[No yelling, actually. Eren's lip ripples into a one-sided snarl, his hands flexing and clenching into fists. His eyes dart back to the screen, and he rolls his head to crack his neck again. He wants hearts to stop beating.]
I'm sure as Hell not picking the poison they tell me to drink. Fuck this...
[No coin, then. He kicks the cabinet back over and goes back to cleaning.
[The coin is found quickly; tossed carelessly into the growing pile in the corner.]
At least we'll find out what happens if you don't do shit, right? [Alright. He yells a bit when he says that.]
[Oh, the not yelling is worse. Eren snarls and kicks, and Aubrey’s arms are half-raised in a guard when he turns around. He might notice that, might not; she suspects it doesn’t matter.
[Mm. Yeah. Making real good use of the time they have left, and all. It’s not like Aubrey doesn’t get Eren’s frustration, though; it’s not his fault the environment is familiar to her.
[She does decide she won’t be sharing that with him, though. Not like this.
[The coin is noted. Aubrey keeps by the cabinet, for now.]
Guess we will....
cw: oh this is so fucking cringe EREN REAL ABUSIVE BOYFRIEND ENERGY HERE
[Urgh. Forget what she just told herself. They have to talk. It’ll come out somehow. Aubrey can trust Eren. There are things he hasn’t told her, but she wants to…]
I mean… [She watches his hands. Watches for a snarl.] …it’s not… [Mumbling.] …completely new, to me....
[The pieces aren't difficult to put together, really; somewhere Aubrey knows, or close. They're in a living room - there would be a kitchen. Eren thinks of his home - thinks of how it would feel to open a door and walk into it, trashed.
[He feels cold, rotten, rage. It's time to stop pacing. He sits on the couch. He takes his eyes off of Aubrey.
[His hands twist in his lap...]
Tell me more...[His voice has gone quiet; it's not soft, but...comparatively, there's...care to it. It's always been there.]
[It feels wrong, somehow, that Eren would know this before… not anyone else, exactly. But does Sunny? Kel? If Aubrey had her way, they never would; the future they know doesn’t go the way she would have wanted, though.
[Fine. Whatever. It’s just a house.
[Sucks to be hers, is all.
[Eren sits on the couch, and Aubrey moves to sit… by it, actually. On the floor, at the corner. The person sitting there cares. She can believe that, from Eren.]
It’s… been like this, for years now. [Four years? Aubrey lets out a sigh. She pulls up her knees and crosses her arms over them, head resting sideways on top.] Well. Kind of like it. [The walls aren’t cracked....]
I used to hate calling it home. Then I did, for a while. And now I just…
[It's just what he suspected, and what Maruki's been trying to explain to him. They're here - not "home," but in a place Aubrey hated to call home - because Aubrey's mind knows this place...
[He can't pretend to understand everything that Maruki has said about cognitive manipulation and the collective unconscious - whoever's in charge fucks with all of their minds, and makes their minds fuck themselves back, too. That's what Eren knows. Now, Aubrey is a target.
[His rage hasn't died. It festers just like everything else.
That. [He says it like he doesn't believe it - like "that" is being dismissed entirely.]
Or, you expected a consequence, so you found one...[His voice has gone idle, like he's talking to himself more than anyone - just thinking out loud...
[He looks at Aubrey. He didn't notice himself mirroring her, his knees drawn up to his chest where he sits on the couch, arms folded over them.]
There could be something to this. I can't pretend to know exactly how it works. There's power to our memories, the things we think...
[They haven't learned nothing, actually - just not much more than people like Maruki already know. Eren's not sure how much he's supposed to say, but he trusts Aubrey with it all.]
I don't think it's a coincidence, but I don't know if it's a punishment, either.
[Ahead; they entered through the one behind them. There shouldn’t be a door here in her real house, but there shouldn’t be an arcade cabinet or coin or off-white couch, either. Best not to focus on the discrepancies now, though.]
[Really. She would have been content to glance over her shoulder on the way out. She thinks that, anyway; Aubrey’s thought a lot of things that turned out to be very, very wrong.
