[Yeah alas, his only previous interact with dragons before Eren was dragons trying to kill him. But then again, flute players can be just as deadly -- may this world never have to deal with the calamity named Mint.
He gives a little nod and brief smile before he pulls away and gets back to treating the coon pelts. It's just a little more washing before he can finish hanging it all to dry on the branch. He doesn't talk, not really knowing what to say and instead letting the silence linger.
When then fire is ready he'll bring the skinned raccoon body over for the fire, offering it to Eren to cook. He'd cook it if Eren didn't know how, but his grilling skills were....well, less than stunning.
But oh...Eren brought that up. He pauses for a moment, thinking back on that moment and also hesitating as to what to say. He sits down by the fire. ]
...That I was being naive and weak.
I had instructors that'd rip into me for choices like that unless I made it clear I had thought every angle through. Guess it got me in the habit of defending my choices around soldier types.
. . . I'm not your instructor and I'm not a soldier here.
[ he's not going to chew him out, especially when it wasn't about killing animals, or lacking survival skills— he just didn't want to leave a few kids motherless, as incoherent as it could be at a philosophical standpoint, but he's just. not here to argue about that, there's no reason to.
he's observed elliot enough. after a pause, eren's voice cracks the silence together with the fire gaining life, and while he does that— prepares the coon, skewers it, and places it about the fire on his makeshift grill of sticks. easy. ]
Just someone who needs to get back home. Every second counts. [ eren's brows furrow, but not into slants of irritation as earlier— they're reminiscent of worry (although he's no longer worrying that this is the case, but, feelings). ] If you don't want to be responsible for orphans, that's enough of an answer. You know how to hold your own out here.
Hearing half of those things felt like I wasted my time. Time I gave my heart into.
[ or that it was just taken for granted, which, would probably irk just about anyone on the spot. it doesn't seem like a big deal, and perhaps it wasn't— but the anchor that brings down eren's words is heavy and trying to convey the sincerity of his feelings without bombarding the other with, well. detail bombs that would make any night end kind of heavy. ]
I'm just not the kind of person who could afford that.
[He listens to that answer, trying to envision it from Eren's point of view. He thought Elliot was telling him that he had wasted his time out here? Is that why he got so irritated? ]
...Sorry. I didn't mean to make it sound like you were wasting your time.
[That much was true, it was more about taking responsibility for his own actions, making sure his own soft choice didn't hurt the rest of the mission.
But unfortunately for Eren, Elliot isn't naive. There is something...off about his words. ]
But why...do you make it sound like you're on a tighter timetable than the rest of us? We all need to get back home too, you know.
the fire speaks for them at that second, cracks and crumbles, a mesh of color that gleams off his scales and makes charcoal black seem like gold. his eyes stay glued to the flames, and while he isn’t as upset as he could be— he’s far more serious than any other emotion. it was duty that called him, and he was done running from it years ago when he asked for death instead. death didn’t come because he couldn’t die then, or now.
(not until they were f̧̟̬̳͇͓̑͋̊́̈́͒r̛̰̩͕̜͙̦̅̈́̓̚̚è͙̜̻͕͕͍͐̓̑̋̆ẹ̡͕͕̺̩̇̀̂̓̾̕). ]
You have a life to go back to. Hopefully it’s a long one. [ if there are no accidents in the way. eren takes a stray stick and prods at the fire’s burning wood to give it more feed. ] I do too, but it has a date stamp. I need to do everything I can before then.
[ the more he stays here, the more it’s prolonged. sure, but— that isn’t the point. it runs deeper. ]
It doesn’t matter if time stopped for me here. There’s no proof it stopped back home.
[Elliot is lost for words for a moment. He's not sure what he was expecting when he asked that question, but he feels like he shouldn't be surprised. He has a time limit when he returns home? And yet he wants to go back home so badly even if the time limit doesn't matter here? That's...
It sounds so ... familiar. It makes his stomach twist. The silence before he speaks up is heavy and lasting. ]
Y-You're not...looking to die once you finish everything, are you?
[The question is quiet, almost timid, but it's not his usual nerves. It comes from a spot of memories, painful and sad, yet not ones he's ever dare erase.]
