[ hold it closer? with all this screaming? with no other choice, eren pretends he’s holding an important package rather than, as said, a grenade, and rings his arms beneath the bairn to support its legs. in an instant, the screeching ceases, they’re gifting with quiet, and with a bubbling babble, the plant-child reaches and beckons its grip into eren’s shirt, then a strand of eren’s growing, a little more than shoulder-length hair.
oh, shit. not literally, thank god, but— it just wants to be closer to him, he realizes. eren’s hold is awkward, he’s young, but this is possibly as power as a man holding a baby yoda. anything remotely paternal buds to a light it might’ve never have seen, and his eyes . . . his eyebrows curve up to express sorrow, his eyes seem to melt into a pile of shining goop, and his throat feels tight. he’s without words. ]
[There you go, Eren. Now that wasn't so hard, was it?
[Rey's managed to hold her own bairns with some level of competency since she visited Konoha. Carrying them just how she said young ones with jinba-like bodies should be carried.]
Konoha said you're supposed to support their rear. Don't know if their bodies are the same, but...
[ just a small adjustment is made to support rey's words, and that comes with the hike of his palm under the bairn's rear and bringing its little arms to the curve of his shoulder. it's just blabbering now, no words but human-like sounds as if it wanted to speak.
when it puts erens hair into his mouth, eren's interior freezes, he tries to look away and hardly brings his glance to exchange with rey. he thought he felt his eyelids sting. he was about to ask, but if rey asked konoha, then . . . ]
[Well, at least the little one looks happier now. The fact that all it wanted was to be close to someone -- possibly a "parent" of any kind -- has been disarming to say the least. Rey didn't know what to make of the bairns at first, but something about them warms on her a little.
[Eren's comment earns a scoff.]
Obviously. Not what you'd call parenting material.
[Rey was never equipped to nurture and create. The purpose she had been designed for had been to kill and destroy.
[Despite this... A part of her wants to protect these small and pitiable creatures that can't seem to fend for themselves.]
[ but, here he was. getting his hair eaten by a baby centaur menace that only seemed to be heavier by the second, enough that eren needs to hitch the weight up with his knee until the bairn has its arms secured on his shoulder. with a fistful in its mouth, it turns to blabber and motion to rey with firm grabbing gestures. come here, you. ]
[ ah, he sighs out. they were already talking about it? ]
I didn't have time to go out and ask. [ only quickly reach out to konoha. he was just— too busy with baby while mikasa got some time for herself. his bairn also hasn't gotten what it wanted and cuts open a barked whine, grabbing at the air for rey's attention and twisting its features to show its dramatic dismay. augh— ] Can I just— come closer?
[ even if she didn't want to hold his baby, he's sure they both don't want it to start screaming. ]
[It doesn't seem to take the gems long to pour over their own history for answers on some of the nuttier things that happen. A blessing, compared to the alternative. Rey would rather get any kind of answer than none at all, even if it does sound like total nonsense.
[That said, Rey's eyes lift to the bairn reaching out to her. She snorts at Eren's request.]
Sure. Think these assholes have finally settled down.
[A good parent probably wouldn't refer to their child as an asshole. But that's just how Rey rolls.]
eren can't even express his bemusement. letting the little bairns come closer, and automatically, let his reach and touch rey's arm to satisfy curiosity (then grabbing for clothes, for accessories, hair—) ]
They're just kids. [ but maybe she doesn't mean it. uh, hey. ] If you want me to watch your's for a while, I . . . [ eren ends up shrugging. now that he's got them quiet, uh— he's oddly babysitter material if he could be this patient until now. weird, and feeling some things he can't really put words to it, but.
[When the other bairn reaches for Rey, there isn't much to grab beyond her tanktop and the strap of her bag. The same one she had been carting the bairns in from time to time when she needed to free up her hands, in fact.
[Probably not the best way to carry around a baby, but hey. They're technically not babies? Though Rey is still soft on them in her own way, despite just referring to them as assholes.]
That'd... be helpful, yeah. Have a project to work on but been pretty distracted.
[For obvious reasons.]
And Konoha's already got her hands full.
[On top of being emotionally devastated. Even if she didn't talk about it outright, Rey knows her friend well enough by now to recognize when she's having a hard time with something.]
Um, [ oh, she actually said yes! he didn't realize he'd get this far and isn't sure what the next step is now that he's here, but. damn. okay. why did he offer? hidden paternal instincts wanting out and knowing he never would otherwise? for some reason, eren's ears start to burn the longer he goes without saying anything, then after a pause, pulling his bairn's hand away and gestures with his free hand. ] okay.
