usurpers | ic contact 💥 recollé (v2)

Yeah, you look like there's something's gonna jump out of that cranberry sauce.

[Crow was inherently grateful that he was invited to Thanksgiving, really. If it wasn't for the invitation, he certainly would've spent it alone, maybe gotten some takeout and caught up on Iron Chef. But Thanksgiving with the Fairweathers and all those invited gave him something he never had, even as a young kid.

Grandpa and him always kept it to themselves, and the food was pretty nontraditional. Sometimes his cousin would come up to visit, but Florida was a long ways off and the dates didn't always match up with different schools.

So this is his first holiday special thanksgiving, watching Eren's dogs run around and play (even joining them for a bit while food was getting prepped) and helping out wherever was necessary (not those dishes though, sorry Luci). It's not long before he's got a plate stacked up with food himself, moving to sit down just opposite of Eren.]

Somethin' buggin ya?

[ eren doesn’t really move to being called, but when prompted a second time about cranberries, he nearly does a double take back to elliot, and a single one to crow. right, um—

he’s. not that hungry anymore. and not because he’s nauseous, just!! ]

M’alright. Eat up.

[ don’t worry about him! he’ll pretend to eat too! and just. play with his spoon when no one’s looking. ]

[TOO BAD HE WORRIED. He tries not to make it look obvious, offering him a smile]

Uh huh, and what about you? Usually you're inhaling your plate at these dinners.

[Can't fool him Eren]

[Crow, none the wiser, will try to assuage Elliot's worries.]

He's probably taking a breather. You know, prepping himself for round 2.

[He's been there, once or twice.]

[ and—

well, there he goes again, staring off into his plate like it’s showing him the world. sorry guys. he didn’t hear you. he’s just seeing, like. half a dad in that half-turkey, and all the lips smacking and crunching while people eat. eren takes his attention down to titan, by his feet. detonating the rubber chicken until it screams breathlessly.

yeah, buddy. he knows, he’s done that too. ]

[He gives Crow a look that just yells "Yeah creative answer but no" before he shakes Eren's shoulder gently]

Eren? C'mon, what's going on...? You really should eat.

[When Eren seems to drift off into his own mind, Crow's face drops a little too, making eye contact with Elliot for just a moment. With some food already collected onto his fork, he'll just wave his other hand in front of Eren's line of vision, hoping to get his attention that way.]

C'mon man, eat up...you'll feel a lot better once you chow down, promise.

[Still trying to be the upbeat one, aren't you...]

[ you know when you’re staring directly at someone, but they’re not consciously looking at anything? that’s eren, still off in an odd place of memory regains but speaking up thoughts that shouldn’t have to be words.on turkey day. ]

Dad felt terrified. [ he looks like he’s just casually blabbering about something or other, almost mumbling at this point. except the context might be increasingly familiar if elliot catches on in time. ] I only remember what Dad saw while I ate hi—

[ hills and mountains of burgers, i wish i could write ]

[...Oh no. He knows that look so well, and what's worse, he recognizes what Eren is mumbling about.

Mumbling about at the family dinner table. ]

Ah-

[Just gonna scoot his chair back and stand up, tugging Eren's arm with him]

H-Hey, better idea! Let's get some air, okay?

[Too late.

Crow's already heard the words, and even if Eren didn't technically finish his sentence, context clues point to the obvious. The fork he's holding? All the food on it just flops back down onto his plate, the only thing keeping the fork itself in his hand is the fact that it's trapped between fingers. It dangles, uselessly, as his eyes fixate on the two and his mouth's agape.

...

Uh.

What do you even say in moments like this?]

...

You...wanna run that by me again?

[ he might be tuggable at this point, elliot! eren’s in that very familiar owl-eyed, dazed look of one who is not quite in this life and toeing into the past. he sees dad all over again and himself before he hears eren. he swears he can hear a stern girl’s voice say, finish your food, before he’s blinking one too many times to look at elliot, to look at crow— he tries to smile and pretend it was nothing, or better, he didn’t realize he said anything wrong, but that just makes it worse. his lips go awkwardly flat and he gets up, taking his plate with him.

just going to eat outside like a bad boy, nbd ]

It’s hot in here.