[ thats is a good reaction. the flames still whisper between fizzles and the occasional falling piece of wood that finds the pit they’ve created. ]
I don’t want to. [ if thats what he’s asking, but it’s awfully honest. no one simply looked to die, but— maybe if that were in his plans, he would, there’s no telling. ] I don’t know what’ll happen during— I just know that I need to do something before it’s imminent.
[The question eliminated one worry, that Eren was a deathseeker like those he's encountered before. But where one worry goes, another comes up. Eren didn't want to die, but he had a time limit...was it some kind of terminal illness?
There's a childish impulse to say that maybe the Coven would have a cure. But he knows that's childish. Magic wasn't limitedless, some things can't be cured. Just like his mother's illness.
[ almost idly, the tongue flicks; more to catch the scent of meat being cooked, beginning to lose thought in the action and carefully flipping the carcass’s position. the back of his mind wanders for a second, at the thought of the rarely cooked animal would taste any good— maybe that’s something to test for another day. ]
I don’t have my powers. None of the veteran witches could find any traces beyond . . . Not having magic. [ it’s only a theory, but— it’s the most positive theory he has of it. he doesn’t feel weak, he doesn’t have nosebleeds, he’s not getting any more memories sans the ones he already has, and. no titan. ] If I don’t have it, I’m not tied to it.
[That made a strange amount of sense. Elliot's come across a number of strange powers. Some of which would come with some pretty rough setbacks. Eren's sounded very rough, if that setback as a shortened lifespan. It was a setback he didn't know what he could do about it.
It does put things into context though]
...That explains why you seem so accepting about being a dragon, huh. Most of the other "monsters" I've met have been pretty unhappy about it.
[ he was trading one giant monster for another, and adding some extra time for him to think on his own, to boot. his scales don’t bother him now, they only did when they were growing in— the teeth were bothersome when he wanted to close his mouth normally and ends up cutting himself, leaving the inside of his mouth almost sore.
he could no longer regenerate, but prices were prices. he could only truly hope that it’s true, that when they return, so will their abilities, and gone with this one. ]
It’s not too different from what I had, anyway.
[ . . . sans being scaly, but he’d been dehumanized by the greater populous for so long. ]
Must've been some ability if turning into a dragon is "not too different"...
[He curious of course. But it's one of those things where he's not sure if he's allowed to ask about it. If it was something that was enough to shorten his lifespan, it couldn't have been very pleasant.]
But I could see why you'd see that as a small price. [...] For what it's worth, I think your scales look cool.
[It's a remark to mostly lighten the mood. He knows how heavy it's gotten, and he doesn't want to put too much pressure on Eren to share what must be a touchy subject]
[ he probably only wouldn’t say something more out of possible irrelevance, or thinking it isn’t too important here— but he sees elliot’s Look from the corner of his eye as he pokes at the golden side of the carcass, picking at a piece that isn’t cooked, but, it’s been in front of the fire enough to eat. one piece for him, one for elliot, which he holds out.
the remark is cute, actually, and it earns a small smile if anything. attempt accepted, even if they were a pain to grow (literally). ]
Thanks. [ it’s not that much of a touchy subject anyway— it was a fact. ] It’s a shifting ability. It’s name is the Attack Titan.
[Food! He'll accept the piece of meat with a thank you. He blows on the food a little to make sure it's not too hot and then takes a bite. It's good, a hunk of unseasoned meat roasted from a raccoon which is far from a delicacy, but still good all things considered.
But oh, looks like he is getting an answer.]
Attack Titan....[he turns into an "attack titan"? He doesn't know what a titan is but..] Was it something big?
Fifteen meters. [ meat will always be good, no matter where it comes from— don't say it, i know what you're thinking. ] It's a giant, made for close combat.
[ hah, you know, actually. eren doesn’t seem all too surprised by machines. ]
It’s more like controlling a giant than turning into one. [ it’s just easier to explain that way. ] The flesh builds around you, until you’re at the nape.
Machines are probably the same way.
[ . . . that’s an evolutionary thought he hopes will never come to warfare, they have enough giants. ]
...Ah. Yeah. The pilot is usually in the chest cavity and it doesn't have to rebuild each time, but sounds like a similar principle.
