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heliiacus · 2 days

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tags: armin x reader, a touch of dark armin, protective armin, hurt/comfort

warnings: reader was injured (off-page; no details), contusions

Armin protects those important to him; you know that much. You're just not sure how far he is willing to go. request by @layla240 ; "Who did this to you? I just want to talk to them." | prompt list

word count: 350

You had never been scared of Armin. He is capable; you know that much – and of many things, in fact. But his demure, almost sunshine-like nature sits flushly at the forefront of your image of him, and, above all things, what you feel foremost when you are in his presence is safe.

And you got hurt, this time. Streaks of purple upon your skin, nary unhideable and inescapable, and you knew, clearly, that he would see it – you knew that he would be concerned, you knew that he would stop you to look at it; his fixating, immobilising gaze pulling you taut as he would analyse the mar on your skin.

It is not like you are afraid of him now – you would never, not of him; but a whiplash, you firmly believe, is in order.

“Who did this to you?"

It's not the way he says it. It's not the way his fingers twitch, just a fraction, against your skin. It's not the way he stills, so stringent and sudden; his muscles seizing into a freeze that pulls all of your attention to him.

It's the way his eyes shift: this swirling, unfamiliar shadow crossing over his irises, turning the ocean within his gaze into a strange, desolate river. It makes you think, just briefly, of the fate of the one who had put their hands on you.

Ensnared in his question, your breath baits the answer in your throat, and it stutters, audibly so; it makes Armin sigh, his eyelashes fluttering for just a moment, and then he leans closer – ever so slightly, the distance meagre and menial, but you feel your body shift with it, succumbing to the attention he demands of you. You watch him, you watch his expression shift between a cold anguish to a hot grief, and suddenly his hand is at your cheek, warm and soothing.

Then he speaks again; quieter, this time – more careful. "Who did this to you?" He asks of you, and as your lips part around the words, you know that you have no choice of keeping the answer to yourself.

dividers by saradika

tag list: @arlerts-angel @levistealeaf

@sukunascrustyfinger @chiinni

@nilaaaas @ryoiii

@dilfkentolover @arminarlertssword

@bel-https @layla240

@katestrophes @er3nscottonpicker

@siiyoko @lemontrees-things

@arminarlertspersonalnurse @dvrkfverie

@girlybelle @blvewave

reblogs are dearly appreciated, angels 💗 i'll be slowly chipping away at the remaining requests in my ask box !! thank you so much for requesting so many different things, i am beyond happy <33

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cottonconnielvr · 10 months

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thinking abt loser!nerd!armin who is so toxic and manipulative

all of middle school, high school, and even college he was bullied for being a “wimp” and a “loser”

he was the “unfuckable weird virgin” of school all his life.

loser!nerd!armin who surprises the whole school and even his parents when he shows off his pretty girlfriend

she’s the most popular girl in school, drowned in pink, and a cheerleader. she was the baddest bitch on campus and everyone knew

you are so deeply in love with him, often showing him off and praising him infront of everyone.

loser!nerd!armin who slowly becomes controlling but in an innocent way

he often uses his sob story from middle school, he’s just so insecure n scared you’re gonna leave him :(( he’ll flash you his watery ocean eyes, begging you to not leave him

you quickly reassure him that you’ll never leave him, telling him how he’s so special and perfect just for you

you think he’s wrapped around your finger but he’s got you whipped

he’ll get so jealous seeing guys flirt with you at parties, “Baby I don’t really like you talking to Jean, he was the one of the people who use to make fun of me” :((

loser!nerd!armin who will guilt trip you into feeling more sorry for him , “I’m so glad I met you Y/N, you give me a reason to live every day” He takes his hand in yours, taking your breath away

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fqiryspit · 1 year

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miserable.

summary: reader tries to go to a friendly get-together she was invited to, just to realize no one wants her there.

the bright glare of the stop light blinded your vision as you finally stopped your car.

you have no one.

