AEFENGLOM IC INBOX ... fellas

[trost]

⌚ @ "kirstein"
text | call | video | deliveries

Comments

at like 2am (before jean leaves)

[usurpers]

There’s a place called Oregon where Jeans are just pants.

oh my god

[trost]

[ he needs to figure out how to silence the watch when he's asleep ]

i was asslep you asshole are you just nocturnal now

[ his typing is whack because his eyes are still groggy ]

[usurpers]

No

[ he just can’t sleep, and then shortly after in persistence: ]

About Oregon

[trost]

[ he should NOT REPLY because he wants to sleep and he already feels like he will HATE THIS CONVERSATION and yet, here he is, rubbing his eyes and starting to type. ]

Yes. I read what you said. [ normal typing now like a proper boy, because he's more awake than he wants to be. ]

So I know you woke me up just to tell me my name means pants. [ They are both reading 'Jeans' as 'Jahns' right now. ]

[usurpers]

[ well, yes, but. eren will not be bested by a pair of jahns. ]

Asswipe I woke you up to tell you about Oregon.

[trost]

Really. So the fact that my name means pants had nothing to do with it.

You really came here to educate me, rather than to give me shit with some low-hanging fruit.........

[ SOUNDS FAKE EREN!!!!!!!!!!! ]

[usurpers]

Your name meaning pants is just an extra.

[trost]

[ he wants to go back to bed so bad but it's nearly the day he's heard he'll be returning home, so he'll stay up just because ... these might really be their last moments together. ]

If my sleep schedule is fucked up tomorrow, I'm blaming you.

So what's so special about this Oregan? Besides the fact that they name things after people and need to stop that.

[usurpers]

I’ll take responsibility.

[ just kidding................ unless? ]

They’re not naming things after you either, don’t flatter yourself. It’s mountainous and part of The United States of America. Land of the Free and Home of the Brave, but that part’s bullshit.

[trost]

Anyone who gives themselves those titles have to be full of bullshit.

I've never heard of The United States of America. I'm guessing you know someone from there? [ Eren actually having friends other than people in the 104th is a concept that's difficult to get one's head around. Then again, Jean doesn't really have any friends but people in the military. ]

[usurpers]

[ jean please he is capable of making friends ]

His name’s Jonas. He’s about our age, from the year 2016.

[trost]

2016... That's more than a thousand years from our time. What the hell?

He a friend of yours? Since you've been here so long, you've probably made a few.

[ Eren seemed ready to break off all his bonds and set most of the world ablaze back home. Here, he was willing to spend an evening with Jean, and he even reached out to talk to him tonight. The time here has changed him, and it only makes sense that good friends probably played a part in that. ]

[usurpers]

Their futures might be more different than ours, but I've seen it. It's . . . different. The clothes and technology. There's something called an empeethree that plays music

[ . . . ]

I'd like my old friends back

[ deleted. too emotional, too corny and too stupid. he's on dpms (dragon precoital midsummer syndrome) and rubs the heat off his face— or tries to. ]

[trost]

[ wow you can tell him, this is a safe space ereh. meanwhile jean has no idea any of this is going on. ]

Did you see it through the dreams? I've seen some enchanted trinkets here that play music. Maybe there's magic in Oregon too ...

[usurpers]

[ not yet he needs to suffer ]

Not the Empeethree, but he's told me about it and we're going to listen soon. I've seen radios in dreams, a lot more advanced than ours. You can carry it around with you.

There isn't magic. [ . . . ] But there's Mac and Cheese.

[trost]

I'm surprised it can play music without being a musical instrument. But someone told me there are different kinds of music in other worlds.

[ Music beyond that of the lute or the orchestra bands the nobles had the pleasure of listening to inside the interior. ]

You should ask him what 'Metal Music' is.

[ That person didn't explain it to Jean and he's still curious. ]

What's Mac and Cheese? Mackerel with cheese? [ They don't exactly go together but it's still food. ]

[usurpers]

Music made from metal?

[ he thinks ur testing him :( ]

Noodle pasta topped with cheddar cheese. [ . . . ] Sasha would love it.

[trost]

[ When has Jean ever lied to you, Ereh!!! 'Metal Music' is apparently a real thing! Though, the name is all he really knows about it. As he reads about this 'Mac and Cheese', he's entertaining the thought of it, how it might look like. He's heard about noodles now, so he's imagining noodles with cheese on top of them? It sounds like something that could make a person full really quickly.

The conversation was pleasant before, but then Eren goes and brings up that one very sore spot. ]

You ... why'd you have to bring her up ... [ HE'S SAD NOW? EREN????? ]

[usurpers]

[ because this is fun > friendship with jean > friendship in general > friends > i don't want them to die > wait one already did.

the thought process is odd off-screen, but makes an escalating wave in eren's head from high to low. maybe they were better off just talking about mac and cheese, but the thought came, and then came the guilt, and then came the necessity to speak when he never had. it's the first time he's set foot on this topic and he feels that— if he doesn't now he never will. he takes the risked leap with eyes closed. ]

I never should've called any of you to Liberio.