[Why he doesn't sound upset by this found similarity, he doesn't sound happy about it either. And why would he be? His world changed the day soldats and divine knights entered the picture. And even if he had some fondness for Valimar, he wouldn't say it was for the better. For any of them. ]
I don't recommend letting any engineers studying your attack titan up close.
[ mm. MMM. let’s just. yeah, about that. eren’s expression is one that almost seems to want to roll his eyes, and in the end, simply hands his head in unfortunate agreement. ]
There won’t be anymore titans to study. [ soon. no one to inherit them, or turn into them, either. he just had to think that out, and plenty grateful for the extra time he has here at something of a standstill for him to get ahead.
silence comes once more, soft this time and nestled with the cracks of their fire and cooking raccoon. eren pulls larger pieces away from the stake, unhurt by the heat that snaps under and around it. elliot might just have to be careful— once it’s in his hands, or close to them, it’s really hot.
which brings him here, after much consideration. ]
[Elliot bites his lip a little. Good, is his first thought that comes to mind. They sounded too similar to soldats for Elliot to find any comfort with them, especially if it comes as such a heavy price as to drain Eren's life.
But on the other hand, he's not sure how Eren feels about the matter. Maybe there's more to it than that. It's not easy to read his expression since well, Eren often has an unhappy look on his face and for reasons Elliot can't always predict. So the conversation gets tabled, for now.
Instead, he focuses on the food. He is...pretty impressed how close Eren gets his hand to the fire without hurting. Was it a dragon thing or were his nerves that dead? Him on the other hand, winces a little when he takes his own bit of meat, almost dropping it before he quickly sets it down on his handkerchief to cool a little.
He was checking his hands for burns (fortunately, he got off easy this time), when Eren asks that. His head shoots up and looks over at the other]
[ eren keeps his hand under elliot’s food, just in case. he forgot, man— and it retreats back to his legs when the other has everything under control.
where’d that come from, haha. ]
. . . We work well. [ eren shifts the way his legs stretch out, bending one to rest his elbows over as he digs in. ] You need a bond, and I wouldn’t turn down a second.
[Yes please remember that soft humans are much more burnable than dragons Eren.
Elliot pauses, biting his lip a little as he thinks over that rationale.]
That's..true...
[He really did need a bond, and he liked Eren. They made a good team, it was just the misunderstandings that got in the way. He's not sure a bond alone would solve that. Being able to form a combat link didn't magically make all misunderstandings go away in Class VII after all. But...it'd help. No denying that.]
Would your other Bond be okay with it? I know people put emotional weight on the bonds, so I don't wanna make anyone uncomfortable...
[Temporary bonds were whatever to Elliot. It'd be like getting mad at someone for forming a combat link. But if he's learned anything from his past couple weeks of being lectured- it's that a lot of people held the permanent bond to a much higher status. A symbol of their relationship, even. Elliot didn't fully understand it, but that didn't mean he wouldn't try to respect it.]
He wouldn’t be a good match for me if he wouldn’t be.
[ said curtly, but not rude. he just knew mikleo in that sense and mikleo knew him. they weren’t bonded for nothing, and eren would still be exceptionally picky with the people he wants around him— there was a lot of unspoken understanding that had no need to be said all the time. they were open, true, and free. that’s all that truly mattered in their journey to help fix what was broken here, and the reason why they meshed. he notices that, though, and tepidly remembers a post he saw on the network that asked about bonds under the name of one elliot craig. ]
—Bonds, they’re what we make of them. What everyone else says doesn’t apply unless you want that for you.
[Eren sounds so sure about that. He supposes Eren would know his partner better than Elliot did (he doesn't even know the guy's name), but shouldn't they at least tell the other guy? It seems polite to at least mention it. But surely Eren will. A strong bond is all about communication.
Elliot will later regret this assumption.
But what he wants from a bond. One image comes to mind immediately: Class VII. His second family, his bonds deeper than any other. But none of them were here. He had to find a way to last until he can reunite with them.
Eren's offer was tempting. He did like Eren, he was a good man.
What does he want...]
I don't want a long term relationship from a bond. I need to go home and fulfill a promise.
