savetheearth | [audio; phone]

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[audio; phone]

[For a few moments, there's nothing but faint shuffling noises. Then:]

Is it on? Oh thank fuck somebody help, I'm- oh fuck-

[There's a thud, followed several minutes of swearing and ragey noises.]

Goddammit, just get me out of this thing ARGHRHGH-

[It goes on for like that for a while.]

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I didn't suddenly lose my sense of fashion or something, y'know.

[ Yeah you've made quite a knot here, Alan. Ryan's sunglasses are actually kinda sliding down his nose while he kneels down for this. Ugh, fine, time to take them off to reveal... glowing eyes. Not Armored-Titan-esque yet, but his eyeballs are undeniably glowing like eye-sized flashlights, especially when it comes to his irises. Makes it easier to see where things have gotten tangled, though. ]

Here we go, almost there... Wonder who tied this originally-- they did a real good job of making it so you couldn't get out.

[ that's because it was you, Reiner. ]

...Whoa.

[Those sure are some glowy eyes there. Alan can't help staring a little, though he shakes himself out of it once the last knots are undone.]

Whoever did it, I hope they had a good reason.

[Because he kind of remembers being papoosed up on Bertl's back, and they were friends, weren't they?]

You should see me at night. [ Scary as hell!! ] Courtesy of our pals, the weird glowing lights. Wouldn't be able to explain these at work, that's for sure.

[ Ryan tucks his sunglasses into the neck of his shirt. Yep, he's one of those guys. ~~Total prep.~~ ]

Hope so. You gonna be alright? Maybe past-you was a naughty kid.

[ Terrible timing for jokes, Ryan. TERRIBLE. ]

Do you think it's another titan thing?

[He gets up and rolls his shoulders. Ugh, he'll be achey all day after this.]

I'll be fine. And past me was only naughty in the sense of being a complete psycho, so yeah.

[Alan's not really feeling the humour right now.]

I guess so. I must not've been too popular in dark rooms, huh?

[ Come on Alan, what better time to make jokes??? ]

Better a papoose than handcuffs and that sort thing, right?

[ Oh Ryan you sweet summer child. ]

[Ryan's just getting all the eyerolls directed at him right now. All of them.]

Wow, that's really original. It's almost like no one else made that joke before. Except for the part where they did and it wasn't any funnier then.

Ah-- That one wasn't actually a joke. I mean, just from what I've seen in our memories, handcuffs would've made more sense to restrain you... so, past-you wasn't... that bad?

[ YOU HECKED UP, RYAN. ]

I mean, the memories I had of you have all been good so far. We still fought on the same side.

[ How do you explain this weird camaraderie with a high-schooler.... ]

...Yeah. I guess being on the good guys' side is something, at least.

[He sits on the side of the bed, looking tired.]

But past me was seriously crazy. Like, scary crazy.

Hey, it's okay.

[ Team Dad is here for you, Alan. Ryan sits down beside Alan, setting a hand on his shoulder. ]

You're not him. No matter how much you remember, or how weird things get. You're not fighting titans here or going nuts. You're Alan Hunter.

Yeah, I know. I know.

[The second time he says it more to himself than Ryan, trying to reassure himself.]

...I'm not sure about the going nuts part, though.

Hey, don't worry about that. You've got people here who can help you. It'll be different.

[ You can hope, Ryan. ]

It's not like we can stop the echoes from happening, though. Like the latest thing - it was just a dream at first, I only just fully remembered what it was about yesterday.

[He rubs at his neck uncomfortably.]

At first I thought it was something good for once.

What was it?

[ Glowing eyes or not, Ryan's still your concerned ~~squadmate~~ baradad. ]

I was a titan. And I was going around killing other titans. A lot of them. And...really enjoying it.

Yikes. [ Ryan rubs the back of his neck reflexively. ] Do you have any idea why?

[ Maybe we should be scheduling you with a therapist, Alan. You're gonna need one ~~yesterday~~ soon. ]

Not really. Just that I...wanted to wipe them out. For all I know, it was just past me being totally nuts. Though at least in the other memories where he was getting his murder on, there was a pretty good reason for it.

[Therapy might not be a bad idea.]

They must've been hurting people. I mean, I remember some bits of past-you and... well, you only ever seemed dedicated, not totally nuts. What made this time different?

[ Woe if only the Network had one of those. ]

Trust me, I was nuts. The whole bloodthirst thing...it's not entirely new, but it's never been as bad as those dreams.

[He stares at the floor, unable to face Ryan.]

I didn't even feel human.

Hey.

[ There goes that hand on your shoulder again, ~~Eren~~ Alan. ]

You weren't yourself. You've been in control before, right?

[ If it was actually his first time then Ryan totally recently had an echo for that so YEAH TIMING. ]

Yeah. Maybe. I don't know. It's not like any of this shit makes any sense.

I think... I mean, we turn into these giants, right?

[ At least Ryan knows that for sure, now. Congrats on being the Armored Titan, Ryan. ]

Think about it... the first time, everybody probably loses control. You've probably just had bad luck with these memories. Especially not knowing the how or why-- it's enough to freak out anybody.

[He takes a deep breath calming down a little.]

Yeah. Yeah, you're probably right. It was just really freaky, you know? Especially since I thought they were good dreams at first. Ugh, and then this fucking thing.

[He picks up one of the shredded cloak scraps that make up the papoose.]

At this point I'd be willing to pay for an actual good echo.

[ There ya go. Team dad is here for you, squeezing your shoulder when you need it. ]

You've gotta run out of bad stuff eventually. Or at least make good stuff of your own to balance it out. You had me, and Annie and Bertholdt for sure-- I'm sure we have some good memories in there somewhere.

[ Things like talking about growing old together after the titans are defeated... haha... ]

[Gosh team dad you're so reliable and reassuring.]

Right. No one can only have shitty stuff in their life, right? Even crazy past selves.

[Haha well...]

[ That's his job!! Hahahahahahaa ]

Right. Plus, remember that's not you. Even if you got back all of past-you's memories and quirks, he can't change who you are.

[audio; phone]

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