[Still.
[No windows. No kitchen. No upstairs. No cracks in the walls. No beige-yellow couch. No newspapers from the 90s, no fuzz off the static TV, no whiff of decay, no drink labels that change through the years. No hook for a pink raincoat; no garbage bags from half-hearted efforts. No beers in a fridge that he forgot to take with him. No strewn magazines that might have been interesting to her once, maybe about 16 years ago. No unswept ash. No scattered glass.
[No more mess.
[It’s not even a house.]
…Yeah. [It comes out soft, despite. Aubrey hasn’t really moved.]
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no subject
I'm sure as Hell not picking the poison they tell me to drink. Fuck this...
[No coin, then. He kicks the cabinet back over and goes back to cleaning.
[The coin is found quickly; tossed carelessly into the growing pile in the corner.]
At least we'll find out what happens if you don't do shit, right? [Alright. He yells a bit when he says that.]
no subject
[Oh, the not yelling is worse. Eren snarls and kicks, and Aubrey’s arms are half-raised in a guard when he turns around. He might notice that, might not; she suspects it doesn’t matter.
[Mm. Yeah. Making real good use of the time they have left, and all. It’s not like Aubrey doesn’t get Eren’s frustration, though; it’s not his fault the environment is familiar to her.
[She does decide she won’t be sharing that with him, though. Not like this.
[The coin is noted. Aubrey keeps by the cabinet, for now.]
Guess we will....
cw: oh this is so fucking cringe EREN REAL ABUSIVE BOYFRIEND ENERGY HERE
[It makes him angry; he looks it.]
No one's going to hurt you, Aubrey.
I'm on your side.
I realize retroactively I should’ve put a cw for implied abuse on this whole thread SO
It’s not you.
[And yet they stay crossed. Third fold, now; firmer.]
Don’t worry about it.
no subject
No one, I said. Not while you're with me. [She says he's not the one scaring her.]
no subject
[It’s not his fault. It’s really, really not his fault.]
No one. Yeah.
[There was no one in that couch. Not that Eren checked.]
This place. ’m on edge. That’s all.
no subject
Yeah. [Short. Sharp.] I know...
I don't know what I was expecting. Not this. [They're on two entirely different pages; he doesn't realize.]
no subject
[Not entirely…!]
Mmh… me neither.
[Urgh. Forget what she just told herself. They have to talk. It’ll come out somehow. Aubrey can trust Eren. There are things he hasn’t told her, but she wants to…]
I mean… [She watches his hands. Watches for a snarl.] …it’s not… [Mumbling.] …completely new, to me....
no subject
[Something clicks instantly. His hands stop flexing; demeanor...relaxes, but his eyes are sharper, more focused. He watches Aubrey.]
What do you mean? [No. He knows what he wants to ask.] You know this place?
no subject
[She feels spotlighted. It’s not always a good feeling.
[The disclosure is in motion, though.]
Not… exactly, this place. [Aubrey stares at the floor. Small nod, across the room.] There’d… be a kitchen....
no subject
[He feels cold, rotten, rage. It's time to stop pacing. He sits on the couch. He takes his eyes off of Aubrey.
[His hands twist in his lap...]
Tell me more...[His voice has gone quiet; it's not soft, but...comparatively, there's...care to it. It's always been there.]
no subject
[It feels wrong, somehow, that Eren would know this before… not anyone else, exactly. But does Sunny? Kel? If Aubrey had her way, they never would; the future they know doesn’t go the way she would have wanted, though.
[Fine. Whatever. It’s just a house.
[Sucks to be hers, is all.
[Eren sits on the couch, and Aubrey moves to sit… by it, actually. On the floor, at the corner. The person sitting there cares. She can believe that, from Eren.]
It’s… been like this, for years now. [Four years? Aubrey lets out a sigh. She pulls up her knees and crosses her arms over them, head resting sideways on top.] Well. Kind of like it. [The walls aren’t cracked....]
I used to hate calling it home. Then I did, for a while. And now I just…
Can’t.