But I don't want to use my bonds. Even if it's a temporary arrangement, I'll still treat them as I would my precious friends.
but that first part is an obvious one, perhaps one of the stronger reasons why he hadn’t gotten involved with people in the past until his time at home— he doesn’t even have enough time, nor focus, to commit to a long term relationship. eren wasn’t made for that in this life, and he wouldn’t be stupid enough to search for that here. ]
It’s what I’d look for in Bonds. It’s hard to want something long term here unless someone wanted to, [ he shrugs, taking a bit out of his remaining leg. coon leg. ] stay here.
[he makes an "mm" sound of agreement as he chews some of his meat. He glances out at the nature around them, thinking]
...I wouldn't blame someone if they did. Besides the Cwyld, it's not a bad place. My home could learn a thing or two.
[Sure, it wasn't a perfect place. He saw the difficulties monsters had, the discrimination that still lingered. But he also saw people constantly working to improve that, to welcome strangers into their home. The light Prince Olivert always spoke of was clearer here.
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He gives a little nod and brief smile before he pulls away and gets back to treating the coon pelts. It's just a little more washing before he can finish hanging it all to dry on the branch. He doesn't talk, not really knowing what to say and instead letting the silence linger.
When then fire is ready he'll bring the skinned raccoon body over for the fire, offering it to Eren to cook. He'd cook it if Eren didn't know how, but his grilling skills were....well, less than stunning.
But oh...Eren brought that up. He pauses for a moment, thinking back on that moment and also hesitating as to what to say. He sits down by the fire. ]
...That I was being naive and weak.
I had instructors that'd rip into me for choices like that unless I made it clear I had thought every angle through. Guess it got me in the habit of defending my choices around soldier types.
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[ he's not going to chew him out, especially when it wasn't about killing animals, or lacking survival skills— he just didn't want to leave a few kids motherless, as incoherent as it could be at a philosophical standpoint, but he's just. not here to argue about that, there's no reason to.
he's observed elliot enough. after a pause, eren's voice cracks the silence together with the fire gaining life, and while he does that— prepares the coon, skewers it, and places it about the fire on his makeshift grill of sticks. easy. ]
Just someone who needs to get back home. Every second counts. [ eren's brows furrow, but not into slants of irritation as earlier— they're reminiscent of worry (although he's no longer worrying that this is the case, but, feelings). ] If you don't want to be responsible for orphans, that's enough of an answer. You know how to hold your own out here.
Hearing half of those things felt like I wasted my time. Time I gave my heart into.
[ or that it was just taken for granted, which, would probably irk just about anyone on the spot. it doesn't seem like a big deal, and perhaps it wasn't— but the anchor that brings down eren's words is heavy and trying to convey the sincerity of his feelings without bombarding the other with, well. detail bombs that would make any night end kind of heavy. ]
I'm just not the kind of person who could afford that.
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...Sorry. I didn't mean to make it sound like you were wasting your time.
[That much was true, it was more about taking responsibility for his own actions, making sure his own soft choice didn't hurt the rest of the mission.
But unfortunately for Eren, Elliot isn't naive. There is something...off about his words. ]
But why...do you make it sound like you're on a tighter timetable than the rest of us? We all need to get back home too, you know.
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the fire speaks for them at that second, cracks and crumbles, a mesh of color that gleams off his scales and makes charcoal black seem like gold. his eyes stay glued to the flames, and while he isn’t as upset as he could be— he’s far more serious than any other emotion. it was duty that called him, and he was done running from it years ago when he asked for death instead. death didn’t come because he couldn’t die then, or now.
(not until they were f̧̟̬̳͇͓̑͋̊́̈́͒r̛̰̩͕̜͙̦̅̈́̓̚̚è͙̜̻͕͕͍͐̓̑̋̆ẹ̡͕͕̺̩̇̀̂̓̾̕). ]
You have a life to go back to. Hopefully it’s a long one. [ if there are no accidents in the way. eren takes a stray stick and prods at the fire’s burning wood to give it more feed. ] I do too, but it has a date stamp. I need to do everything I can before then.
[ the more he stays here, the more it’s prolonged. sure, but— that isn’t the point. it runs deeper. ]
It doesn’t matter if time stopped for me here. There’s no proof it stopped back home.
no subject
That's...
