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[The voice mail message sounds like it's being recorded from a distance....]
So I just say something into here, and then it'll say it back to people later? How does that work? My voice is inside the phone? How does that wor--beeeeeeeeep
[It's fine, she'll figure it out.]
So I just say something into here, and then it'll say it back to people later? How does that work? My voice is inside the phone? How does that wor--beeeeeeeeep
[It's fine, she'll figure it out.]
no subject
[ And yet when he clings to this odd world and says he doesn't want to go back, doesn't want to have to end the world, Levi can't help but trust his words. ]
[ He thinks about Mikasa, the happiness she's managed to find, and how even knowing she had to kill her own brother to stop his destruction might break her apart, let alone actually having to do it here. ]
...
[ It probably would have to be her, wouldn't it? Levi was in no shape to do it then, but he's better now. Perhaps he could take that burden from her this time, let it be his responsibility, his pain. He'd let her hate him for it if it made things any easier, any more manageable for her at all. But would she let him? Or could she only have peace if she knew Eren died by the hand of family, someone who loves him, and insist of bearing that fate herself again? ]
[ He has no way of knowing that. ]
...I know me saying it doesn't mean much, but I don't think he'd do that to Jean. Or Historia.
[ The others, sure. Eren didn't get to know Gabi; he just thinks of her as the brat who killed Sasha still. Hange... he had all but admitted aloud that knowing about their death wouldn't have changed anything for him. But Jean and Historia did matter, right? They had lived. Same as Armin and Mikasa, perhaps not quite as important, but important nonetheless. But, of course, he can not know how much their survival had been a plan or an accident. At least this would be different from them perishing as collateral somewhere; it would be a personal choice to Eren, one Levi wants to believe he would not make. ]
[ But what does he know, really? Didn't he use to think the same about him killing everyone on the planet? ]
[ Shit just keeps getting more complicated. ]
[ And then there's the whole keeping the future away from Jean and Mikasa thing again, and he frowns. ]
Do you think Reiner would tell them if he knew?
[ Maybe he needs to become the broken down shell of a man so he can build his own self back up better. Maybe that's exactly why he's so much more tolerable in the future, even if Levi isn't interested in ever having him over for tea. ]
[ But he can understand why Gabi doesn't like the idea. It would hurt him, it would hurt him a lot, and who could possibly want to see their loved ones suffer? ]
[ He hopes she can understand in return. ]
...their giant goddamn brain probably could make something of this, huh.
[ It's logical, it's the smart thing to do, but the apprehension is practically climbing up his throat. He tries to force it down, shakes his head, tries again. ]
You're probably onto something. I just--
[ He pinches the bridge of his nose, closes his eyes, exhales. ]
I didn't want them to have to be Commander again.
[ Not after letting themselves believe the struggle for mere survival was finally over. Not after his promise that they could simply live their lives out in this place. Not after he'd seen them come back to their excitable, curious self, that the weight of the Commander's mantle had crushed right out of them for years, not to mention it had been done by Levi's own hand, for better or worse, no matter how much they tell him it wasn't his fault. ]
no subject
Which is a long way of saying she wrinkles her nose a bit, her expression dubious when Levi expresses that he wouldn't do that to Jean or Historia. She doesn't hide it on her face, but, she also doesn't say anything to contradict him. At the end of the day, there's one big, important missing ingredient for him to be able to fully control the Founder anyway -- maybe. The extent of Eren's capabilities with the Founder got really murky near the end of the fight, but she is fairly certain that whatever he is capable of now, he can't do anything resembling a Rumbling without one thing that doesn't exist in Nightwake right now.
But what that thing is starts with a Z. And this conversation is already complicated enough without bring up something-that-starts-with-a-Z. So Gabi doesn't wanna bring it up right now.
As for whether or not Reiner would tell anybody....]
Hffffffffff...
[Gabi puffs out her cheeks and releases a long breath.]