absolutely no friends

you grip your wheel tighter, knuckles popping at the sudden move and your eyes blurring.

you don't even know why you went. this friendly get-together was obviously interrupted by you. no one wanted you there.

you walked up to jean first, saying hi as he just kinda stood there

"hi uh-"

uh. he doesn't know your name. you feel embarrassment flood through you instantly before connie ran up and through tears of laughter started retelling a story.

connie didn't even look at you either. you sniffed awkwardly and backed up. you suppose you only talked to them on a couple of occasions, that's fine.

you felt the car stop at another light, fuck you forgot you were even driving. you now saw the pile of tears on your jeans and felt your aching throat, sobbing silently in your car like a loser.

you brushed that interaction off and went up to the people you did know, eren, mikasa, and armin of course.

you're only here because armin invited you. being his friend in this tutor group you both formed it was nice of him to invite you here, you were gonna have fun.

walking up to eren leaning against the wall casually you said hi and he just shot a quick smile before locking eyes with mikasa who walked right in front of you, stepping on your foot.

she felt your shoe immediately and spun around, you saw eren putting his hand in front of his mouth to hide his laughter and your entire body ran cold, embarrassed yet again.

"oh, I'm sorry!" mikasa said, two cups full of alcohol in her hand as she wore wide worried eyes at you. well...at least someone is talking to you

"no its-" then she spun back around and gave eren his drink, who now had a red face and a smile from laughing so hard.

you turned around, stepping away, careful with your steps, now worried to embarrass yourself further

you heard eren snicker behind you and mikasa hitting his shoulder

"shush eren! don't be so rude, I think that's connie friend..she was just trying to be nice"

they didn't even remember you. fuck you were gonna cry. you didn't have tears in your eyes yet but your throat ached so hard like you were gonna let a sob out.

there's armin, fucking finally. you walked over to him, he was pouring drinks in the kitchen and you started to feel a lot more comfortable

"hey armin"

he looked over at you for a second and looked right back to the drinks he was preparing

"oh, hey. didn't think you'd make it" he mumbled while mixing some off-brand soda with whisky and you just felt your knees buck

"well...you invited me. of course, I'd show up" you reminded him, hoping to jog his memory that he must have invited you for a reason, that maybe he wanted to be your friend

"mm." he hummed simply before grabbing the drinks and swerving past you like you were blocking his way in the wide hallway

you felt your eyes burn and just walked out the door. running to your car as tears pooled out of your eyes.

you're so embarrassed. you have no friends. zero. you joined clubs and thought you made one but he just pitied you. he couldn't even stand you that long and not to mention his friends hated you to

you're aren't some new girl trying to find which group she's good in either. you're graduating soon and you don't even have new numbers in your contacts, just family who brush you off on the rare chance they call.

you ached for someone just to talk to, just someone. anyone. you don't have to have anything in common with them, just a warm body to just air your problems out and them to respond with something more than an "mm."

you're so fucking miserable and as you park your car in this weird ass parking lot to go up into the apartment that's every shade of tan, you know you're just gonna be as alone as you always will be. because people can't fucking stand you.

an: hope you guys have a good wednesday

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nightfall-kachiniko · 5 months

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⋆｡𖦹 °.🐚⋆❀˖° HUSBAND! ARMIN HEADCANONS

paring: husband!armin x you

cw: some smut, and a lot of fluff. hes so loveable I love armin .

- Although your husband is the rather busy commander, he always makes sure to spend some time with you.

- Mainly that’s because he can’t be away from you for more than a few hours without having a stroke. He doesn’t seem like it, but he really is clingy. He always wants you by his side, and him by yours. He can’t stand being gone the whole day without any sort of interaction from you, it’ll drive him nuts.