[Elliot is lost for words for a moment. He's not sure what he was expecting when he asked that question, but he feels like he shouldn't be surprised. He has a time limit when he returns home? And yet he wants to go back home so badly even if the time limit doesn't matter here? That's...
It sounds so ... familiar. It makes his stomach twist. The silence before he speaks up is heavy and lasting. ]
Y-You're not...looking to die once you finish everything, are you?
[The question is quiet, almost timid, but it's not his usual nerves. It comes from a spot of memories, painful and sad, yet not ones he's ever dare erase.]
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I don’t want to. [ if thats what he’s asking, but it’s awfully honest. no one simply looked to die, but— maybe if that were in his plans, he would, there’s no telling. ] I don’t know what’ll happen during— I just know that I need to do something before it’s imminent.
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[The question eliminated one worry, that Eren was a deathseeker like those he's encountered before. But where one worry goes, another comes up. Eren didn't want to die, but he had a time limit...was it some kind of terminal illness?
There's a childish impulse to say that maybe the Coven would have a cure. But he knows that's childish. Magic wasn't limitedless, some things can't be cured. Just like his mother's illness.
And yet...]
You said...the clock's been stopped here?
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I don’t have my powers. None of the veteran witches could find any traces beyond . . . Not having magic. [ it’s only a theory, but— it’s the most positive theory he has of it. he doesn’t feel weak, he doesn’t have nosebleeds, he’s not getting any more memories sans the ones he already has, and. no titan. ] If I don’t have it, I’m not tied to it.
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[That made a strange amount of sense. Elliot's come across a number of strange powers. Some of which would come with some pretty rough setbacks. Eren's sounded very rough, if that setback as a shortened lifespan. It was a setback he didn't know what he could do about it.
It does put things into context though]
...That explains why you seem so accepting about being a dragon, huh. Most of the other "monsters" I've met have been pretty unhappy about it.
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[ he was trading one giant monster for another, and adding some extra time for him to think on his own, to boot. his scales don’t bother him now, they only did when they were growing in— the teeth were bothersome when he wanted to close his mouth normally and ends up cutting himself, leaving the inside of his mouth almost sore.
he could no longer regenerate, but prices were prices. he could only truly hope that it’s true, that when they return, so will their abilities, and gone with this one. ]
It’s not too different from what I had, anyway.
[ . . . sans being scaly, but he’d been dehumanized by the greater populous for so long. ]
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[He curious of course. But it's one of those things where he's not sure if he's allowed to ask about it. If it was something that was enough to shorten his lifespan, it couldn't have been very pleasant.]
But I could see why you'd see that as a small price. [...] For what it's worth, I think your scales look cool.
[It's a remark to mostly lighten the mood. He knows how heavy it's gotten, and he doesn't want to put too much pressure on Eren to share what must be a touchy subject]
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the remark is cute, actually, and it earns a small smile if anything. attempt accepted, even if they were a pain to grow (literally). ]
Thanks. [ it’s not that much of a touchy subject anyway— it was a fact. ] It’s a shifting ability. It’s name is the Attack Titan.
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But oh, looks like he is getting an answer.]
Attack Titan....[he turns into an "attack titan"? He doesn't know what a titan is but..] Was it something big?
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Wow...
I know people who use humanoid machines that are giant, but to turn into one is really new.
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It’s more like controlling a giant than turning into one. [ it’s just easier to explain that way. ] The flesh builds around you, until you’re at the nape.
Machines are probably the same way.
[ . . . that’s an evolutionary thought he hopes will never come to warfare, they have enough giants. ]
no subject
[Why he doesn't sound upset by this found similarity, he doesn't sound happy about it either. And why would he be? His world changed the day soldats and divine knights entered the picture. And even if he had some fondness for Valimar, he wouldn't say it was for the better. For any of them. ]
I don't recommend letting any engineers studying your attack titan up close.
