[OOC: feel free to be his spouse or one of his kids if that appeals to you!]
[Erwin jerks awake with a start, his entire body contracts as he lunges forward. He nearly brains himself on his knees, and flails out with an arm that isn't there anymore to brace himself. When he fails to catch anything--of course he fails, his right arm is gone now, bitten off by a titan, he has to use his left and his left only--he nearly goes sliding to the floor, and it's only pure good luck that he stamps one foot down and manages to keep from toppling over.]
[Rocks. Flying rocks, filling the sky. Horses screaming, the soldiers around him screaming, the air full of deadly missiles, the city behind him in ruins, and a child's voice... a lost child, crying for help...]
[Erwin shakes his head. Control. Control, he has to control himself, he can't let them see him this way, he has to... he has to...]
[What?]
[Erwin opens his eyes, and takes in his surroundings for the first time. He almost fell because he's in a bed, and the sheets are made of some kind of slippery material, too soft by half. The room is too bright, too homey, too lived in. This isn't a barracks, or a hospital, or even his own quarters. It's someone's home, and he's in their bedroom, wearing pajamas and sleeping in their bed.]
What the hell?
Getting to Know the Neighbors: B
[It's been a few days, and this place, this world, still feels like a bizarre dream. Erwin would think it was the afterlife, except he's still missing his arm, and has nasty scars across his abdomen that he doesn't remember getting. He's been told, by some of the neighbors, who shake their heads indulgently and then thank him for his service, that he'd fought in something called World War II, and that's where he lost his arm, where he got his scars.]
[Except that's impossible. The idea of a world war implies a world, groups beyond the walls, and yet that's exactly what everyone here seems to believe in. They're in some place called California, in the year 1961, which is over a thousand years in the future, and honestly, some of the technology around here feels like it's from a thousand years in the future. Erwin still hasn't gotten used to cars, or the television, with its incessant chanting about something called Halloween.]
[Still, Erwin is going to survive this, and his innate curiosity starts to get the better of him when he makes it a few days without anything attacking him or any obvious danger. And when you're in uncharted, undiscovered territory, the best thing to do is to make a map of it, to figure out where you are and what's going on, so you're ready when things go to hell.]
[A big part of that is getting to know the locals, and so when everyone takes to the streets to celebrate something called a block party, Erwin ventures out to go see what it's all about. He wears clothing from the closet that is apparently his--a shirt so bright blue it's almost blinding, patterned with white flowers--and walks from stand to stand, introducing himself and trying the food.]
Hello, I'm Erwin Smith. I just got to town, and it looks like I'm your new neighbor. It's a pleasure to meet you.
Halloween: B
[Now this is more like it.]
[Erwin had dutifully followed the neighbor's advice and put candles inside carved pumpkins--seems like a waste of food, but it's cool out tonight, and he can take the pumpkins inside tomorrow to figure out how to preserve them--and so when the rotting children descend to the street, his house is left alone. Some of his neighbors, other new people like himself, weren't so lucky, and Erwin watches in horror as a house nearby gets overrun.]
[The children are small, but the swarming behavior is the same. The mindless reaching, the clamoring mouths... Erwin knows this, and knew this place was too good to be true.]
[He doesn't have his horse, or his gear, or the Survey Corps at his back. But he's got a house that the kids are leaving alone, and there's a butcher knife in the knife block in the kitchen. Erwin grabs it, and takes to the street, making a beeline for the house the kids are swarming around.]
Get outside! Come with me!
[The kids are easy enough to bounce aside, but a blow to the back of the neck only staggers them. They get back up and keep coming, and it really is like being in the middle of a nest of tiny titans.]
Erwin Smith | Attack on Titan | OTA
[OOC: feel free to be his spouse or one of his kids if that appeals to you!]
[Erwin jerks awake with a start, his entire body contracts as he lunges forward. He nearly brains himself on his knees, and flails out with an arm that isn't there anymore to brace himself. When he fails to catch anything--of course he fails, his right arm is gone now, bitten off by a titan, he has to use his left and his left only--he nearly goes sliding to the floor, and it's only pure good luck that he stamps one foot down and manages to keep from toppling over.]
[Rocks. Flying rocks, filling the sky. Horses screaming, the soldiers around him screaming, the air full of deadly missiles, the city behind him in ruins, and a child's voice... a lost child, crying for help...]
[Erwin shakes his head. Control. Control, he has to control himself, he can't let them see him this way, he has to... he has to...]
[What?]
[Erwin opens his eyes, and takes in his surroundings for the first time. He almost fell because he's in a bed, and the sheets are made of some kind of slippery material, too soft by half. The room is too bright, too homey, too lived in. This isn't a barracks, or a hospital, or even his own quarters. It's someone's home, and he's in their bedroom, wearing pajamas and sleeping in their bed.]
What the hell?
Getting to Know the Neighbors: B
[It's been a few days, and this place, this world, still feels like a bizarre dream. Erwin would think it was the afterlife, except he's still missing his arm, and has nasty scars across his abdomen that he doesn't remember getting. He's been told, by some of the neighbors, who shake their heads indulgently and then thank him for his service, that he'd fought in something called World War II, and that's where he lost his arm, where he got his scars.]
[Except that's impossible. The idea of a world war implies a world, groups beyond the walls, and yet that's exactly what everyone here seems to believe in. They're in some place called California, in the year 1961, which is over a thousand years in the future, and honestly, some of the technology around here feels like it's from a thousand years in the future. Erwin still hasn't gotten used to cars, or the television, with its incessant chanting about something called Halloween.]
[Still, Erwin is going to survive this, and his innate curiosity starts to get the better of him when he makes it a few days without anything attacking him or any obvious danger. And when you're in uncharted, undiscovered territory, the best thing to do is to make a map of it, to figure out where you are and what's going on, so you're ready when things go to hell.]
[A big part of that is getting to know the locals, and so when everyone takes to the streets to celebrate something called a block party, Erwin ventures out to go see what it's all about. He wears clothing from the closet that is apparently his--a shirt so bright blue it's almost blinding, patterned with white flowers--and walks from stand to stand, introducing himself and trying the food.]
Hello, I'm Erwin Smith. I just got to town, and it looks like I'm your new neighbor. It's a pleasure to meet you.
Halloween: B
[Now this is more like it.]
[Erwin had dutifully followed the neighbor's advice and put candles inside carved pumpkins--seems like a waste of food, but it's cool out tonight, and he can take the pumpkins inside tomorrow to figure out how to preserve them--and so when the rotting children descend to the street, his house is left alone. Some of his neighbors, other new people like himself, weren't so lucky, and Erwin watches in horror as a house nearby gets overrun.]
[The children are small, but the swarming behavior is the same. The mindless reaching, the clamoring mouths... Erwin knows this, and knew this place was too good to be true.]
[He doesn't have his horse, or his gear, or the Survey Corps at his back. But he's got a house that the kids are leaving alone, and there's a butcher knife in the knife block in the kitchen. Erwin grabs it, and takes to the street, making a beeline for the house the kids are swarming around.]
Get outside! Come with me!
[The kids are easy enough to bounce aside, but a blow to the back of the neck only staggers them. They get back up and keep coming, and it really is like being in the middle of a nest of tiny titans.]
Get out of there! Now!