- He expects a kiss when he walks out the door, and a kiss when he comes home. And if it’s a stressful day you know he’s gonna be rubbing up on you, begging for cuddles. (Come on you have to give it to him)

- He can’t stop touching you. Maybe it’s by habit, but there’s always a hand on your thigh or holding yours. Even brushing the hair out your face, that’s all that man does. he loves fidgeting with your wedding ring too. Especially kissing it when he kisses your hand. He worked hard for that ring, and he couldn’t imagine who else he’d want to wear it.

- BUT MY GOD SLEEPY ARMIN. Him all passed out on his messy desk, soft snores filling the air as he rests his head on top of his arms. Poor baby’s exhausted, he’s barley had any sleep in days, and you know how badly he just wants to rest. I can just imagine you walking in on him and you drape a blanket over him to keep him warm. God he’d love that <3

- armin’s so soft, even in the bed when you two are making love. I know this man loves some Lacey lingerie but would never say it. He’s the type to be too shy to buy you some for Christmas, but desperately wants to. He’d see a sexy pair in the store and would imagine you in it all day.

- He’s so vanilla omg 😭 When you two do get intimate, he’d do his best not to hurt you.

“It doesn’t hurt does it lovely?” Like yes it does please fuck me harder commander.

- into grabbing your hair, or pulling it back into a ponytail while he does back shots. Obsessed with the way your ass jiggles with every thrust he does. He loves how pretty you look with his hands running down your body, and with his creamy cum all in your cunt.

Please wear some white lacey lingerie for him. His dirty thought are all about you. (Visual link)

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jeansplaytoy · 4 months

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‘ 𝐖𝐇𝐈𝐓𝐄 𝐁𝐎𝐘 .

part three.

if you haven’t already, please read part two and one first. warnings: physical + verbal abuse, language, fluff (in the beginning), mentions of alcohol, lots of angst. if this is too much for you, please don’t read it.

‘i wont get too drunk, i still have to go home.’

that’s what you told yourself every five minutes when you went to pick up a drink. and every five minutes, you changed your mind about that drink.

‘fuck, i have to go home.’ you thought to yourself while checking your phone. 1AM. “shit.”

but you stayed sitting on the couch, regardless of the fact that it was already getting out late, and you were supposed to be out studying.

but those thoughts were brushed away when you felt someone sit down beside you. “what’s wrong?” ony asked, looking at you. you slowly shook your head. “nothing… just worried about what my moms gonna say when i get in the house at three in the morning.” you said, staring at the ground with your lips softly pursed together.

ony smacked his lips. “you know she ain’t bouta say shit bout it. she gon be cool.”

“you can think that cus we not related. if you really knew how she was, you’d picture her like i do.” you said, shaking and scratching your head.

“you tryna go home?”

“not really.”

“then why you complaining? go find armin or sum.” ony softly smacked the back of your head. you groaned. “i don’t wanna talk to armin. he already think i’m a hoe.” you looked at ony as he grabbed your wrist and led you through the crowd.

“well… you could’ve fooled me.”

“bitch-“

“armin yo future girl lookin for you. she said you think she a hoe.” ony nudged armin and brought you into view. you looked at him with an annoyed look and then at armin while rolling your eyes.

armin chuckled. “wassup.”

as ony walked away you dramatically sighed. “you uh.. ready to go home?” you asked armin while tilting your head. “why? you tryna go?” you shrugged.

“we can leave if you wanna go.” armin shrugged, putting his phone in his hoodie pocket. “yeah.” you nodded, almost rushing out of the party. you left through the front door and hurriedly made your way down the walkway.

“damn, hold up.” armin held up his arm. “you know yo back pack still in ony room, right?”

you sighed, anxiousness filling your heart. “fuck. can you go get it? you don’t have to.” you rubbed your eyebrows. “i’ll wait for you.” you said, adjusting your crop top to stop the sweat from forming. armin nodded, going back to the house.

it was only a few minutes when he came back out, holding your backpack. “my fault. people was crowded and shit.” he said. you nodded. “thank you.”

you let armin hold your backpack as the both of you walked down the street, since that’s how you got to onys house in the first place. you walked quickly, armin following beside you. he seemed calm. like this was something he did everyday.

