bakerstreet | I hope I never see him again.

I hope I never see him again.

COULD YOU LOVE THEM?

Could you fall in love with them?

Stop. Whatever you’re doing, stop and listen. Then answer. Quickly. No, don’t second guess. Just. Answer.

This is a matter of the heart, to be sure, not brains.

HOW TO PLAY

- Comment with your character and preferences.
- Others will admit if they could see themselves falling for your character at some time, under the right circumstances, with only the top-level you provide as context. The meme pushes them to be honest, natch.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[At this, his frown deepens just slightly. It's weird to feel...somewhat embarrassed (?) by the disparity between them? He comes from a cruel world, but there's plenty he's proud of too, The Scouts especially. He's wanted to be one since he was just a little kid.

[But it's weird, talking to someone who doesn't come from the same place. She doesn't understand a lot of what goes on in his world. He's honestly not sure she'd be able to handle it. Still, he can't help but speak casually about it - this is his reality.]

Well...[This time, he doesn't start swinging their arms on purpose - it just sort of happens.]

While we're stuck here, life is like this.

[Holding hands, walking, waiting for a festival to materialize.

[It's better in a lot of ways.]

[Maybe it wasn’t so much an awkward turn as it was… a different kind of uncomfortable. Heavier. Darker. Surely their disparate lives, and Eren’s assumptions already about what Aubrey can and can’t handle (because whether he’s right or not, she won’t be happy to hear about it), will never come up again.]

[For now, life is like this.]

It is. [Aubrey, not oblivious to Eren’s hesitance but unsure how to approach it, just sighs a little. Without any shift in her own expression she starts swinging his hand back, voluntarily.] And it’s not so bad, I guess.

[And there’s music somewhere ahead.]

Hey. [She jabs a thumb in its direction.] Race you.

[Eren's not sure if the wonder of this place (if you could even really call it a place) will ever stop blowing his mind. It's not quite like freedom - they're still trapped, after all - but the fact that he and Aubrey could simply wish for a party, then find one - well, even he has to admit that's kind of amazing, right? Bread and circuses, maybe, but he can let that go for one night, can't he?

[It's not quite like the marketplace parties he described in Shiganshina - probably a fortunate thing, since painful memories and first dates don't really mix - but it is somewhat familiar. There's food, a sudden nightfall, lights and lanterns strung between poles that surround a makeshift dance floor. Even the weird shadow puppets that seem to populate this place appear to be having a good time.

[It's a good night. Those aren't too common for Eren. Laughing, dancing, ribbing, teasing - and then, as the music winds down, a slower dance; blush on cheeks, nervous hands, more laughing, self-conscious and honest.

[How did the evening turn out this way...?

[It leads to the two of them, sitting on a park bench on the outskirts of the party, listening as it winds down, the shadows murmuring around them. Normally, that might creep even Eren out a little, but...the atmosphere feels friendly and safe (also not something he's quite used to).]

[Idly, almost for lack of anything better to say:]

I can't believe we actually found this place...

[Because what does one say when they've just finished slow-dancing with a girl they kind of maybe like, and now it's over, and it happened, and they're still there, and it might mean something.]

[Sometimes that’s the best you can do—let go, enjoy it while it lasts, and forget the rest. Aubrey’s not great at that either, even at the best of times, but just… don’t look at the shadow puppets too much. It’s nice, besides that.

[Really, really nice. She hasn’t laughed that much in a long time. Even if a lot of it was over how clumsy and unpracticed they are (or at least she is) at dancing… that feels okay. It’s like being a kid again, carefree and happy, and it makes her heart soar.]

[They watch the lanterns flicker and quiet like artificial stars. Much as Aubrey would be content to bask in the silence forever, she’s not at all bothered when Eren talks. It’s nice to hear his voice.]

Yeah… [She takes his hand. It’s rougher than hers, just from (what she has to assume is) the strain and grit of a soldier’s life. It won’t get smoother from here. But…

[For the moment, that’s okay, too. She still wants to hold it.]

Feels like a dream, doesn’t it?

[Aubrey's hand is warm and soft. He's not sure he's ever met someone with such soft hands. Back home, even civilians are laborers (at least, those in Eren's social class), and the work starts young. It's nice that Aubrey hasn't had to live that way. Maybe he wouldn't feel that way about anyone else; it's easy to feel bitter when you've been at the bottom of the food chain your entire life ~~(hue)~~. But he doesn't fault Amber for living in a better world than him. It's only what he'd want for himself, so...

[He laces their fingers together. It feels nice - almost as nice as having his arms around her waist had felt, hers over his shoulders. There's a strange little flutter in his chest when he recalls looking down at her.

[When did this happen? He asks himself for the hundredth time tonight.]

Better than a dream.

[He says this casually; he's not trying to be some smooth Casanova, or anything like that. It's just that...]

I can never remember mine.

[Probably for the best.]

This is all still real, at least. I like that better.

[It’s funny Eren would think that; by the standards of her own, relatively softer world, Aubrey’s not terribly soft at all. It’s the splinters, really; bike falls, bat, attic leaks. Might not be the bottom of the ladder, but a low enough rung for her to be self-conscious about it.