He might not say anything. And he might scream it from the rooftops for everyone in the city to hear. I dunno what he'd do, man. Like I said, they drilled the Rumbling into our heads constantly. If he heard that it actually happened....
[Reiner isn't the broken man from that basement just yet, but he's still the Warrior responsible for the failure of the Paradis Island operation. He already has so much on his shoulders. She can't imagine that extra weight would do anything good.]
I also dunno his relationship with Jean and Mikasa...
[She rubs her head. She knows what Jean and Reiner's relationship would become. The anger and resentment and grief that became an awful sense of understanding and eventually evened out to something Gabi thinks is friendship -- she's pretty sure Jean wouldn't tell Reiner it was a damn shame he was still alive so often if he actually meant it. But as far as she knows, the Jean and Reiner in this city right now are just an enemy combatant and the man that betrayed him, forced into a very awkward standstill.]
....I just dunno. But I can't imagine he'd just leave it alone.
[There's so much she doesn't know and doesn't know how to handle about this situation. It feels like she's walking around blindfolded trying to avoid a bunch of mousetraps on the floor. Which is why she wants to ask Hange-san for help, but one glance at Levi and she pretty much immediately understands why he feels anxious about it.
And despite everything, she lets out a laugh.]
Y'know, when we first got here, I thought the biggest problem me and Hange-san were gonna have was keeping you from overexerting yourself.
[She gives Levi a lopsided kind of half-smile.]
....I got a plan, but I think it kinda sucks. I was hoping they could turn it into like. A real plan. But if you don't wanna drag them into this...
D'you wanna try doin' it just the two of us?
[She can't think of anybody else they could ask for help. The bench of people that knows what happens in their future is a pretty short one.]
no subject
[ Gabi has every right -- every reason -- not to share the same belief, though, and he can't fault her for it. So he doesn't insist on it either, instead just accepting her distasteful look and moving on. ]
[ It's probably a good idea not to bring up something-that-starts-with-a-Z, yes. ]
Okay. So you don't know what to expect from him, either.
[ Levi frowns as he looks down at the pavement in front of them as they walk. This was one of his biggest issues, really -- not knowing what the fuck he could expect from Reiner -- and he had hoped Gabi could give him some insight, but it seems she's much in the same boat here. Perhaps he should have expected this. It's not her Reiner; they're far too removed in time. Of course she wouldn't know him as well. But still... ]
[ Fuck. ]
I just want some kind of assurance he's not going to blow up a whole damn street with people in it. Can either of you provide that?
[ If not, well. There may be quite a few more wrinkles to smooth out in that non-aggression pact, in that case. ]
[ He sighs and runs his hand through his fringe in frustration. He really wants to shield Hange from this, but it's not his call to make, is it? He's so sick of having to decide for his friends, too often killing them in the process. Hange is already involved with that whole agreement thing, too. It's already too late. But still-- ]
[ Could it work, with just the two of them, him and Gabi? Or would this be them pulling an Eren and not asking for help when they definitely needed some? ]
[ Could not knowing put Hange in danger instead of preserving their peace of mind? ]
[ Which is the right choice?.. ]
...No, you're right. We need them. [ It should be their own choice. ] But I'd like to hear your plan first.
no subject
But after a few seconds, she takes in a breath through her mouth and lets it out through her nose.]
It's like...
Okay, a lot of stuff that happens really sucked, but. Not all of it is bad, either.
So maybe if we do it slowly and just start with stuff like. [She gives a shrug.] The Curse of Ymir and the Power of the Titans being gone. And Eldians don't have to live in slums anymore.
[A lot of them live in refugee camps, which, okay, is also bad. But, that's gonna stop eventually! They just have to build more places for people to live and get more trees and....livestock and stuff... Look, she's trying to stay on the bright side, here.]
And maybe we can explain all of those things to him in ways where we won't have to dump everything on him at once and he won't immediately find out about the Rumbling, and we won't have to lie to him, either. He hasn't forced me to explain anything about why I'm friends with you or what Zeke did and I know he's wondering about both of those things, so...I dunno! Maybe he'd be more receptive to it than I'm giving him credit for!