“why you so nervous. yo mom can’t be that irritating.” he mumbled.

you shook your head. “this the latest i ever been out. she strict as hell and i know it’s finna be a never ending argument when i get in the house.” you exhaled and rubbed your hands together.

“me and you both. dad bouda be on my ass.” armin raised his eyebrows and shook his head. “fuck. i hope he sleep right now.”

“me and you both.” you repeated his words with a quiet voice. armin seemed the notice it and glancing at you before looking forward again. “we can get yelled at together.” armin shrugged. “i thought you said you ain’t have no curfew when we first saw each other again.”

“no curfew before 11, yeah.” you shook your head.

it got quiet as you both continued to walk. you started to slow down a little, realizing it was already too late to start rushing home.

“i was playin when i said that stuff about you lookin at me. i know you don’t do that to everybody.” armin suddenly spoke. you hummed. “what made you think about that?” you asked. he bit his top lip. “when ony told me you said i think you a hoe… sumn like that. i know you ain’t no hoe.” he said, looking down at you as you walked. you didn’t look up from the concrete.

“it’s whatever.”

armin heard your tone and inaudibly sighed. “if it makes you feel better, i can talk back to my dad so he can yell more. yknow, so he can yell his ass off for the whole night, and you can rest knowing i’m still getting called names and shit.”

“don’t put yourself at risk to make me feel better.”

“i’m not risking nothing. that’s the thing.”

“you risking the relationship between y’all though, so…”

armin pursed his lips together. “ain’t no relationship between us no more. he been gettin more fuckin’ irritated by the days.”

you hummed. “oh.”

only a couple more steps forward and that’s when you made it in front of your house. “well. here we go.” armin clicked his tongue, starting to walk towards your backyard. “you gon keep my backpack?” you asked. armin shrugged and looked back at you.

“call me.” he mumbled.

“no number.”

he paused and hummed, reaching in your backpack and pulling out a random piece of paper and a pencil.

he wrote down his number, barely being able to write it down because of the fact that he had to put the paper on his palm. he passed you the paper, putting your pencil back.

“when we get done getting yelled at.”

you put the piece of paper in your skirt pocket and nodded with a small smile.

knocking on your own door, a few seconds came your mom. with a worried, but more angry look on her face. “get in this damn house. right. now.” she pointed behind her. you sighed and walked in, rubbing your forehead.

she slammed the door behind you and frowned. “you said you was going out to eat, so why the hell you coming back in my house at 1 in the morning?” she said, blocking your way to the stairs.

“i went to a party at onys house, it’s not that serious.” you mumbled.

“not that serious? i almost called the police because i thought something happens to you, but it’s ’not that serious’? and i bet you was out there with a bunch of damn boys, huh.” she squinted. “a bunch? what you tryna say? i’m some kinda thot?” you frowned and tilted your head. “i went to a party, had some drinks, and lost track of time. i barely did anything at the party anyway, so i don’t know why you tryna make it seem like it’s the worst thing in the world.”

“and you might be just that.” she mumbled.

you frowned in confusion. “what?”

it took you a minute to realize she answered your first question and disregarded the rest of your words. “because every damn time, it’s something else. then you gon end up pregnant with no help.” she shrugged, continuing to stand by the stairs.

you scoffed and shook your head. “yeah, right. i’m gon get pregnant, fuck a thousand boys, cus i’m a thot right?”

“you need to find you something else to entertain yo damn self with.” she pointed her finger in your face. you started getting irritated. “can you move?”

“no i cannot. because i don’t know who the hell you been hanging around that’s making you act like this, but you not going out no more.” your mom continued to yell in your face. “you a little ass girl-“

“first of all i’m 18 years old, damn!” you smacked your lips and pushed past her, going up the stairs.

