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[reparator]

Who: Cerealians from all over!
When: Various
Where: Various
What: This is a general overflow log! Use this whenever posts hit captcha and a new one will be put up each time this post also hits captcha.
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GENERAL OVERFLOW
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Comments

[corona]

[ Waiting for life to begin? ]

Oh. You know. Just the... same as everyone else I guess! [ Hopefully this intentionally vague answer is enough to allow her some leeway, though she doesn't expect him to drop the lead entirely. ]

[goodtome]

Hmm.

[Age of majority to enlist? In her case, probably not. Not the same as everyone after all, then. It's clearly a personal topic, though. Armin decides to let it slide for the time being. There's no use forcing it when it sounds as if she subconsciously wants to be honest anyway. Maybe there's a reason she feels that she can't be. Maybe something more innocuous.]

Earlier, you asked about my hair. Why did you think it was strange?

[At home Armin is perfectly boring, after all. A bit effeminate yes, but hardly worth a second glance. He can't help but feel curious about that.]

[corona]

Can't you tell? [ This time she feels a bit more confident in her answer, enough to meet his gaze and relax into a smirk. With an arm, she lazily gestures to the length of hair stretching out behind them, winding like golden silk up and over tree roots, under mossy canopies, and through the vines. ]

This is what passes for normal for me. [ Not entirely untrue! She'll congratulate herself on that. ] Why were you going this way when I ran into you?

[ A beat. ]

...Question for question seemed fair.

[goodtome]

[While her hair is indeed impossible to miss, it's a surprise to realize that having hair cut to what Armin considers a normal length is confusing to her.

A knowledge exchange seems like a reasonable engagement. Armin decides to accept that rule.]

It's the opposite of where I arrived. It seemed best to cover the most ground.

[Return questions are tougher. He has many. Deciding which to ask first isn't easy.]

We cut ours shorter so it won't get in the way. Does that not work for yours?

[corona]

[ Well that one was almost too easy, but she smiles wryly anyway. It's sort of...fun? Playing a game like this in spite of everything.

She's probably going to develop gangrene standing in this water but, alas, sacrifices must always be made. ]

A-Ah. Well. IIIIII think you'd be surprised how handy this much extra weight and length can be, Soldier. [ Leaving off with a bit of a mysterious wink here because she's feeling young and silly and she's never done this with another person her age!! ] Where were you coming from exactly?

[goodtome]

[Was that flirting? Surely it's unintentional. Armin blinks, but decides the polite thing to do is probably to ignore it.

Mre importantly, that seems like a waste of a question. Armin points the opposite way, though, back towards where he'd started. She did ask, those are the unspoken rules. He decides to answer a question she didn't ask as well, since she'd used hers on something easily inferred. Perhaps conversation was more of the goal than gaining information?]

Armin. What do you use it for?

[corona]

[ HAHA SHE DOESN'T KNOW HOW TO BE FRIENDLY. She just wants friends and she is trying...... ]

Hey! You didn't answer mine there. [ His skipping out on the question is not by any means going to go ignored. ] Where did you come from? And I don't mean where were you in the swamp.

[goodtome]

[Ah. Well, that's less amusing already. Armin stares off into the distance, straight ahead. It's the best way to answer a difficult question without calling too much attention to the fact that it is one.]

Shiganshina. Have you heard of it?

[The answer is almost certainly no, so it's fine. She won't make that face at him that people usually make when they hear that name.]

[corona]

Shee... gan? [ As it happens her expression is two parts hapless to one part confused. Rapunzel cocks her head to one side and the other as if trying to read whatever has just come into Armin's own face, which is difficult because he seems far away. Maybe he's tired of having to talk about a place he's not! She smiles, this time somewhat sheepishly. ]

No, but I'm not exactly an ace at geography. [ reaching to give his hands a squeeze ] Was that your question?

[ Disregard the last: she's a flirt, she just doesn't know it ugh. ]

[goodtome]

[He glances down at the hand she squeezes, so surprised his brain stutters to a stop for a second.]

What? Oh, ah. I... don't remember. I'm sorry. I guess I-

[Got lost in an old traumatic moment is the truth, but hardly the right response to give to someone he's only just met.]

I'm still a little lost here, too.

[And now his face feels hot, too. He hopes it isn't pink. He's never been as good as he'd like at hiding moments of weakness.]

[corona]

[ That's concerning - though on the one hand she also can't help feeling reassured; being the only one who's new to this place has, thus far, been an exercise in unsteadiness.

In the end, though, she laughs. ]

I guess that's what I get for forcing you into this question game huh? Sorry. I didn't mean to - confuse you. [ STUPID STUPID ah why is this socialisation thing is so hard ]

[goodtome]

I don't mind.

[It's been an awfully long time since Armin's played a game with anyone, honestly. Even if this one is making his face burn for reasons he can only half understand, it's... nice. Just talking to someone about ridiculous things feels nice.]

