CLOSED

[usurpers]

WHO: eren and some company
WHERE: in the woods! in apartments! around town! breaking in!!
WHEN: throughout december, time doesn’t exist
WHAT: a few closed prompts for some people, including charity chores ✨
WARNINGS: uhh self inflicted harm and probably mentions of gore in the forest threads.

Comments

[usurpers]

[ he’s been pondering this for a while now, since the night he got that memory. he’s put pieces together from what he’s already received, things that hadn’t made sense earlier— eren knows for a fact, now: there’s something he could do, at least, some power he’s capable of. he doesn’t know what, but he knows it has to do with harming himself. you’d think a normal person would be wary of this, but eren . . . well, eren is a little extreme.

there’ve been earthquakes. he hasn’t forgotten october. he hasn’t forgotten the talk about august— when would be the next wave of dangerous anomalies, and how would he be prepared for that? how would he fight? a gun is a tickle weapon in the face of something like a titan. he couldn’t just sit back and enjoy the winter festivities; he had to move. it didn’t help that he’s carrying some weird sort of . . . virus, or whatever. nothing else explained why he’s running on a 40 degree body temperature and feeling nothing beyond . . . gradually softening skin (and a fading tattoo, but he has yet to really look at it right).

filled with an obsessive sort of curiosity and urgency, again, eren periodically takes off into the woods, where he spent most of his time retraining his hold on maneuver gear when it wasn’t on buildings with dave. he goes to trigger more memories. he goes to actively try to remember more— he’s one of the few that want to, and he feels like he needs to.

hence, why he comes to the forest, the place everyone goes when they want the privacy to practice abnormal things. note: he isn’t wearing his usual choice of clothes; nothing from the air force or even the casual clothing he liked. in fact . . . it’s a completely different getup. if you want to trigger memories, go all out or go home. and, well— we can say that certainly helped him get the memories he oh so wanted to see. ]

DAVE & JOHN

[usurpers]

[ for DAVE AND JOHN, they get the lighter part of eren’s tests when they happen to come across him: his bags off to the side and a plastic container of rice crackers out for snacking, courtesy of elliot— except he’s not snacking on the crackers. at least, from what it looks like, he’s . . . most certainly snacking on his own arm, with varying intensities when it comes to his bite. he’s tried flying and biting at the same time, he’s tried just biting. ow, he goes once he bites deep enough to make his skin break a bit, stopping and waiting for something to happen. no cracks, no flashes of light.

nothing happens. so. maybe it’s the other hand? maybe he just has to bite harder. he bit hard in those memories, enough to draw blood, so— that had to be it. ]

[parodeity]

[ ...why does dave know the people he does?? he was probably heading somewhere with john to 1) do chores or 2) train or 3) do other dumb bullshit but that. sure is one of his friends trying to ? eat his own arm? for some reason?

dave debates literally grabbing john's arm and dragging him somewhere this is not a thing but he ends up heading forward. he is wearing this, god save us all. ]

Dude. I am pretty sure the no-taste thing applies to your own flesh, but maybe do not test it?

[windeity]

[He was pretty much happily practically-skipping along because John is nothing but a whimsical fuck and he's quietly talking to Dave before Dave apparently spots something and grabs him to stop him. He gives Dave a questioning look before he glances back and spots...Eren...being...Eren...and his eyes go wide.]

And also maybe consider the fact that just because our sense of taste is gone sense of pain isn't? Just a thought.

[usurpers]

[ maybe this last bite should do it— eren bites down hard, hard enough to feel his teeth sink and trickles of warmth fill his mouth. he can’t taste the blood, but it’s easy to deduce, cracking an eye open and waiting for something to happen. it hurt, it hurt a lot, but it felt . . . like something he just. something he had to do.

at least something does happen as eren grits down the sound of pain in his throat, and that happens to be dave and john, making him nearly jump out of his own skin as he whirls around. he tries to wipe his mouth, but nervously, without thought, he wipes it with the wounded hand, smearing his mouth even more. god stop the world let him get off. he swears this was a good idea when he was alone. when things just got awkward as hell. ]

Ah, I wasn’t— I know, that . . . Crap. [ GUYS, HELP HIM OUT HERE, DONT LOOK AT HIM LIKE THAT. ] I can explain, I think, or at least—

[ OPENS MOUTH, CLOSES MOUTH. ]

There’s a reason.

