding under a rock, forever, a possibility? not the first or the last time his directness is considered pessimistic, even when he was nine. fifteen. seventeen. temporary as it was— eren already told elliot once before: he doesn’t want forgiveness to begin with. if anything, he’s glad she’s upset. it means he did something right. wrong. you know what? whatever. either way it went, even if it upsets him deeply, he’s relieved about the ill-feeling. something god damn twisted to be feeling relieved about, but that’s how the story goes. her feelings down a drain and her scarf in the trash. ]
Thanks.
[ that’s really all he wanted in the end, but unasked opinions would always be littered in between the second he opened up. it makes him wonder for a second, if he made the right choice in saying anything at all. it makes him think if he should be going at things alone again because no one could be trusted with his intimacy but himself. it’s in elliot’s hand now, and after this— he still doesn’t feel as emotionally safe as he would humanly like to be. judgement follows left and right. or was he just projecting? maybe he’ll never be, with anyone. maybe he needs a double? bad idea. cut off all his bonds? also bad idea. emotions . . . relationships . . . they’re all complicated and eren is constipated on both accounts.
it’s easier when you just fuck.
he’ll find out. whether he closes off further for a while or manages to stay the same would depend heavily on how much he doesn’t want to hear a single drop more of how much he’s wrong. ]
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[He leaves the conversation there and feels ... tired. He can tell Eren didn't like his opinions, it was obvious enough. But...Eren so rarely liked his opinions whenever things got Real. Where Class VII thrived on hearing different perspectives to help make decisions, Eren seemed to shun them more and more.
Ah well, he's not going to take it personally this time since he knows Eren is upset about his friend showing up. Eren may be off doing...whatever it is he does, but at least Elliot had some plan to handle things, for now]