[ It's probably the curse of his own obsessive knowledge of and experimentation with the cognitive world that makes him so aware in these dreams within dreams. Even back at home in Tokyo, he always remembered his dreams vividly, but this sort of lucidity is unique to Somnius.
A transparent attempt to manipulate his own cognition by some unseen force. Wear him down, wear him out. Force him to give until he has nothing left of himself to fight back. It won't work. People here think him weak, but his battle won't ever be physical.
Still: Sleep takes him, and when he doesn't find himself in that office, it's such a profound relief that he doesn't know what to do with himself at first.
The tree, the walls, the shifting mirage of a city– and the boy, instantly familiar from the eyes alone.
Maruki grins down at him, wide and genuine even as another fissure forms in his heart. ]
Eren-kun. I think you did.
[ He sits next to him on the grass, knees pulled up in front of him and forearms draped loosely around them. ]
HOWLS AND DIES
A transparent attempt to manipulate his own cognition by some unseen force. Wear him down, wear him out. Force him to give until he has nothing left of himself to fight back. It won't work. People here think him weak, but his battle won't ever be physical.
Still: Sleep takes him, and when he doesn't find himself in that office, it's such a profound relief that he doesn't know what to do with himself at first.
The tree, the walls, the shifting mirage of a city– and the boy, instantly familiar from the eyes alone.
Maruki grins down at him, wide and genuine even as another fissure forms in his heart. ]
Eren-kun. I think you did.
[ He sits next to him on the grass, knees pulled up in front of him and forearms draped loosely around them. ]
Is this your home?