[ he has an idea, because he clearly doesn't have enough arms to hold all these bairns with. maybe— some cloth? and tying them around him so he could carry that one . . . yes. ]
I'll stay around here until later. You can come back then, by sun down.
[Now they've got that sorted... Rey does realize a pertinent problem here.]
Will pay you back and get some shit to fashion a sling of... some kind. To make carrying around easier.
[It turns out that toting them in a bag like groceries wasn't a good idea. Even less so when Rey had given Shion a knife to play with? Who knew the antlered bairn would've inherited Kainé's penchant for sharp pointies.]
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oh, shit. not literally, thank god, but— it just wants to be closer to him, he realizes. eren’s hold is awkward, he’s young, but this is possibly as power as a man holding a baby yoda. anything remotely paternal buds to a light it might’ve never have seen, and his eyes . . . his eyebrows curve up to express sorrow, his eyes seem to melt into a pile of shining goop, and his throat feels tight. he’s without words. ]
. . . Thanks.
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[Rey's managed to hold her own bairns with some level of competency since she visited Konoha. Carrying them just how she said young ones with jinba-like bodies should be carried.]
Konoha said you're supposed to support their rear. Don't know if their bodies are the same, but...
[Rey's bairns seem happier for it.]
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when it puts erens hair into his mouth, eren's interior freezes, he tries to look away and hardly brings his glance to exchange with rey. he thought he felt his eyelids sting. he was about to ask, but if rey asked konoha, then . . . ]
You didn't know much about them either.
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[Eren's comment earns a scoff.]
Obviously. Not what you'd call parenting material.
[Rey was never equipped to nurture and create. The purpose she had been designed for had been to kill and destroy.
[Despite this... A part of her wants to protect these small and pitiable creatures that can't seem to fend for themselves.]
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[ but, here he was. getting his hair eaten by a baby centaur menace that only seemed to be heavier by the second, enough that eren needs to hitch the weight up with his knee until the bairn has its arms secured on his shoulder. with a fistful in its mouth, it turns to blabber and motion to rey with firm grabbing gestures. come here, you. ]
Does any one know where these came from yet?
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[Finally, a mystery that Rey is pretty sure she can answer!]
The gems mentioned there have been things like these that were created from Manna, so... Think they came from that?
[Seems that it didn't take much for them to sprout, either.]
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I didn't have time to go out and ask. [ only quickly reach out to konoha. he was just— too busy with baby while mikasa got some time for herself. his bairn also hasn't gotten what it wanted and cuts open a barked whine, grabbing at the air for rey's attention and twisting its features to show its dramatic dismay. augh— ] Can I just— come closer?
[ even if she didn't want to hold his baby, he's sure they both don't want it to start screaming. ]
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[That said, Rey's eyes lift to the bairn reaching out to her. She snorts at Eren's request.]
Sure. Think these assholes have finally settled down.
[A good parent probably wouldn't refer to their child as an asshole. But that's just how Rey rolls.]
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eren can't even express his bemusement. letting the little bairns come closer, and automatically, let his reach and touch rey's arm to satisfy curiosity (then grabbing for clothes, for accessories, hair—) ]
They're just kids. [ but maybe she doesn't mean it. uh, hey. ] If you want me to watch your's for a while, I . . . [ eren ends up shrugging. now that he's got them quiet, uh— he's oddly babysitter material if he could be this patient until now. weird, and feeling some things he can't really put words to it, but.
good idea or worst idea? ]
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[Probably not the best way to carry around a baby, but hey. They're technically not babies? Though Rey is still soft on them in her own way, despite just referring to them as assholes.]
That'd... be helpful, yeah. Have a project to work on but been pretty distracted.
[For obvious reasons.]
And Konoha's already got her hands full.
[On top of being emotionally devastated. Even if she didn't talk about it outright, Rey knows her friend well enough by now to recognize when she's having a hard time with something.]
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[ he has an idea, because he clearly doesn't have enough arms to hold all these bairns with. maybe— some cloth? and tying them around him so he could carry that one . . . yes. ]
I'll stay around here until later. You can come back then, by sun down.
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[Now they've got that sorted... Rey does realize a pertinent problem here.]
Will pay you back and get some shit to fashion a sling of... some kind. To make carrying around easier.
[It turns out that toting them in a bag like groceries wasn't a good idea. Even less so when Rey had given Shion a knife to play with? Who knew the antlered bairn would've inherited Kainé's penchant for sharp pointies.]
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[ the bigger question: was shion in possession of this knife at this very moment? eren would only find out later in the worst of ways. ]