[ 👌👌👌 ]

[Annnnnd Crow heard it, great. This is NOT how he wanted thanksgiving to go down. But Crow's bafflement aside, looking after Eren really does come first, so he keeps tugging him along.]

Sorry- excuse us!

Come on Eren.

[Outside away from the people we go! At least no one seems to be using the backyard right now (are we in the house? well I say we are now). It's cold, but maybe that'll help

Crow can follow, if he wished ]

[Crow only sits in shock as the two hustle themselves outside,leaving him to two plates (one his, one Elliot's) and Titan looking up at him curious as to why his master suddenly left in such a hurry. Crow looks down, his eyes cast a little apologetically as he breaks off a piece of turkey from the plate and holds it out to the boy, letting him take it gently.

Call it an attempt to get some normalcy back to the evening, or call it trying to act natural. But as soon as he's done giving Titan that little snack, he's standing up too, putting their plates on the counter to retrieve later and starting to speedwalk in the direction that Eren and Elliot went.

He's sure he just heard wrong. Or..it maybe like...

Eren's dad's food. Maybe he can't cook.

Either way, it sort of feels weird being just ditched like that...so might as well see if Eren's actually okay.]

[ titan follows crow outside, and consequently, kaiser barrels on after with someone’s shoe between his teeth. the boxer-mutt runs out the door and sprints in constant circles, growling playfully to call someone to play with him. when no one does so—

y’all are no fun.

he goes back inside, and titan sniffs crow’s legs before going to the grass. the first thing eren does when he gets outside, clatters his plate onto a backyard table is smacking a hand straight onto his face and sighing outloud. his eyes are tightly shut and he’s knitting his brows together, pinching them with his fingers and INTERNALLY PELTING HIMSELF WITH STONES

he might look a little white, but maybe that’s just the lighting. ]

Sorry. It came out of nowhere—

[Elliot outside can be found at Eren's side. He's got his arm on his back to make sure he's steady, while looking up at him with concern. He glances over briefly when Crow opens that door, but his focus turns right back to Eren. ]

Hey, it's okay. It's been awhile since you've reacted that strongly ... maybe it's just all the stress lately?

[The holidays, school, all the dead people, the monster stuff last month, all Eren's investigation...it's been a lot]

Do you wanna talk about it? You were saying stuff about...uh, your other self's dad.

[Crow steps out, immediately ruffling Kaiser's ears a moment before leaving him to try and coax him into being a playmate. When that ends up fruitless, and he goes back inside, Crow's one free hand brushes against Titan's back before he heads out to the grass. Maybe it's to give them a little space at first, some breathing room from the awkward moment that just happened.

But it's even worse to kind of wait just out of earshot, almost like he's eavesdropping on the conversation despite knowing exactly what's going on.

No sir, Crow's not gonna leave it at that awkwardness. he walks over, his glass of water from the table in his occupied hand.

...

He seems to walk up the moment Elliot gets those words out, freezing in place.

Uh.]

Hey. Thought you could at least use this.

[He'll just hold out the water for him, in case Eren needed to clear his head.]

[ crow has had enough awkward for one life, but before he replies verbally to elliot, he’ll keep an arm around him for a supporting half hug. even if he’s sort of using this as more of a crutch than an actual hug, sorry about that! ]

It . . . Might be.

[ he hasn’t let things slip out like that in months. maybe he’s had less sleep than he should, staying up to theorize and investigate and talk about pokémon. eren, at least, has his last conversation with elliot in mind when crow comes over, and considering everything, he’s— gentle, about taking the water. he’s quiet when he bows his head in thanks. he doesn’t push him away in the slightest. he pulls a chair over for elliot on one side, and for crow on the other. he didn’t want to crush his fiancé and he didn’t want crow to leave.

just give it a minute, and he sort of. gestures to elliot without saying anything. he’ll get there. he didn’t really have much to say other than it didn’t particularly bother him the way it used to. it’s only a problem because this wasn’t really acceptable table etiquette and hell if he ever wants it to be.

not that he wanted him to listen because this is some nasty stuff, but he prefers now over later. he also appreciates the concern, he knows it’s real. ]

Spoil your appetite?

