synopsychic | [video]

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[After some time has passed Levi's voice filters across the network, accompanied by the only visual he can provide at this point: a top-down view of his now only partially tattooed hand.

He'll keep this brief:]

Looks like my little stowaway from the Grid can clean this shit up too. It takes a minute, but it's painless-- [a pause as the aforementioned stowaway floats toward Levi's face for its close-up, glowing a faint white and puffed proudly in all its pokey glory until he shoos it off to the side with a huff] Knock it off-- ...The Bit doesn't care what they say, and neither do I.

I'm not hard to find-- [Here he gives the general location of the building he's created, which by now is a bit better suited for company- there will be a pot of ~~non-nourishing~~ tea waiting on an end table for anyone stopping by for Bit-laser tattoo removal.

And the public portion almost ends there, but before Levi changes his psychic filter:]

...Tell me where you are if you can't make it out here. I'll find you, I guess.

[The rest is private, directed to Erwin in particular and as neutral as Levi can manage given the circumstances:]

You too.

[[ooc: Handwave, chat, go to him, have him come to you... Anything is good by me, including newbies asking for info if they haven't gotten the welcome speech yet. Dat vet thing. He can probably do that now.]]

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[Armin is wide-eyed, alarmed, when the Ackermans start to spark. He's never seen the two of them interact before, so this comes as a total surprise to him. Instead of siding with either of them, he addresses them both.]

P-please, don't fight...

[And then Levi asks a question, and at least for a moment he's spared trying to mediate the conflict.]

Ah, yes sir. It's on a support column near one of the central overpasses.

[Oh wow. Well, Levi is certainly not the only one here, who is not in the mood whatsoever for dealing with this today.]

Fuck that, you're not our Captain here, shorty. [LISTEN TO THAT, SHE'S WATCHING HER MOUTH SO WELL!] He could. You know he won't, not when you're like that. And don't even try to start telling me that I shouldn't stand up for my family or friends.

[Because it never works as some people like her actually still do that. And Mikasa is far away from Armin's future, so that along with everything else today makes it even worse here. ...She's really not in the mood for this today, okay? Levi, we've been through this Mikasa defends her family conversation before.]

[OH MY GOD MIKASA.

No, but really- that hits a nerve, one Levi's been jealously guarding all this time and might, if everyone's lucky, examine a bit later on. The issue of his authority in this place is... Complicated, to put it lightly, but even so his motivation is (mostly) unchanged- at this point, he still sees maintaining it as necessary, as probably more helpful than it really is.

He wants his damn brats safe, and the best way he knows how to keep them that way is to keep them in line the same way he would back home.

This isn't the hill he wants any of them to die on, basically, and so with considerable effort he holds his voice a little more evenly when he finally responds.]

Armin- if you have a problem, tell me yourself. [Pause.] ...Mikasa. Since you just got here I'm gonna give you a break... But don't think that just because you've been told a few stories you understand what goes on here. You don't.

[It's not even meant as a dig against her- that's just how it is.]

...Both of you stay where you are. I'm on my way.

[Get in the gear, little Bit. We're going shingeki-ing.]

[Armin stares at Mikasa in shock. He doesn't know what happened between the two of them, but obviously there's something he's missing. He's too surprised to respond right away, however - but even if he weren't, he'd have no idea what to say. He's chosen to follow the command structure they'd had previously, but Mikasa does have a point. He's not sure he's ready to toss it all away just yet - but though he doesn't want to disobey Levi, if they do get into a fight, he doesn't think he could oppose Mikasa. Not now, not like this.

He hopes it doesn't come to that.

When he finally finds his voice, he replies out loud - not to Levi.] Mikasa, what... what's going on between you and Captain Levi?

[HUFF. Fun fact, Levi; this doesn't exactly have much to do with what's going on here. Except the fact that she's suddenly in a completely different world and that she really could let military titles go in this place. So basically she's taking out her negative feelings on being here to him, but hey, it's not like bad start with Levi is anything new to her.

... Oh, right... Time for Mikasa to realize, that Armin hasn't heard them interact before.]

Somehow he thought, that beating the shit out of Eren in front of us was a good first impression.

[She'll leave it at that. It explains why she'd hold a grudge against him. Which she did. Or still does to some level maybe. That was a long time ago though. Now? Not the time to tell Armin more about stuff so Mikasa just ...pets his hair. Just a silent way of saying Don't worry about it.]