[And, she suddenly has a determined look on her face. It was a red flag that she hesitated earlier, but she looks very sure of herself now and as confident as ever in what she's saying./]
And I'm sure...whatever we tell him, he won't hurt civilians. I'll make sure of it myself!
1/2
[ He stays quiet and lets her speak. She may have a point; who wouldn't want to hear they helped save the world and un-curse their people? Of course, that still leaves the whole save it from WHAT part untouched. He considers. ]
...we could blame it on Zeke.
[ It's not technically lying! If that fucking monkey hadn't been there, the end of the world wouldn't have started. Also listen, maybe he still has that reflex to throw Zeke under the bus at any moment that presents itself. ]
2/2
...thank you.
[ Whether or not she can hold up that promise, what matters is that she made it, and he'll do his damnedest to help out too, however he can. Probably not with anything that has to do with Reiner, but... other stuff. ]
[ Anyway, back to the plan. ]
That all sounds reasonable. What do you think is missing?
[ Because surely there's a reason why she's not simply doing this and instead wanting it to be turned into a plan of some sort? ]
no subject
Something like.
Zeke wanted to use the Founder to make it so Eldians couldn't have children anymore, so. The Scouts and the Warriors teamed up to stop him...just keep it contained to Zeke's plan without ever mentioning Eren or the Rumbling...
[She's at least thinking about it! Bus-under-throwing or not, it's not a terrible idea. Some part of Gabi isn't sure how she feels about pushing all of that responsibility on Zeke when he got bamboozled by Eren too and he eventually sacrificed himself to stop the Rumbling, but...they can worry about that later, right? Shit, if he shows up, Gabi can buy him an ice cream cone as an apology. After she punches him in the stomach for all the stuff he's done.]
I'm just like...
I dunno. I could try it but I feel like I'd fall apart after two seconds of questioning, anyway, and Hange-san might be better at coming up with like. An "answer tree" or something.
[Hange seems like the kinda person who'd be good at flowcharts. Gabi lets out a low breath.]
I'm also worried about what'll happen if we start talking about the future and he asks about... [She scratches her head.] Bertolt.
anyway since this is very backdated by now i guess they don't immediately do anything? :')
[ It's not technically wrong. ]
[ At the same time, he can understand Gabi's wish to protect Reiner from that knowledge overall. Is it really that different from the way they had agreed to keep the Rumbling a secret from Jean and Mikasa? What good can possibly come from knowing about it? ]
[ And they're much in the same boat as Reiner -- there's always that chance that someone, somewhere, might tell them what they're not supposed to know, even if all of the Scouts keep their mouths shut. There could be new people coming in complicating everything. There could be an incident with something like the memory portals again. ]
[ Hell, there's always fucking Hijikata knowing too much, even if Levi did his best to swear him to secrecy. ]
...this is a shitty situation all around.
[ He thinks Reiner wouldn't push Gabi -- too hard, anyway -- but that doesn't mean she'll be happy just walking away from his questions either. ]
[ But honestly, he doesn't think like even involving Hange would help much against that. All they can do is just help them knit a more intricate web of lies, and yet it could still be unraveled by one wrong thread getting pulled at the wrong time. And then what? ]
[ Wouldn't it be even worse if Reiner finds out they lied to his fucking face rather than having to handle some unpleasant truths? ]
[ He doesn't know the answer. ]
[ Perhaps that's the question they should be asking Hange. ]
Huh? [ He pinches the bridge of his nose, glances at Gabi. Another complication, it seems, one he was in fact not aware he was supposed to keep secret. Wouldn't Reiner want to know what happened to his friend? It wouldn't make him happy, obviously, but boo hoo. It would still be closure. That's more than most of the 199 soldiers who died there that day got. ] I would have told him if he asked, but he never did.
[ He could still do that. Reiner already hates him anyway. ]