How old are you?

[It's fair to take a new question at this point, isn't it?]

[corona]

Eighteen. [ beat ] –No. Wait. Sorry. Technically I'm seventeen still...

[ If she notices anything strange about the interaction, it doesn't show. She hums, grasping for something good to ask. ]

...Whhhhhhy did you join the military? [ GOOD ONE - could be better, though. Next round will have to be something juicy. ]

[goodtome]

Are you in a hurry? [That's funny. But at least she's close, if that's the case!

The follow up question he takes more seriously, however.]

I didn't want to be helpless anymore. Mm, what's your name?

[She knows his after all, it's only fair.]

i mean i saw nothing at all

[corona]

Rapunzel. [ His is a good question too; she's impressed (she hadn't realised the absence of introduction at all - and she usually picks up on everything like that) and rewards him with a grin. ] What made you think you were helpless?

/facepalm

[goodtome]

[Oh! A name he can actually pronounce! That's the first he's heard here. It's an odd sort of relief.

He digs a toe into the muck at their feet anyway, not sure how to explain the feeling of being prey to someone else. What's more, it was always that way for Armin. Even before he'd ever faced down a single titan, he'd seen dozens of bullies rain down kicks and punches and spit and insults.

But how best to get all of that across? Armin considers his answer carefully.]

My friends were brave naturally. I'm still trying to learn how to be. Where are you from?

[Turnabout is fair play too, after all.]

[corona]

[ Ah, he'd make a good chess player, she imagines. This time, however, she'll hide her smile by turning away to watch one of the more dangerous looking frogs as it attempts climbing a tree. ]

Corona. It's... a kingdom. Though I'm not entirely sure where. And - anyway I don't know if you'll have heard of it where you're from, your - place. World. But--

Has it worked? Have you gotten more brave?

[goodtome]

I'm better at taking action.

[Fear doesn't seem to be something one can train away so far in Armin's experience. Having the training to react at least is much better than not, though.

It's no surprise either to hear that the name of the place she comes from is unfamiliar. That's what he was expecting, really. Aren't they all from kingdoms that are unknown to one another around here?]

So, what were you waiting for?

[And that, frankly, is not fair. But it's the only question she's dodged so far, which makes it the most interesting one.]

[corona]

[ Time won't have changed her intentions there; her dodge is more subtle this time, but it's still a dodge. ]

When was I waiting for something? Does that count as my question for you also? Does that?

[goodtome]

[It was worth a shot, though Armin laughs in surprise at the playful questioning about the questions. He covers his mouth afterward, surprised himself at the outburst. It's unusual for someone to make him laugh. Even with Eren, it's a rarity. But...it's nice. Even if she's clearly dodging his questions.]

I guess those can cancel out.

[corona]

[ Likewise, she's finding it shockingly easy to answer and generate questions without any reserve or fear. What's the worst that could happen? She makes a fool of herself? Probably that's already happened; he must think she's some kind of crazed, sloppy, strange-looking wild child. ]

Well. Since that answers the last. Wanna answer the first one anyway?

[goodtome]

When you had all the time in the world.

[That's all he knows of the answer to that. He wonders what it must feel like to wait for something, more than a few minutes, a few hours, a few days. His own life has been such a whirlwind that the longest wait he can think of is waiting to be rescued when acting as a decoy.

He wants to ask what the most beautiful thing in Corona was, or if she's ever killed a man with a tangle -only that won't be funny if the answer is somehow yes. He wants to ask what her favorite food is, because people here seem to have quite a lot of foods he's never even dreamed of.

Instead what comes out isn't even a question.]

That sounds lonely.

[corona]

[ And what she feels in response isn't even an emotion.

No, her reaction is more visceral: a cringe that starts in her face as she draws shoulders up, wincing, and recoils, bending over her stomach as if to protect it - and her - from any further harm. Any more painful truths. Loneliness of the kind she's lived isn't something you look at head on; you paint it, smile through it, dance around it. Kill the dark with sunshine.

Even if some sources of light need rest every once in awhile.

Rapunzel smiles and shakes her head, kicking a foot out in front of her and wiggling the toes absently. ] Some people would love to have all the time in the world... [ Her mother, for one. ] Many people probably. Time is... precious. Time is... is life.

[goodtome]

Then we measure time differently.

[Anyway, that's a very telling reaction. He was right, he supposes. There's more to her story than that as well, but...

They aren't laughing anymore. Maybe that sort of thing is always fleeting. It feels like it used to last longer, but it might be the sort of illusion that light gives in a reflection. Looking back, things stretch on for far longer than they ever really did. Even without all of the time in the world.]

[corona]

[ And silence goes on.

Until it doesn't. Until Rapunzel looks up and watches Armin for a few moments and then, contemplatively, allows her lips to curl in a smile. ] All right. Fine. But do you prefer telling time in twenty four hours or twelve?

[ Hey. It is a question. ]