He... beat Eren up? Why would he do that? [Surely he must have had a reason?

Armin blushes a little when she pets his hair, partly embarrassed, partly happy, but mostly still just confused about what's going on.]

He had his reasons for that. I guess [there's clear annoyance on that word, yes] it worked well in the end, but --

[Mikasa huffs. She clearly still thinks that Levi went too far with it even though the end result's good.]

[Enjoy the tiny gesture while it lasts, Armin, it's not going to last for very long.]

[Armin looks up at her hesitantly.]

And... you think we shouldn't keep our military relationships here?

[Mikasa shrugs.]

Maybe. I'm not exactly the best example of keeping them back home either.

[She looks away. Levi is used to it from her if he's anywhere near the same point in time as she is... though she's not quite that.. blunt back home.]

[It doesn't take Levi all that long to find his way to the workshop. He knows the layout well enough by this point, and the gear allows him to move mostly unencumbered by the traffic. ~~MIB car doesn't have shit on 3DMG.~~

...It's not so fast that he doesn't have some time to think as his body moves almost on autopilot, though. Armin and Mikasa may have fallen silent (at least to him) after his last transmission, but that doesn't mean he's brushing that conversation off entirely. He knows Mikasa- it isn't likely to end there, and while at this point he isn't sure he agrees with her assessment... He is giving it some thought, if only because he can't not.

In the end, though, he decides to stick to what he knows. This arrangement isn't holding up as well as it should, but it's something, and he isn't willing to give it up without a lot more consideration... And besides... as much as he (mostly.....) knows where he stands, the end decision is actually over his head- Erwin needs to be involved, obviously.

~~Which presents a whole host of other problems- if the structure breaks down... What's going to happen to them?~~

As he lands outside the workshop' entrance he pushes that much aside, reaching out through the network again. Weird- he doesn't remember it being so big.

He'll have to check it out a bit, after.]

Got a lot of doors here... Where are you two?

[Armin is about to confess his own doubts to Mikasa - to speak of how the discipline and structure, being a soldier is something for him to hold on to when he's lost everything else - when suddenly Levi speaks again. He startles before moving over to open the door to the room and calling out audible.]

Over here, sir.

[Well, she's not totally going to stop listening but you know, bad start is bad. After this you might be surprised how much teamwork she can do with Levi and how much she listens to him at times, Armin.

Speaking of the shorty... Mikasa is sitting on the bed and she stays quiet. What a surprise from her, ha. But no, she's also -- kind of mentally preparing to meet him face-to-face. He's really here and not just a voice inside her head? Yeah well, she's really here too. This should be fun, yup.]

[KNOCK KNOCK KIDDIES.

Levi turns at the sound of Armin's voice behind him, down the hall and only a few doors away. The Bit- apparently not a fan of 3DMG travel- floats dazedly out from the inside of Levi's cloak as he moves to meet Armin in the doorway.

If he's reading any of the markings he's able to make out, his face betrays nothing.]

This place is bigger than the last time I saw it, [he comments, peering around until his gaze finally finds Mikasa where she's seated on the bed. So it's true, then... Not that he'd doubted, exactly, but... You know. Physically inclined as he is it's seeing her in person that really cements the reality.

The Bit seems to realize she's there, too- after a few moments of bumping itself into Armin's arm either by way of greeting or asking permission to begin its work it gives him a break, floating over to Mikasa to give her the same friendly Bit-hello before Levi can stop it.

You look familiar, Mikasa... ARE Y'ALL RELATED OR SOMETHING...?]

Yes, sir - I think it just means Mr. Leonardo is getting better at manipulating the substance of liminal space.

[He gives a small smile, greeting the bit in return with a gentle pat before it moves on to someone more interesting.]

[The place might be bigger than the last time Levi saw it but Levi sure is as short as the last time she saw him just before she was taken here.

She gives Levi a serious look. Typical. But yes, that sure is Levi, really here and all that. Maybe he should be glad that Mikasa saw that ... thing he has with him already, good way to avoid her giving anything more than a curious look at it when it goes to Armin.

Wait. ...Why is it coming here? Because it's never seen her before, though really Armin, she is not more interesting. The girl gives it a gentle pat too, just following family's example here and surprised that Levi has something that cute with him.

