[Open] What do you mean, it's the 21st century?

[everylastone]

Characters: Eren Jaeger and OPEN
Location: A nameless street in the city, Shibusen and the training area
Rating: PG-13
Time: June 9th
Description: After finally being permitted out of the hospital’s quarantine Eren has nothing better to do than


a) Run in front of a car

b) Look like a suicidal idiot on a wall

c) Stare at everybody who’s not Caucasian white or has a non-standard hair-color during training time.

d) Do all of the above with predictable consequences.


((OOC: Hi, I'm trying a little different setup this time~ This is an open log with multiple scenarios set up in its comments. As always, comment wherever you want in whatever style you prefer and I'll go along with it!))

Comments

[pregames]

If Eren was trying to rile anyone up with that rhetoric, well, Atem has heard it before. Furthermore his faith held room for all kinds of beliefs. It was all part of a larger philosophical search for truth. That was part of what allowed him to hold on to the gods, the true gods and not just their emissaries, in spite of all that had come to pass.

"I have good reason to believe in my gods. Just as I am sure you have good reason to lack the faith of yours." He observed coolly, planting himself comfortably against the balustrade.

"I wonder why that is." And why it would merit such a vehement reaction more than anything. One with a mere lack of faith wouldn't feel so strongly. "Either way, I think you will fine more are of a like mind here."

[everylastone]

He made a gruff noise at the back of his throat but actually considered the question for a moment before he answered. Why didn't he believe into any gods? The answer was simple in Eren's head. If there were any gods like those crazy wall-worshipers wanted to believe, then why were the meager remnants of humanity scraping their lives like cattle inside walls waiting to be picked by the titans at any moment's notice? Where were the gods when 250.000 humans had been sent outside the walls to die so that the rest would not die from starvation as well? Why had they let it go on for so long and why had so many good people - the death of his mother flashed past his eyes; an unbidden memory - had to die in such gruesome manners that they had done nothing to deserve?

No, there were no gods, he decided. Humanity had to fight and size control of its fate by itself.

"It'd be either that or hating them for letting so many bad things happen. I'd rather direct my energies onto something I can grasp and change."

[pregames]

Why did that sound so familiar? Maybe it was because he harbored a similar determination for such a cause. Even when the priests had opposed him, the only direction he could move was forward, one foot in front of the other, striving for something better than the cards they had been dealt. It had cost him his life but it was worth it in the end, wasn't it? Even when it was lost in obscurity, that life had a purpose.

Sighing, shaking his head, there was no other option but to agree. “Even with gods on our side, we still have to take responsibility for our own fate.”

[everylastone]

"We do." He wasn't exactly sure what exactly he was agreeing to, which made Eren more careful with his words than he usually would be. Unlike what Jean thought he was no complete idiot who never thought about the words that left his mouth. Albeit Eren sometimes almost wished that he were naive enough to see things in such ways.

"What fate would that be in your case, if you don't mind me asking?"

[pregames]

"About that..." There was a time, not all that long ago, Atem would have avoided such a question. But that was quickly becoming a non option. It wasn't just about the thief; it wasn't about him at all. In truth, Atem had been lying to himself just as much as he had to others. He had believed it was his fate to protect them but fate was not a single continuous thread with one objective, a clear beginning and end. Rather it was a mess of knots with lines merging and spreading out in a manner that he was only beginning to untangle.

"I am not exactly certain anymore. I thought my time had come to an end but I have friends here. They assure me that is not the case. What I do know there is something in my world that I have to stop. Whatever the cost." What starts out uncertainly finishes with conviction, flood waters fit to burst out of the gate after containing it for so long.

[everylastone]

Eren could see that he had hit a topic that seemed ...important. Important in unpleasant ways, which automatically made him want to know more about it, just in case. He had to be more careful than usual as long as he was on his own.

"Whatever the cost, huh...?" He repeated, sounding thoughtful. He knew that feeling very well, but that didn't mean that he could just sympathize with anybody who felt that way. Not as long as he didn't know what that cost was. "And what would that cost be?"

[pregames]

Eren asked a lot of questions but didn’t really have a lot to say in response. Fortunately Atem was rather familiar with that sort of game.

“Are you somehow concerned with whether or not my belief in this cause transcends a certain morality?” Maybe that wasn’t the case but he thought the simple answer has been clear. The cost was an uncertainty but also irrelevant. He would surely pay it as his sworn duty. He had supposedly paid the ultimate price but even that had failed to appease the dark powers that ruled their fates and so he himself was left in the dark as to what more could possibly be left for him to give.

