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The eyes are the windows to the soul; a gate that allows us to view one's deepest secrets and most heartfelt emotions. They're the mirrors of our world that take in light and give us a reprieve from the darkness. They take in the beauty around us and are beautiful themselves. They come in every shade of gray, blue, black, green, and brown. Some even, appearing dual toned and if you were to look close enough, you can see a galaxy of its own floating around the black recess of the pupil.
So far, Eren's collected twenty six.
Small two by three inch glass jars line the shelves in his basement. Meticulously ordered from light to dark. Where would this one sit on the shelf? The thought already in his mind as the jaw held in his hand jerks from side to side in a meaningless attempt to escape the enviable.
"Shhhh," he gentle soothes, though he is known by the fearful eyes leaking tears at their corners will not calm, "Now, now… if you move too much I might not get a good specimen. It be such a waste don't you think?"
His opposite hand caresses the tear stained cheek with the back. Gentle, in contrast to the painful grip holding his victim's jaw. The man's mouth attempts to open, but only a gargled slur escapes.
"Ah, that's right. How silly of me to ask such a question," he chuckles darkly to himself as he moved the caressing hand to tighten the belt around the man's forehead to hold it in place better, "I always forget. Every time, I swear it."
He laughs quietly under his breath beside himself. Dragging his fingers down, he uses both hands to pry the mouth open to flick the raw seared flesh where the shortened stump ended.
"Without a tongue you can't quite respond can you? Silly me, silly me."
He hummed along with the music in the background, glancing as he turned to the side to pick up the appropriate instrument to proceed; a lid speculum. Carefully setting it in place to hold the lid open away from the eye, he stands up straight to admire the shape and frantic movement of the eye.
"Ah, drops. Drops, where'd I put those drops," he muses to himself before finally locating them in the drawer of the tall wooden stand that holds his other tools on its surface. Uncapping it, he squeezes a few drops over the eye with a smile.
"You have to be careful you see," there's a short pause as his fingers roam over the handles of his surgical scissors.
With a silent 'ah' motion of his mouth, he picks up the necessary blades and turns back to the man with a bright smile, adding a couple more drops for good measure.
"You see, the eyes dry out fairly quickly when you lose the ability to blink," the two points slowly move closer as he eases in only to stop short with a burst of laughter; pulling his hand away as his shoulders shake softly in his humored state.
"Oh my! You see, I just remembered," he says between chuckles, completely obliviously to the paling skin and terror of the man strapped to the steel table.
Relaxing with his elbow against the surface, he released the jaw, trying to quell his laughter by hiding behind the back of his retracted hand.
"It's funny, the first few sets were a total loss. I was a bit sloppy, and I didn't realize how much moisture the eye really needs. You have to preserve them right away to get them in immaculate condition. Oh!"
His attention was drawn over to the radio. Crossing the few short steps over to the source of the sound he hummed again in appreciation, "This is honestly one of my favorite songs. I'm sure you like it too; everyone should."
Turning up the volume just a bit more to muffle the sounds of the gurgled whimpering and jumbled mess of broken sounds escaping the taunt body that fought against its restraints.
Queen's Bohemian Rhapsody filtered through the speakers as he softly sang along; moving closer to the table. He picked up another small tool; point three forceps.
"I'd appreciate it if you kept as still as possible," he requested as he positioned the razor sharp edge in place and began its descent in the proper area, "This can be a bit tricky if you move too much."
The choked sound of panic turned to silent screams as the tips touched down to open the tissue protecting the eye. Using the forceps to help separate the tissue he cuts around the eye, singing along to the music as he continues all the way around the organ.
After a couple minutes the jerking turns to twitches and the gargled sounds all but die down. With a frown, green eyes settle on his 'patient'.
"Out already? No matter, at least I don't have to worry about you moving much now do I?"
Disappointment aside he moved back to the task at hand. Finally moving around in full circle, he gently edges the scissor in, careful to conform the curve the way he needs and cuts away a bit of soft tissue hiding the muscle he needs to work his way to. With that much accomplished he sets the scissors down and picks up a tiny hook. He'll need to cut away some muscle to get the eye out, threading through a suture in each muscle to act as a sort of pulley to extract the eye once he severs the optic nerve.
"Open your eyes, look up to the skies and see… I'm just a poor boy, I need no sympathy… Because I'm easy come, easy go, little high little low. Anyway the wind blows… doesn't really matter to me… to me…"
Grabbing a scoop like tool to help lift the eye after he completed all his sutures he begins to snip away at the optic nerve and remaining soft tissue holding the eye in place. Each sound of the blades pinching the flesh and separating it seemed to join the ambience of the music floating around him.