THEY JUST MIGHT BE RELATED, BIT. She can't tell for sure, the final word for that comes later than where she's from. But look, she's so chatty today, she could almost talk everyone's ears off here. Well, that's probably even more signs to the fact that no, she is not fine aside from the fact that she is always pretty quiet anyway.

You two are not making any sense with this place getting bigger and manipulating the substance of liminal space thing, though she's not sure if she wants to ask about it more now or later ...She might look curious, but well, no real question here to show her flawless social skills or the fact that she might have enough complicated stuff for today.]

Huh. I might have to ask him about that, then, mine's not-- Hey! Cut the shit and get back here, you have work to do!

[Once it's called out, the Bit hovers by Mikasa's hand for just a moment before floating back to Levi's side, bobbing obediently at around shoulder level as it waits for its next command. Good little Bit... You get an approving hum, U.]

We can worry about introductions later... Let's hurry this up, before it gets distracted again. [Levi nods at the scarf tied around what he's assuming is something too personal for Armin to risk showing off.

He's curious, of course, he's only human... But as promised he doesn't make any mention of it directly as he nods at the Bit.] Go on. Do as he says.

[Armin nods, then hesitates, looking a little uncertain as the bit comes up to him.]

Do you mind if I do this in the bathroom? There are more than just these...

[And he glances down at his shirt, then over at Mikasa, face red - which might be read as the fact that Armin doesn't want to undress in front of Mikasa. He may be used to changing in the barracks, so Levi would be fine, but not with girls present.

It's a bit of a gamble, both because he's not sure how much Levi knows of his relationship with Mikasa - and because Mikasa certainly knows he wouldn't be nervous undressing in front of her. Not after the years they spent together as refugees. But he's banking on the professional distance he's seen from Levi so far, and on Mikasa's trust. He knows she'll probably see that he's lying, but she'll also see that he knows she knows, and that the lie is for Levi's sake, and not hers - so if she trusts his judgement, she'll go along with the lie now, and ask him about it later, when they're alone.]

[Huh, suddenly Levi is back to sounding like Levi and not talking about stuff Mikasa doesn't know anything about. Whatever, she'll ask all the questions about weird conversations later or finds out some other way, whichever works. She watches the Bit go.

And then she's frowning there alone, looking at that scarf on Armin again. Yes, again. Because as if she hasn't looked at it before too but she didn't ask before -- and she's not asking now either, though the rush makes her wonder if it has something to do with that and not just the obvious ones. Probably. Mikasa is curious too, but she can ask later.

She catches the lie as soon as he finishes the question. She has no idea whether or not Levi catches it too but she also sure knows that Armin knows that she catches it. One look Armin. Because... Well, Armin, please. He wouldn't even have to gamble on that... Mikasa looks at him.]

Ehh, I wouldn't want you to stay in the same room while we talk, so I was going to ask you to leave either way. Or say we'll go somewhere else. And no eavesdropping, I can tell if you do that!

[Sorry, Armin, if you want to play being nervous like a kid, Mikasa is just going to give that answer. She's serious about both of those things though, even if she feels bad for being so blunt to him today. Or maybe she sounds like an offended brat to some ears, who knows. Weird how that line about not listening to their conversation reminds her of childhood and the times he's told that to at least Eren too many times.

But since this is most likely going to be some serious talk about stuff she really doesn't want Armin to hear at all... Well she really was going to ask if he could go to another room. Or say they'd go since asking someone to leave their own room is not polite and she's all about being nice to family, but well since he said it first...

The final decision is Levi's, of course, since the Bit belongs to him. And no, she doesn't really care how much Levi knows before this. She doesn't want to tell anything from home to Armin, but she's kind of planning to do the exact opposite on talking with Levi.]

[Levi... Doesn't even think to question Armin's request, not even entertaining the thought that there might be something else going on here. He might have made his peace with the words scrawled so very publicly across his body, but obviously Armin isn't, and that's fine as far as he's concerned:]

Sure. U, take care of him. [U wastes no time in floating over to Armin with a proud, excited little bleep. LOOK LOOK HOW OBEDIENT IT IS IT'S SUCH A GOOD BIT...

Levi ignores this and turns his attention to Mikasa, eyeing her while he waits for Armin to leave the room. Does she look different than she had the last time he saw her? It's hard to tell, with her...

