so I decided to add more to the plot, because I like conflict and causing problems.
but again, if you're like "this doesn't make any sense," I apologize, 15% of this is like pulled out of my ass.
edit 6/28/16: oml I thought ivory meant "black" but it wAS WHITE DAMMIT. but, it's fixed now so, yeah. not white hair, black.
Soap.
That's the first thing Eren thought of as he began to stir. The scent reminded him of cool, afternoons in early autumn when his mother was hanging out the laundry to dry.
He would sit and watch her, enjoying the occasional breeze that rustled the sheets and his hair, laughing as one sheet accidentally got caught up in the wind and tried to drift away and he chased after it. His mother's radiant smile as he brought it back and she rewarded him with a pat on his head and an amused "thank you, Eren."
It felt nostalgic, redolent. He almost didn't want to open his eyes and extract himself from the comforting daze, but he began to recognize his environment.
What he imagined would be grass under him felt softer and more pact, resembling a rougher version of cotton. As he recalled previous events, he could have sworn Hanji's work room had wooden flooring.
Odd.
Eren found himself purposely keeping his eyes closed as the aura of bliss was overtaken by apprehension, causing his defensive mode to kick into gear. He automatically reached for his weaponry only to find that he hadn't taken them with him, leaving him vulnerable to the situation. Damn.
The brunette took a second to think, maybe he was overreacting. Perhaps when he passed out—dammit, Hanji—he was moved to a separate room for recovery?
Eren opened his eyes.
He then immediately shut them.
Open.
Close.
Open.
What the fuck.
Eren bolted upright and crouched into an opposing position, instantly on guard. This was not Hanji's office. It wasn't the infirmary. In fact, it wasn't familiar in any sense, alien in virtually every way. Was he captured? Impossible, who could have taken him without anyone noticing them? Additionally, he wasn't even bound or locked up.
So, what the fuck is going on?
He crept around what strongly mirrored a couch—at least some things are familiar—and glanced around for people, enemies, anyone. He vaguely regarded that the earlier smell had gotten more prominent and looked behind him to find a glass jar... cup, thing... with something blue half melted, half solid in it, lit by a flame.
It was a candle? No, a bit different than the ones he had seen. Usually they were white sticks, and he's fairly sure they never had a soap-like odor. Curiosity won over cautiousness and Eren hobbled over to the object set on a table. This close, the scent was almost overwhelming, making him cough slightly before he covered his mouth, careful not to let anyone know he was conscious.
Examining the unusual candle discovered there was words on the jar that read, "YANKEE CANDLE - FRESH COTTON" accompanied with white flowers. Cotton. So, that explains the smell. Eren was startled out of his mentality when the sound of footsteps above him became apparent, and he noted with horror that there were stairs.
Panic settled in and he hastily scrambled for a hiding place, coming up empty handed until he chose the curtains. Now surrounded by darkness, he could only wait and have confidence that whoever it was would be enough of an idiot to not detect him.
Yeah, he's a goner.
Eren tensed as he heard the lightweight footfall reach the last step and stroll casually away from him. He was so stunned that the spot actually worked that he just about missed the sound of a door closing. It was now or never.
The curtain was pushed away and Eren gave a quick scan of the area to be sure it was clear before searching for an exit. However, he found it painfully difficult to not get distracted by so many unknown objects, and one particular piece. It looked to be a light—or several lights—hanging from the ceiling that dangled crystals. It was beautiful, and also distracting as it seemed, as this is how Eren wound up tripping on a rug and dragged at least three things crashing to the floor along with him. He wouldn't have been surprised if every titan in existence had heard him.
So, hearing a door burst open was expected. Eren leaped to his feet and spun around—
A girl with long ebony hair emerged from the entryway, standing opposite to him, her eyes expanded and mouth slightly open, frozen where she stood. There was a stare off for what might have been several minutes or seconds, then he watched as the stranger's jade irises darted towards a resting knife on a table, too close for comfort, and then back to Eren.
"W-Wait a sec—" Eren tried, but the girl had already snatched the blade up and held it out, threatening to cut.
"What are you doing in my house?" Green-eyes demanded harshly, causing Eren's brain to stutter to a halt.
"Me?" he returned, tone incredulous. "I don't even know how I got here, you're the suspicious one here!"
Her hold on the knife wavered fractionally before tightening again. She began walking sideways to a counter, keeping Eren in her line of vision, and picked up something. "I'm not the one standing in random people's houses and breaking their shit, so yeah, I think you're the questionable one here," she sneered.