“i wish a had a damn son. don’t know why little ass girls like you act like this. shoulda knew that from the time you was born.”

for some reason, those words struck you somewhere you’ve never really been hit before. now your moms said a lot of fucked up things to and about you, since you were young. but to basically say she wished she never had you? it was weird.

“cool.” was the last thing you mumbled before walking into your own room and shutting the door, locking it behind you.

meanwhile there was armin, listening to his dads yelling. still listening.

“i don’t know why the fuck you come in and out of this house when you feel like it, but next time you do that shit, i’m gon’ fuck you up, you hear me, armin?!” his dad yelled outside his locked door.

“i heard you the first time bruh.” armin mumbled.

but he guessed he heard what he said perfectly, because he jumped at the loud pounding on his door. staring at his door knob, which looked like it was about to practically break from the sounds it made and the way it moved.

he looked like a deer in headlights.

the sound of his mom yelling and the sound of his dads silence, mixed with the banging of the door, it made armin go silent, and put his phone down beside him on the bed.

suddenly, his moms yelling and muffled and his dad broke down the door, going straight for him. before he could even flinch, he felt his self getting thrown into his dresser. “i’m sick of this disrespectful ass kid!”

he felt his dads grip on his hoodie, as he got thrown into the wall, where a big hole laid when he was swung off the wall and into the door, nearly breaking it off the hinges. “you disrespectful son of a bitch! you need to learn some respect!”

as armin tried to fight back, he threw a punch to his dad, which landed. and hard.

it only made him more pissed.

armin felt his self being slammed to the floor, which he was glad was carpet because his head hit it instantly. he squinted at the pain before throwing full punches at his dad, who did the same on top of him. and was much stronger.

the sound of his moms yelling still didn’t blink in yet.

“get off of him, he didn’t do anything wrong!” his mom yelled, face almost soaked with tears.

“you need to learn respect, you fucking hear me?!”

his dad pinned his arms down to the floor. “get the fuck off of me! i fucking hate you!”

armin kicked his legs and screamed, but it was no good. that’s when he felt tears flood his eyes and roll down his face. his room was filled with nothing but yelling from him, cries from his mom, and harsh words from his dad. he was basically throwing a tantrum now, kicking his legs around, knocking things off of his dresser.

his dad suddenly yanked away from him, standing up and running his hand across armins dresser, sending all his things flying.

his dad pushed past his mom as he laid there on the floor. armins mom, shaking, slowly shook her head, sobbing as she slowly left the room.

armin, heavily breathing, fists balled, sweating and still crying, suddenly started to yell again, this time at his self. he was mad. more than mad.

throwing things around his room as he yelled, kicking his lamps over, throwing glass around, tearing curtains, and more. “i fucking hate this house!” he yelled, tears still dragging down his tired, red face. he sent a punch towards his bathroom mirror, completely shattering it. throwing things around his bathroom, he panted, walking back in his room and grabbing his phone and his charger. he grabbed his backpack, shoving any clothes he could fit, along with his toothbrush, deodorant, things like that.

he put on his shoes, and swung his door open, breathing heavily as he made his way downstairs, leaving and slamming the front door behind him.

and you? you stared at the ceiling, thinking back on your own mothers words.

for a few minutes, you were lost in your own thoughts.

until you heard a knock on your window.

part four here.

#aot x reader #jeansplaytoy♡︎#armin arlet x reader #aot armin #armin headcanons #armin x y/n #armin x you #armin x reader #armin aot #armin angst #armin x black y/n #armin x black reader #armin x fem reader #armin arlet x black reader

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minbells · 3 months

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impossible future

armin arlert x gn!reader

content: fluff, very soft, slight angst, implied sex but non-explicit, one curse word, during time-skip, implied that it’s the day before the attack on Marley.

words: 1.4K

He was always wondering where you were. It was strange, really. Before meeting you, he never had anything that plagued his mind other than the thought of a vast world outside the walls. He would picture fiery lands and cold mountains, inspired by the pictures in his books. He would even see those sights in his dreams, imagining what it would be like to ride his horse through those magical landscapes, his friends by his side. Maybe even the air would smell different, perhaps sweeter than the scent of blood and shit he was so familiar with. Every night he dreamt of this world, the taste of freedom on his tongue.