[She shuts her eyes.]
Maybe that’s the consequence.
no subject
[He can't pretend to understand everything that Maruki has said about cognitive manipulation and the collective unconscious - whoever's in charge fucks with all of their minds, and makes their minds fuck themselves back, too. That's what Eren knows. Now, Aubrey is a target.
[His rage hasn't died. It festers just like everything else.
[He's still listening.]
Consequence.
Your post?
no subject
Yeah.
[She moves her head just enough to glance back, up at Eren. Weird from this angle.]
I mean, you don’t seem to recognize it… but I’m not great at theory stuff.
Could be dumb luck.
no subject
Or, you expected a consequence, so you found one...[His voice has gone idle, like he's talking to himself more than anyone - just thinking out loud...
[He looks at Aubrey. He didn't notice himself mirroring her, his knees drawn up to his chest where he sits on the couch, arms folded over them.]
There could be something to this. I can't pretend to know exactly how it works. There's power to our memories, the things we think...
[They haven't learned nothing, actually - just not much more than people like Maruki already know. Eren's not sure how much he's supposed to say, but he trusts Aubrey with it all.]
I don't think it's a coincidence, but I don't know if it's a punishment, either.
no subject
[Expectations. Memory. Power. Reality.
[Aubrey sits up straighter.]
You get that from Maruki?
no subject
Yes. He's a good friend of mine. There's a lot of truth to what he says, Aubrey. I know that for a fact.
What has he told you?
no subject
[“Good friend.” Oh. Wasn’t Eren seeing him for counseling…?
[Whatever. More important topics at hand—]
A lot. I mean, maybe you know more, but—
Memory shapes reality. [She knocks her knuckles back against the couch. It’s not quite the right shade.] That was the big one.
no subject
I wonder what may happen if we try opening one of those doors while thinking of something specific.
[Memory begets influence begets control, no...?]
This wasn't a waste.
no subject
[Aubrey’s on her feet. She nods.]
Right. Then this one—
[Ahead; they entered through the one behind them. There shouldn’t be a door here in her real house, but there shouldn’t be an arcade cabinet or coin or off-white couch, either. Best not to focus on the discrepancies now, though.]
—leads to a hallway.
[Hand on the knob, firm. She turns it, and—
[Well.
[Fucking nothing.
[It doesn’t budge.]
no subject
no subject
[Hand drops.]
…Right.
[A pause. Real, fake; memory, illusion; Aubrey’s in no rush to investigate this wreckage any further.]
Should we go back, then?
no subject
[She hated to call this place "home," but...]
When you're ready. [He's not sure if she might want to say goodbye. He turns away from her just slightly - just in case.]
no subject
[That reply—it catches her.
[He turns away slightly. That gets her, too.
[Really. She would have been content to glance over her shoulder on the way out. She thinks that, anyway; Aubrey’s thought a lot of things that turned out to be very, very wrong.
[Still.
[No windows. No kitchen. No upstairs. No cracks in the walls. No beige-yellow couch. No newspapers from the 90s, no fuzz off the static TV, no whiff of decay, no drink labels that change through the years. No hook for a pink raincoat; no garbage bags from half-hearted efforts. No beers in a fridge that he forgot to take with him. No strewn magazines that might have been interesting to her once, maybe about 16 years ago. No unswept ash. No scattered glass.
[No more mess.
[It’s not even a house.]
…Yeah. [It comes out soft, despite. Aubrey hasn’t really moved.]
I’m done here.
no subject
[He goes to the corner of the room, stooping to sift through the pile of garbage he's accumulated there until he finds the little gold coin.
[He takes it over to Aubrey, the overturned cabinet; leans down, sets it upright again.
[He stands up. He takes Aubrey's hand, pressing the coin into her palm; her battle this time.]
I'm right behind you.
they were supposed to go insane!!!
THEY WERE SUPPOSED TO GO INSANE!!!
the confidant only ranked up I fear
TEEHEE
8,)
I GUESS WE CAN WRAP? OKAY AUBREN! OKAY!!!