[ he wishes he were joking, but he’s not when he asks this to crow, and takes a spoon of cranberry to sweeten up his mouth and wash it down with water. ]

[Elliot will sit down in the chair next to Eren, still keeping an eye on him. He does give Crow another glance and doesn't seem against the idea of him sitting down if Eren is okay with it.

But he'll let them talk, it's not his memory after all. ]

[There's some relief when Eren takes that water, the hints of a smile tugging at his lips. He doesn't make a comment on it other than a sight of relief, glad that Eren seems to have at least collected himself. Weird topic or not, he'd looked pretty pale when they'd sat down with him.]

Makes sense that there'd be a lot on your mind...holidays aside, a lot's happened in the past few weeks. [And that's not even counting Crow's interaction with Titan!Eren. He doesn't even know that was Eren.

He will take that option to sit down, though, slumping in the chair and folding his hands across his knees. Crow could be a class clown by trade, but when it came to people's well-being, he's more than serious.]

Not as bad as you might think. My plate's put up in case your two little rascals go snoopin' for a snack, so I'll return to it eventually.

[He won't make Eren talk about the memory, and if it's something these two want to discuss in private, he's more than okay with giving them that privacy.]

[ while eren doesn’t smile, there’s still something of a huffed laugh-thing that makes his shoulders lift and drop while he takes another sip of water. his two little monsters, yes. ]

Worry about Kaiser.

[ he’s the less behaved out of both of them. you put the plate up? somehow, he’ll find a way to get there. ninja dog. either way, he’s not about to just jump to “well I ate people”, so let’s slip into the topic of memories. ]

Do you guys share memories yet?

[ this goes to both of them. ]

We can always get you a new plate if Kaiser reaches it.

[Elliot isn't even thinking about his own dinner at this point. He can eat leftovers later, it's fine. He knows where this discussion is going to head, so it's not like he's too fussed about an appetite.

The question gets a glance at Crow. ]

...Just one so far, that I know of.

[Honestly, other than sharing classmate names, he hasn't really spoken much about memories to Crow. He wouldn't know where to begin and it just...didn't feel relevant just yet. ]

[One can never stop a determined pup...

But Crow smiles for him, his demeanor as calm as ever when the time called for it, although his brows raise at Eren's question.

Eyes lock with Elliot momentarily, letting him answer first before adding on.]

Not too much...to tell ya the truth I've only gotten one or two things so far, and they're usually just confirming what Elliot already knew.

[ hey, same. and telling someone about your rpg life is going to take like a month if you don’t take nap breaks. ]

It’s the same for Levi and me. [ well. in the sense that he confirms much of the memories levi gets and adds a few foot notes to them. it’s always good to be prepared for pain when you’re involved in the aot life. ] It’s good to have someone to share things with.

[ even if eren smiles— the look in his eyes is so apologetic, especially to elliot, that it breaks the intent his lips had and says sorry, sorry, sorry without having to use the word. he has to admit it. ]

Even if we share memories I still feel like I can’t tell him everything.

...Yeah. It is.

[Feeling a little called out here guys!! He's sorry he doesn't have a powerpoint ready--

-- Oh. Eren's admitting there's things he hasn't shared with Levi. Maybe it's not a call out. He notices that apologetic look in his eye ]

Well...I mean, considering Levi that's...that's not too surprising. He's pretty...um, intimidating despite his size. I feel like it'd almost be like opening up to Gordon Ramsay...

[That's right, Crow. Take heed. There is someone SCARIER than Eren out there.]

[Wait, what? Crow's head tilts curiously, not unlike a dog himself as he listens to these two talk. It's not so much the shared memories part he doesn't get, because believe him, he's gotten a few he hasn't necessarily brought up to Elliot just yet (lack of a good ice breaker, honestly).

No, it's something else that piques Crow's curiosity, although he's not sure if now's the right time to bring it up...

He'll start slow.]

I didn't know Eren had someone from his previous life here...

[It's a little relieving in a way, knowing Eren isn't getting these weird ass memories on his own...but this description of 'Levi' isn't exactly a comforting one.]

Is he a hardass or something?

[Blunt.]

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