But he supposes he's about to find out. As soon as Armin's disappeared, he crosses his arms and leans a bit against the wall. You've got the floor, Mikasa. He's listening.]

It's about back home, right?

A-all right. [Armin simply nods, and moves through the bathroom into what will become Mikasa's room, shutting the doors behind him. He's honestly not sure whether Mikasa was playing along or she really did want to talk to Levi without him there - perhaps both. The latter hurt him just a little, even though he'd already said himself he didn't want to know. He knows it's unfair of him, and he won't say anything - but he can't help it.

Ever cautious, he removes a couple of the less incriminating tattoos before loosening the scarf and having the little bit crawl under it to start on the dangerous one. Just in case someone is watching - though he wonders if the fact he has a tattoo alluding to his plot against the Trumps means they already know about it. Not necessarily - if the tattoos come directly from the thoughts and fears of the Travelers themselves, the Trumps may not know what they say.

Even so, it makes him even more paranoid.

Eventually, he finishes - but he doesn't want to interrupt the Ackermans' conversation, so he sends a quick message to Mikasa that he's done, but that she can take her time with Levi. That done, he lays down on the bed, arm over his eyes. He's a little overwhelmed, and has a lot to think about - whenever they finish their talk, they'll find him like that, unchanged. ]

[SORRY ARMIN! ...She actually really feels bad, watching him leave the room and she swallows a sigh or something else. Maybe she'll tell some parts of this conversation to him later, maybe not. There's a few things she could tell to him but she's really not sure.

Well, Mikasa can think about that later. Now turns to look at the shorty.]

Mostly. I already told Armin, that Trost happened a long time ago for me.

[But home is not where she's going to start this even if any answer from him to the question is not going to mean anything unless he is from her future. But call it curiosity, Levi.]

Hey, does infiltrating work on you just like it works on everyone else?

For me as well-- [Whether she's asking seriously or giving him a hard time is irrelevant- her question strikes a nerve all the same. His response is a little bitter:] ...And of course it does. Why wouldn't it?

[Considering what'd almost happened on the Grid, what would have been a sure thing if not for the other Erwin's presence and refusal to let him succumb to his injuries...

Yeah. Levi's status as 'normal man' isn't in question here like it might have been back home. Other skills aside, here he's just like every other shithead getting his mind fucked six ways to Sunday at the Trumps' whims.]

[Or she could have started with how much he remembers from home, but this is more important to her.]

Because it either means that we don't have the same last name [ SURPRISE?! ] or that it works on me too.

[ Or both?? If it works on everyone, then certain people back home would surely like to know how to get any kind of memory manipulation stuff work on people with that last name or people from the same line as Mikasa's mother. Either way, she certainly doesn't want it to work on her but there's nothing she can do about it. ]

Oh, right. What's the last thing you remember from home... Guess I was supposed to ask that first.

[What she's supposed to ask first? That's his line... But something else catches him off guard even more:]

Last name? [F R O W N. What the fuck... Ugh, he'd better answer this brat's question first or he won't get anywhere with this-] The last thing I remember from home is being chased by Kenny's people in Stohess, I was making my way back to you and the others and got a little held up... But what do you mean "same last name"...?

[He's never known his last name, his mother...

She never mentioned it. He isn't surprised- she probably didn't know herself, not with the sorts of people her clients were...

Ngh... TREAD LIGHTLY MIKASA, HEICHOU IS GENUINELY UNCOMFORTABLE........ What does she know that he doesn't...?]

[ ... Oh okay, he has no idea what she's talking about. This is going to be ... great. ]

That was a while ago for me. [and a lot of things happened in that place after he got back to them.] It's -- nothing I can confirm for sure, except that Kenny is an Ackerman too. Then you wanted to know if I ever experienced a power awakening within me, which i have.

[ she obviously doesn't need to tell him that he's had a similar experience too but apparently that experience means ...something.

...WHAT IS TREATING LIGHTLY?! Oh right, she had a reason for that question earlier.]

But Eren and Historia heard from Kenny, that brainwashing or whatever you want to call some memory wiping shit, doesn't work on Ackermans or Asians.

[ Don't worry, it won't get any more cheerful from here. ]

[video]

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#tinytagsfrombed before she crashes back to sleep rofl

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go ahead and tag between the two of you till they're done talking

o/ ♥

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