Damn, that did sound logical, but Eren was abashed, distressed, and pissed off. He still had no idea what was going on and he needed answers. "Okay, look," he inched forward, but then backpedaled when Green-eyes fucking growled at him, "Look... I really don't have any idea why I'm here, alright? I blacked out and woke up here, I swear."
At her disbelieving stare, he spread out his arms and turned in a quick circle. "No weapons, see? Search me if you want, but there's nothing there," he offered, dropping his limbs and huffing out a breath in exasperation.
The girl remained silent for a beat, then gingerly edged over to Eren, dagger still pointed at him as she commanded, "Sit down over there and don't move, or will slice your jugular."
He didn't doubt it.
He did as told and flopped onto a rather comfy sofa and observed as the foreigner eyed him from head to toe. There was a long interval as he waited for her to finish whatever practice she was doing, and then he must have passed some sort of test because she sighed heavily and sat down across from him, setting the knife down next to her in favor of crossing her arms.
"My doors are still locked, so are my windows, and there's no sign of forced entry," she began, brows knitted together in befuddlement. "So, how the hell did you get in here?"
"I told you, I keeled over and when I woke up I was laying on your weird floor, smelling your weird candle, and freaking the fuck out," Eren said. Her face contorted into something like defensiveness for a second before returning to it's normal expression.
"Alright. Do you know your name?" the girl asked, cocking an eyebrow.
"Yes, I think I'd know my own goddamn name," was Eren's irritated response. Lucky, he found a sarcastic one.
"Okay, damn. Just asking, since you obviously don't know shit."
Even better, sarcastic and a bitch.
Before Eren could announce this, she trailed on. "So? What's your name, Mr. Man?"
He considered saying "Sir None of Your Fucking Business," but that would probably end with steel through his cornea.
"Eren Yeager."
She gave a hum of acknowledgment. "Leia Sayomi."
Silence then settled across the room as information was being processed, and Eren had a sudden epiphany.
"Uh, where are we?" he asked, and watched as the girl—Leia—regarded him with uneasiness.
"Uh. Japan? Kumagaya, Japan? Man, how hard did you party last night?"
Eren didn't even know where to start on how confounding that sentence was. One thing's for sure, he needed to get back home. Mikasa was probably breaching the walls looking for him, or a titan might break the wall again...
That thought sent a jolt of anxiety through him and he was on his feet in an instant, the motion causing Leia to blanch and return her hand to the knife.
"I need to go back home, now!" he announced.
"But I was enjoying your company so much," Leia deadpanned, standing up along with him.
"I'm serious," Eren said. "If another titan breaks through Wall Maria and I'm not there to fix it, more people will die!"
A pause.
"Dude, uh, I don't know how to break this to you, but RPG games aren't a real thing."
"RP—what?" Eren said, bewildered, "Never mind that, what district are we in? Mitras? It sure would seem like it, with all this expensive looking shit." Perhaps the injection Hanji had given him caused memory loss? Though he couldn't fathom as to why he would be in the royal district, he didn't have many other leads to go by at the moment.
Leia opened her mouth, closing it again before deciding to speak her thoughts. "M-Mitras? What...?"
"No? Ehrmich then? I've never been through Wall Sina but it would probably look similar to this." Eren pondered, eyes skimming his surroundings in thought. When he noticed the lack of witty comments, he turned his gaze to Leia, who was staring with squinted eyes and a slack jaw. She must have realized it herself since she abruptly perked up, clapping her hands together loudly.
"Yes, well! Uh, before you go on your way, how about I give you some food for your, uh... long journey back?" she offered, sounding a bit strained. But, Eren wasn't one to turn down a meal of any sorts, so he gave a curt nod and watched the girl awkwardly shuffle off.
Eren sighed in exhaustion and plopped back into his assigned seat. He allowed his mind to wander, thinking about the strange girl he just met. It was perplexing how it appeared as if she had no idea what he was talking about, then again, maybe her parents raised her without explaining the cruel reality about the Walls and districts. The action was understandable, but he couldn't shake the rising outrage of someone living in the lap of luxury while not bothered by the fact that others suffered, fighting for their lives every day.
But, you can never judge a book by it's cover, as his mother used to say. What was taking her so long anyways? It's been—
The sound of a sharp crack followed by agonizing pain happened in the blink of an eye, and as his vision began to darken for the second time that day, Eren was reminded about how much he fucking hated his life.