[parodeity]

I suddenly feel like we walked in on you jerkin' it to porn. Maybe sound less defensively like that??

[ IT MAKES THINGS EVEN MORE AWKWARD...

dave, you're making things even more awkward by saying this, but okay ]

But can we like, ask the reason? Is this a kink thing.

[ hopefully john can derail dave. ]

[windeity]

Like...if this is a bloodplay thing, that's fine, but also it is kind of cold out here to be doing that. [Lmao John's not going to help because he's a little startled, but he does nudge Dave.]

Soooo...what kind of explanation do you have? What's up? [Are you a zombie. Is the end upon us, Eren?]

JAMES

[usurpers]

[ meanwhile, JAMES will get the harsher stab to the gut when he wanders upon the airman: eren, without a single drop of self preservation, digging and tearing into the flesh of his hand with his bare teeth like some— animal. he rips through skin, he snarls and yells through tightened jaws, he goes to his other hand in an act of desperation, because maybe it just had to be both. it hurt, but nothing hurt more than being unable to do anything. nothing hurt more than a loss on your own shoulders just because you weren’t strong enough.

there is everything wrong with this picture. ]

[frostythehitman]

[ In the unusual clothes, James isn't actually quite sure who's sitting there in the forest at first, or what they're doing. Getting closer is a slow process in piecing together what he's seeing--first noticing that the person is wiping their face, then realizing they're not wiping their face but rather biting their own flesh, followed by finally recognizing that this is Eren.

James picks up the pace, practically running over to him now. ]

Hey! What the hell are you doing?!

[ He doesn't wait for an answer as he closes the distance, rears his fist back, and clocks Eren right in the side of his head. ]

[usurpers]

[ before he can buzz back to the reality of what this was, half a hallucinomemory and half conscious of what he’s doing aside, eren snaps his head mid-sentence, mouth bloodied and eyes wide . . . only to get decked. pow. boom. at least his self harming has been punched, literally, to a stop, making him stumble. momentarily, there’s still a flash of savagry in his eyes, but one look at james has him in shock. the sting of a blow doesn’t register as something that hurts right now, not when he’s mauled his palms enough to throb and sting to no end, burn as lively red is exposed. ]

I— [ his throat is tight when he tries to speak up, and his watered eyes are too full to keep the tears back for long. all that desperation and panic to get it done had gotten a bucket of cold water thrown over the act; everything swerved back into place much too fast, and he can hardly keep up. ] Let me— [ he swallows hard, holds his hands up, his awfully bitten, shaking hands. this looks more than crazy, holy shit. ] Bucky, let me explain.

[frostythehitman]

[ The thing no one ever acknowledges about punching is that it is extremely effective at getting people to stop doing whatever the hell they're doing. So James stands over Eren, arms crossed waiting for him to make the next move. He's not hurting himself any more, at least, so he doesn't see a need to get more involved yet.

He just wants to hear an explanation--half out of concern and half out of sheer bewilderment. ]

Oh, what, like there's a good reason for you to be eating yourself? Yeah, okay, let's hear it then.

[usurpers]

I wasn't eating myself—

[ he makes a face of disgust, harshly rubbing the corner of his eye— titans eat people. titans occasionally cannibalize. humans don't do that. ] And, I— I don't know what it is, I was, [ he stumbles with words, because how do you talk after trauma ] trying to trigger it, and remembering how . . .

[ at least he got half of what he wanted. ]

[frostythehitman]

[ Eyebrow raised, Bucky motions for Eren to continue. ]

Trying to trigger what?