[That it all stays unsaid is fine. That Eren twines their fingers together, even better; much less complicated. She gives him a squeeze. Maybe next time she won’t resist running her fingers through his hair, pulling him in… it was just nicer to look at his face, at the time. Warm, awkward, smiling.]

[Aubrey’s feeling sappy enough that she nearly starts to lean on him, but Eren talks first and she realizes belatedly she said that thought, about the dream, out loud. It’s a little mortifying, as usual… but after the night they’ve had, she won’t smush her hand in his face for it or anything.]

Hah. I don’t remember mine, either. And…

[Then she lazily crosses her other hand over, lies it on his shoulder, tilts her head, and sort of just… rests there.]

…I’d say this is pretty real.

[A little thrill runs up Eren's spine when Aubrey rests against him. Since when is he so flustered by girls? If any of the other guys back home saw him like this, he'd never hear the end of it; he knows he's blushing. Still, he doesn't mind it. He kind of loves it. Feels good just to...have something nice for once. He smiles.]

You wanna know something?

[On most occasions Aubrey would be just as flustered, being so openly affectionate. But like… who’s watching. Who cares. She thinks she hears a heartbeat, and she’s not sure if it’s her own or Eren’s. Makes her smile, either way.]

Mm?

[He can hear a heartbeat too, and he's positive it's his.

[He puts an arm around her, resting right at the waist, just like when they were dancing.]

I've never done anything like this.

[Touched like this, danced like this, laughed like this...?

[It's not freedom, but it has to be closer, doesn't it?]

I like it. A lot. [I like you a lot.]

[Shame Aubrey only has two hands; when Eren rests his on her waist again she’d like to throw one of hers around his shoulders, but that’d mean letting go and she doesn’t want to do that yet.]

[It goes without saying, she thinks, that she’s new to this, too. Dancing and jumping around as a kid was fun, sure, but it’s just… not the same. It’s not staring up into someone’s eyes and swaying, letting the music take you both. It’s not…]

Eren. [She lifts her head, to look at him as she speaks.] You wanna know something?

[He tilts his head to look back at her. He doesn't realize it, but he's grinning.]

Yeah. I do.

[There.]

[Now Aubrey, smiling right back, pulls both hands away—and lands them, gently, on his cheeks.]

I think… you’re not so annoying.

[And before she can lose the nerve, she leans in to kiss him.]

[Eren doesn't quite realize what's happening at first, but, luckily for him, it ends up clicking pretty quickly. The way his heart jumps into his throat, he knows it must be a kiss.

[He kisses her. It's a bit clumsy, a bit awkward - it makes his stomach feel like its turning itself inside out in the best way. He doesn't want their lips to part, so, when they do, he holds her a little closer and kisses her again.

[And he feels strangely...at peace.]

[Everything about this, it seems, has been clumsy and awkward. Aubrey decides that, actually, she might not mind clumsy and awkward. Just like she doesn’t mind occasionally-annoying.

[Just like she doesn’t mind that, no sooner do they part, he’s pulled her in again. This is happening. She feels like she’s going to explode, and for once, it’s a good thing.]

[And while she’s at it, Aubrey lets one hand trail back, curling over his ear and lacing her fingers through his short, cute, scruffy hair. This hold’s pretty nice, too, she guesses.]

[Whenever he cares to pull away again (and Aubrey’s in no rush), she’ll keep it there. She just… can’t stop smiling.]

[Now that they've started kissing, Eren really has no desire to stop. They'll have to eventually, of course, but he delays that end as much as possible. Still, it's not an overtly eager thing, the kissing. It's soft, and slow, and simple. It gets less clumsy, less awkward as they go. Eren can feel Aubrey smiling without having to look at her - just feels it there against his lips. And then he's smiling too, and they're parting lips, and smiling, connecting lips, parting, and smiling. It leads to him laughing, lips still close enough to bump hers when he does.

[When has he ever felt so carefree...?

[Finally, he separates long enough to look at her too. Sure enough...]

You're smiling.

[Oh, that laugh. It’s music to Aubrey’s ears—joyous, carefree, Eren. It’s enough to forget everything, what his life is like, that this is fleeting—or, no. No, it’s all the better for that. That she gets to hear it. That he gets to have it.]

[She thinks she’s falling in love.]

Ha ha… you, too, Eren. [God, his name comes out in place of the usual jabbing. Girl, you doomed yourself, Aubrey thinks—but she doesn’t mind that, either.]

I wish this could last forever.

[Eren takes a deep breath, because he's realized he's breathless. It comes out a little unsteady. It's nerve-wracking, feeling happiness like this. Still, he can't do anything but agree.

[If this bizarre, lantern-lit night on this park bench could last forever, Eren would almost be willing to accept that; or, at least, that's how he feels right now.

[He kisses her again, just a little firmer than before; it's longing.]

Me too...

[Aubrey realizes, right after that slips out, that that comment could’ve gone very wrong. Because it won’t last forever of course; it can’t. They have lives to return to, other people, and where even is here, and—]

[Well. Eren doesn’t seem to think that matters, for now. It’s enough for her.]

[As they kiss again, the hand in Eren’s hair tightens, just a little, tugging. The other slides past his jawline, around his neck. A silent agreement. It’d be nice if they could stay this close.]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

I hope I never see him again.

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dying at how soft that description is

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