[everylastone]

"Maybe I am." His response came off a bit too challenging, as if it were an important matter to Eren. It sort of is, but not in the ways most people would fathom it. When it came down to it Eren himself had very little limits with how far he would go and whether or not he would consider the things he might end up doing justified.

"Would you tell people to go and die for your case?" To Eren this was a question of determination rather than morality.

[pregames]

"It is not a matter of whether I would or not. People have died for my sake. And I would allow it again if the benefits were clear. Such is conviction." If it looked like he had smirked it was only because of the intense irony in those words and that was the easiest way to face it.

But he quickly sighs and pushes away from the comfort of the railing, crossing his arms. They had strayed too long in territory in which the pharaoh was still growing comfortable but he tried to shrug it off surreptitiously. "What a topic for introductions though. How about we try something more innocuous next time?"

[everylastone]

Eren regarded him a moment longer with eyes that spoke of somebody far too old and experienced for somebody his age. Of somebody who could talk about such things and understand no matter how simple and straightforward he seemed to otherwise be.

Then he shrugged his shoulders and the moment dispelled. "I guess so. Sorry, but I'm not really good with small talk. It's not that I don't get or like it, just..." He trailed off just to shrug his shoulders again with an awkward look of 'no clue how to put this into words'. "It seems all too often like a waste of time when we're living in a world where anybody can die any moment."

[pregames]

"You would fit in well with my advisors. It seemed all anyone ever had were dire matters of the utmost importance for me to deal with. Needless to say I relished the breaks where I could get it." It may come off as flippant but it’s not the same thing as implying that he made light of his responsibilities. Thought it hardly mattered to him if Eren, and all his understanding, picked up on it. His resolve never wavered.

/kick me if Atem already mentioned that he's a ruler and I forgot /)_(\

[everylastone]

His lips quirked up at the idea that he'd make a good adviser for anything. That was Armin's specialty, Eren got passionate far too quickly. (Albeit he also didn't think that he'd do even half as catastrophically at it as Jean liked to proclaim. Putting your heart into something didn't mean that you had to switch your brain off.)

Ironically enough Eren sort of got it. Sort of. "So you're some kind of commanding officer where you come from?"

Nah, he tends not to say so unless prompted

[pregames]

"As pharaoh I was the head of our military, yes. But we were responsible for... well... everything." There’s no hiding the pride as he admits to it; neither was he trying to show off. It was a fact and one of the few secrets he hadn't kept.

[everylastone]

Eren thought about it for a moment before he inclined his head like a curious kid. "Does a 'pharooh' have to be that young? Taking charge of everything seems to be a lot to push on a kid, even if you get a lot of people helping you." Atem talked like an adult and he seemed to be pretty mature, but even considering that some people were smaller than others he still had to be some years younger than Eren.

Pushing that kind of responsibility on a kid didn't seem fair.

[pregames]

"I does not work like that that exactly. I was my father's only son and heir apparent. When he died there was no other option but to take the throne." While it was true that some kings came to power so young that they required the aid of a regent, Atem was loath to consider that option and had actually fought against it. It only made a mess of the succession.

Whatever the reason, he took it seriously and without resentment.

[everylastone]

Ah, so he was something like a king...

Ha, that was actually a strange thing to think, imaging him talking to the king - any king, really - as if they were from the same rank. Once again Eren didn't know what exactly to say to that, so he remained silent at first.

Best begin with the dead father, he guessed... "Sorry with that about your father. It sucks, losing part of your family."

[pregames]

At that, Atem averted his gaze to the horizon, the western edge of the earth to be precise. The direction in which the soul took flight when after shedding its corporeal form. He remained at ease, unperturbed, wistful more than anything "It does. More than anything"

Curiously, he had to wonder why Eren put it like that, not just sympathy but real empathy. "You sound as though you have experienced such loss as well."

[everylastone]

"I have."

Shifting his stance, Eren looked at what Atem's eyes might see as well. To him, there was no religion or lore about what might have happened to the souls of the dead - once you were eaten that was it - but the un-obscured horizon still had a special meaning to him.

"My family lived in the Shiganshina District, back when the Colossal Titan broke Wall Maria. A part of it fell on our house and crushed my mom's feet. I had to watch as she was eaten." He would never forget that titan. Never never Never! Shaking the dark memory off he stepped towards the edge of the railing, concentrating on the open horizon as his hands grabbed it tightly. "My father had been away due to his work as a doctor at that time. He survived by sheer luck, but he was never the same after that. He vanished soon after as well and never showed up again. Hannes thinks that he must have died somewhere. I think the same."

He looked at Atem with unbroken green eyes. "All that happened five years ago."