'MaMa, ooh ( anyway the wing blows
I don't wanna die,
I sometimes wish I'd never been born at all'
With his task complete, he carefully rinses the globe and places it gently a freshly prepared jar. Admiring his work he smiled proudly to himself. Finding the appropriate position on the shelf, he begins to reorganize carefully. Comparing eye color and tone as he shifts and switches jar for jar to line them perfectly.
I see a little silhouette of a man,
Scaramouch, Scaramouch, will you do the Fandango?
Content with its position and placement he stands back. He feels the moment of elation wash over him as it does every time he performs the surgery. He doesn't really look forward to disposal. It's such a waste and so very troublesome to complete. Just a mundane and necessary task.
Nothing like the joy of taking away the offending mirror that dare reflect the one he held so dear. No, he was the only one allowed to look upon such perfection. He was the only one who would know the beauty of raven hair and a perfect milky complexion. The only one allowed to gaze into the entrancing depths of stormy gray eyes tinged in clouds of blue.
'Thunderbolt and lightning,
Very, very frightening me
(Galileo) Galileo
(Galileo) Galileo
Galileo Figaro
Magnifico'
Every single one; each and every one had the audacity to break that one simple rule. No matter how brief, even if for a split second, he would not tolerate it. Could not accept anyone ever setting eyes on his lover.
A soft knock on the basement door had his head turned its attention with a soft smile. He could deal with the disposal later. Turning off the radio, he softly continued to sing the lyrics as he made his way to the stairs.
"Will not let you go. Let me go! Never, never let you go. Never let me go, oh."
At the top of the stairs and opened the door and smiled at the sight before him. Looking down to the angelic curve of his cheeks and tracing them to the grey stormy eyes he adored so much.
"What's wrong Levi? I told you I would be up soon, you know better than to come to the basement."
The man looked down slowly, a slim arm slowly rising to grab hold of Eren's shirt. Looking off to the side a voice so soft to be a whisper reached Eren's ears.
"You took too long… I was getting tired of waiting…."
Eren smiled as he curled forward, moving his hands to cup his cheeks and plant a soft kiss on his forehead. Meeting his gaze, he smiled disturbingly effortlessly despite what had just transpired in the room before.
"Well, we can't have that can we? I wonder if I spoil you too much," with a soft chuckle, his hands slide down the raven's neck to rest on his shoulders, giving him a quick squeeze.
"Eren?"
"Hm?"
"There's a mess here," Levi tilted his head curious as to the speckles of darkness that he found on Eren's cheek. Without the light on he couldn't make out the crimson hue. Reaching out to touch it, he stared fascinated by the blemish.
Before he could touch it, Eren snatched his wrist and held the hand still.
"If it's something dirty I should go clean it so it's best not to touch, isn't that right Levi?"
The shorter male worried his brow but nodded in agreement, "Come to bed right after."
"Of course," Eren's smile never faltered.
Releasing his hand he watched Levi walk toward their bedroom before disappearing around the corner. It was only then that the smile fell and a scowl crosses his features as he reached up to scrub the specks of filth blood off his cheek. The blood of the pig who dare set his gaze upon his treasure.
Eren took great measures in keeping Levi to himself. Levi, his dear little brother whom he loved so much. Whom he kept at home, tucked away from the outside, safe to love only him, to have eyes for only him, to be gazed upon by only him.
Their eyes are for each other; and each other alone.
Dare anyone challenge that, to be foolish enough to see what belonged for only his eyes, find a special place aligned on the winding wooden shelves in his basement.
"Beelzebub has a devil put aside for me," he finished the lyric softly as he shut the basement door and pad locked it behind him.
Notes: hmm... so terms were lost on me but I watched a couple videos on extracting eye balls - really made me cringe a bit - but anyway - I hope its not utter shit - I won't expand on this idea - at least not until To Exist - MINE - the war AU and the band prompt are finished - and jesus by then I make no promises - I suppose it depends on how you guys feel about this Feel free to ask me any questions - there are a lot of gaps in the readers knowledge * its only a one shot and I didn't do into neaaaaaaaarly as much detail as I normally do... so with that in mind - i'm opening to any and all questions indirect or direct ~ 3 thank you as always for reading! Till next time 3 ps. bohemian rhapsody though... I couldn't help it...