[Eren was right to have that hope]
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There won’t be anymore titans to study. [ soon. no one to inherit them, or turn into them, either. he just had to think that out, and plenty grateful for the extra time he has here at something of a standstill for him to get ahead.
silence comes once more, soft this time and nestled with the cracks of their fire and cooking raccoon. eren pulls larger pieces away from the stake, unhurt by the heat that snaps under and around it. elliot might just have to be careful— once it’s in his hands, or close to them, it’s really hot.
which brings him here, after much consideration. ]
Would you bond with me?
no subject
[Elliot bites his lip a little. Good, is his first thought that comes to mind. They sounded too similar to soldats for Elliot to find any comfort with them, especially if it comes as such a heavy price as to drain Eren's life.
But on the other hand, he's not sure how Eren feels about the matter. Maybe there's more to it than that. It's not easy to read his expression since well, Eren often has an unhappy look on his face and for reasons Elliot can't always predict. So the conversation gets tabled, for now.
Instead, he focuses on the food. He is...pretty impressed how close Eren gets his hand to the fire without hurting. Was it a dragon thing or were his nerves that dead? Him on the other hand, winces a little when he takes his own bit of meat, almost dropping it before he quickly sets it down on his handkerchief to cool a little.
He was checking his hands for burns (fortunately, he got off easy this time), when Eren asks that. His head shoots up and looks over at the other]
Huh? Where'd that come from?
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where’d that come from, haha. ]
. . . We work well. [ eren shifts the way his legs stretch out, bending one to rest his elbows over as he digs in. ] You need a bond, and I wouldn’t turn down a second.
[ but, but. ]
But we’d work better if we understood each other.
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Elliot pauses, biting his lip a little as he thinks over that rationale.]
That's..true...
[He really did need a bond, and he liked Eren. They made a good team, it was just the misunderstandings that got in the way. He's not sure a bond alone would solve that. Being able to form a combat link didn't magically make all misunderstandings go away in Class VII after all. But...it'd help. No denying that.]
Would your other Bond be okay with it? I know people put emotional weight on the bonds, so I don't wanna make anyone uncomfortable...
[Temporary bonds were whatever to Elliot. It'd be like getting mad at someone for forming a combat link. But if he's learned anything from his past couple weeks of being lectured- it's that a lot of people held the permanent bond to a much higher status. A symbol of their relationship, even. Elliot didn't fully understand it, but that didn't mean he wouldn't try to respect it.]
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[ said curtly, but not rude. he just knew mikleo in that sense and mikleo knew him. they weren’t bonded for nothing, and eren would still be exceptionally picky with the people he wants around him— there was a lot of unspoken understanding that had no need to be said all the time. they were open, true, and free. that’s all that truly mattered in their journey to help fix what was broken here, and the reason why they meshed. he notices that, though, and tepidly remembers a post he saw on the network that asked about bonds under the name of one elliot craig. ]
—Bonds, they’re what we make of them. What everyone else says doesn’t apply unless you want that for you.
no subject
Elliot will later regret this assumption.
But what he wants from a bond. One image comes to mind immediately: Class VII. His second family, his bonds deeper than any other. But none of them were here. He had to find a way to last until he can reunite with them.
Eren's offer was tempting. He did like Eren, he was a good man.
What does he want...]
I don't want a long term relationship from a bond. I need to go home and fulfill a promise.
But I don't want to use my bonds. Even if it's a temporary arrangement, I'll still treat them as I would my precious friends.
Is that okay?
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but that first part is an obvious one, perhaps one of the stronger reasons why he hadn’t gotten involved with people in the past until his time at home— he doesn’t even have enough time, nor focus, to commit to a long term relationship. eren wasn’t made for that in this life, and he wouldn’t be stupid enough to search for that here. ]
It’s what I’d look for in Bonds. It’s hard to want something long term here unless someone wanted to, [ he shrugs, taking a bit out of his remaining leg. coon leg. ] stay here.
[ it wasn’t their case. ]
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...I wouldn't blame someone if they did. Besides the Cwyld, it's not a bad place. My home could learn a thing or two.
[Sure, it wasn't a perfect place. He saw the difficulties monsters had, the discrimination that still lingered. But he also saw people constantly working to improve that, to welcome strangers into their home. The light Prince Olivert always spoke of was clearer here.
He'll look back at Eren. ]
Alright, I'll Bond with you.