[trost]

[ This isn't something he really wants to talk about, because when he thinks about Sasha it still gets him directly in the heart. With Marco, the pain of his passing continues to gnaw at a part of Jean like a dull ache that might never cease. With Sasha, however, it's more recent, so thinking about her feels like being stabbed directly in the heart. There will always be regrets that he has about her. Why couldn't he have spotted her assailant before it was too late? Why didn't he remind everyone to stay on their guard because they were technically still in enemy territory? Why couldn't he have been a little nicer to her throughout their friendship? It's easy to be thinking these things in hindsight, and he knows that. There's nothing that can be done now.

This isn't what he wants to be talking about, but he also finds it necessary. Jean was looking at the month he's been given here as a month of respite. A month where he can actually rest and make use of the unique opportunity Eren's presence in this world presents him. It was a chance to spend time with an old friend in a world away from all their problems, because they're likely to never have this again when he returns at the end of the month. All that is true, but he's not so foolish to think that everything is fine and resolved now.

He doesn't like to sweep things under the rug. That goes against a large part of his core values. When something needs to be discussed, he will discuss it. ]

Oh, did you figure that out? That's right. She would still be alive if you hadn't done that.

[usurpers]

[ he’s known since the second he heard. the ride back to paradis was a silent nightmare next to his brother, where the steam from his limbs would mask most of the choked sobs held hostage in his throat. ]

I thought it was the right call and I could count on everyone. Until Connie said it. [ that she was dead. when the news had come that she was shot, there was still a shred of hope. through the doors, all that blood— it broke everything apart. ] I made a promise after that.

[trost]

[ Though his words were harsh before, Jean knows the brunt of the blame doesn't lay on Eren's shoulders. It's a combination of factors that put Sasha in that position; ultimately, if there's anything to blame, it's the cruel world that forces them and the people they fought against to act in these ways. Oddly, it's a little relieving to hear about the guilt Eren has. They were wondering if Eren had even cared back then, and Connie was certainly entertaining the thought that Eren had a genuine, amused laugh over Sasha's passing. Jean always had a feeling that wasn't the case, because it wasn't like Eren at all.

It's nice to know he still has his humanity, and they can mourn their good friend in solidarity. He has some things to say about what happened, but he'll listen to what Eren is sharing first. ]

What's this promise ...?

[usurpers]

[ it might seem as if jean has been left on read, not because he doesn't want to answer but because . . . he needs a bit. just a few minutes to reflect, and wonder to himself: is telling jean the right choice now? he'll only know after he does it. ]

That I'd never involve any one of you in my choices again.

[ anyone else wasn't the right word choice— because eren had the capability to use other's usefulness to get what and where he wanted. the pool he's grown to love, though, he wanted that off limits. even for himself. ]

[trost]

[ It's all starting to come together now, why Eren had called them out then refused to speak to them and pushed Mikasa and Armin away right after. They did all wonder how Eren even felt about Sasha's passing, if he was mourning her just like the rest of them, and it seems like her death had a bigger impact on him than Jean had thought. ]

It's not that you involved us. It's that you did whatever you wanted without consulting anyone. You being in Liberio meant that we had no choice but to make the ambush.

Do you understand what I'm saying? We were in the Corps together. It sucked being in a team with a reckless asshole like you, but we were still a team.

[ If Eren had just told them what was going on, all the cards would be out on the table and they'd have been able to make more informed choices. Of course, he can think of a few reasons for Eren's secrecy too. Not wanting Historia to suffer probably played a large part in it, since a titan with royal blood was necessary. There's also the fact that he probably just didn't want them to know he had planned to use the Rumbling and had found a way to.

Jean doesn't actually blame Eren for what happened. He had a part in it, but so did everyone else and the circumstances surrounding them. Back home, Jean's even being friendly with Sasha's actual killer, so it's not like he can still hold Eren accountable for it now. Still, he thinks the guy deserves a good kick and a scolding for all of his decisions back home. ]

[usurpers]

[ that's going to be h i l a r i o u s if eren actually consulted YOUR QUEEN first and that would count, so. staying quiet.

another stretch of quiet comes; sometimes eren types, sometimes he removes everything. "team". the word had only begun to heal in eren recently in aefenglom, and it took lengthy persistence. even now— when he thinks about it again, thinks about jean, and connie, sasha, historia, mikasa, armin . . . squad levi comes to mind. every wrong eren's made comes to mind and all the rights when it came to successful teamwork are foggy. ]

You wouldn't have even known if I didn't send you that letter.

[ he would still be mia. maybe he'd come back, maybe he wouldn't. it was a suicidal risk that would probably have more potential to go wrong than right, even if zeke was on his side. it would've been what he'd have to pay to keep them away.

looking at it all over again, then he'd be in trouble. there was no way out. there was no other choice. what would he do, if he died before he could've done anything worthwhile? he'd find a way, was the initial thought, but time was short and allies were slim . . .

he misses those days. he wants them back and can't have it ever again, but to think they all still feel that way— eren's eyes burn. ]

I don't want your forgiveness, but I'm sorry.