CHARITY CHORES

[usurpers]

[ so:

•serve soup at a local soup kitchen
•model for a charity calendar
•participate in the red and green hot chili pepper challenge. ]

MODELING

[usurpers]

[ modeling. eren grunts. but it’s for charity!! as an american citizen and an air man serving the country, of course he’ll give into charity work. think of the children. he just won’t do anything questionable, so. good luck in getting him into anything that isn’t the uniform he’s in already, or an ugly christmas sweater— lack thereof will require a fight to the death.

he holds their chore list over to his partner for their last look over, straighten out the details and pinpoint their go to locations. they’re not going to get anything done just standing around. ]

Let’s get it over with.

[promisedyou]

Well, it's meant for a calendar... should we come up with some sort of theme or something?

[ She can't help but tap her chin inquisitively before folding her arms over her chest, slightly contemplative. ] Calendar shoots usually have that!

[usurpers]

[ and for The Point to have gone over his head: ]

. . . Isn't it supposed to be Christmas themed?

[promisedyou]

[ And Mio finds herself sighing. ]

It's for a calendar. You can't pose in Christmas things for every month! That's just wrong!!

[usurpers]

[ he has been lied to his entire life ]

Don’t they just— [ neh, he shakes his head. ] You know what, nevermind.

[ the more they drag this, the longer they’ll have to model. ]

What do they usually go for, then?

CHILI PEPPER CHALLENGE

[usurpers]

[ this shouldn’t be so hard— especially with the lack of taste, probably the only moment until now where eren might be a little thankful. scratch that, no, maybe partially thankful. not thankful.

it still burns.

eren’s leans more towards sweet tangs rather than spice, so the ugly scent of it is still enough to make him wrinkle his nose right up. when he has to eat it, oh my god. hopefully, his stomach is enough of an iron slab to be okay with this ridiculous amount of chili, but . . .

he hasn’t got past his first, and still trying to looks like he’s totally got this. ]

How long do we keep this up for?

[ DOES HE NEED TO EAT A JAR, TEN JARS ]

[promisedyou]

Well, probably until they tell us to stop, ahaha...

[ She can't help but laugh a little bit, rubbing the nape of her neck a little awkwardly. ]

But perhaps we just need to eat one jar per person? I don't know how much this is going to help, but I don't mind we keep going until we can't eat anymore or start getting sick. I think we should take turns though, just in case anything happens.

[usurpers]

You're that set on this?

[ he can . . . respect that, even if his own mouth is pretty much done. looking back to their set challenge and rate your chili chart, eren furrows his brows, stares at the peppers—

if she's willing, why can't he do the same? with refined determination, eren snatches up two peppers by their stems, and looking over to mio, he gives a nod. ]

We signed together, so lets get it done together.

[promisedyou]

A Sonozaki never says no to a challenge.

[ Her voice is rather stern when she says it for a second, her expression serious. But it soon fades back into amusement. ]

But alright! Should we put on a timer?

[usurpers]

[ good— at least mio seems like the type of person eren can get along with on that front. while they’re on the topic of challenges . . . ! ]

Set it to one minute.

YUSUKE, DECEMBER 25TH (i actually put a date on something wow)

[usurpers]

[ when the coast is clear, when the clock strikes step on it, eren’s already by house mochi to bring the massive box of a piano out of his car (how it fit, do not ask, it just did), and— huffing in preparation to haul it inside. yusuke got the message, now! time to bring this baby to its new surprise home.

everything internally going on with him aside, eren doesn’t forget about this, what he meant by it, and while finding it a bit difficult to be so cheerful in a snap . . . it’ll be worth it. he runs a hand over the piano’s box, thinking of the one thing that makes him smile easier than anything. with a weak quirk of the lips, a stir of something warm in the knot in his gut, and elliot’s beaming smile like a stamped picture in his head, he throws away (or, attempts to) the sensations that follow him, at least the bigger part of it, before getting right to work.

he’s certainly putting those muscles to use and lifting a (boxed) piano to the door. he just has to stop after a few steps each time, hah, he isn’t superhuman (actual hah). ]