Now, he dreams of you.

Especially at times like this. When it was quiet and late into the night, and he knew, he feared, how dangerous tomorrow would be. Even his trusty book, with its few pages loose and damaged from the years of flipping through it, wasn’t distraction enough. He trailed his fingers over the fading pictures, brushing over them with a gentleness only he possessed, and sighed. What he failed to notice was how your careful gaze was observing him in silent worry.

"You look tired."

He startled, the beautiful sound of your voice, delicate and concerned, digging him out of his reverie. When he raised his head from his book, he was more than ready to take in the sight of you, his beautiful angel who still made him blush even after months of intimacy. And you didn’t fail to disappoint him, your form standing in the opening of his private tent. He felt immediate relief.

"I didn’t think I would see you tonight," he smiled faintly, the light in his once bright blue eyes dimmed but not yet extinct. Your expression mirrored his, tired and worn out with years of sleepless nights and deadly expeditions. You turned to close the slight gap in the tent’s opening, tying the knot and smoothing the thick fabric, thus forbidding the outside world to enter your little haven.

"Hange was done with the last few details of the plan, not that I was much help to them anyways. I figured I’d come see you…" you trailed off, words left unsaid. It might be the last time we ever see each others like this. After all, you were about to set the world on fire and you doubted you could come back from this unscathed.

Well, Armin would never miss an opportunity like this one. He raised from his chair, carefully putting the worn book aside. You stood there, quiet and sleepy, unmoving as you admired him. His face was illuminated by the dimming candlelight, and while he walked the few steps that separated the two of you, you took in the intricate details of his features. It had been impossible not to fall in love with his complexion; faint freckles on his sun kissed nose, long blonde eyelashes kissing his cheeks with a blink and the soft, inviting pink plump of his lips. He called you an angel, and yet he was the otherworldly one.

The rest of his body was just as beautiful, strong yet surprisingly gentle, seemingly untouched by hunger and pain. But you knew better. You noticed how his eyes seemed to hold the burden of war and duty. You remembered oh so clearly the nights spent crying silent tears or screaming ugly sobs in each others arms. The fear of losing each others, the horror he felt at the thought of losing control and annihilating everything around him, losing friends and dying with dreams unfulfilled. These nights were all too familiar. You desperately sought for nights where gentle touches and private smiles were exchanged.

So in this moment, when you knew that if you extended your hand right in front of you, you could touch him and feel at peace, nothing could hold you back. Therefore, the only logical choice was to move forward.

And he immediately caught your extended fingers in his warm hand. You could never comprehend how soft his palms were, even after years of harsh work and training. Every soldier you knew had their hands hardened by years of slaying Titans and fighting to survive. Armin was just different, you thought. He slayed with his tongue and battled with his mind. It seemed the only purpose for his hands was to gently hold yours.

You pressed your palm on his chest, eager to feel his heartbeat. You never went a day without feeling his pulse soothing you. And he let you. The atmosphere outside the tent was tense, soldiers either readying themselves for what tomorrow would bring or drinking until they couldn’t stand. However, right in the middle of your little world bathed in candlelight and soft touches, everything seemed timeless, free from burdens and duties.

Armin leaned towards you and pressed his cheek against your forehead. He enjoyed the feeling of your warm skin against his own, your steady breath hitting his neck and your hair tickling his cheek.

"You know," he started, your skin warm, his heartbeat steady, "I’ve read about this type of fish in the ocean that we’ve never seen before. In the book, they call them 'sharks'."

You hummed, your eyes half lidded with sleep. "Sharks?" He nodded, and in a moment of tenderness, he tilted his head to kiss your cheek before returning to his previous position. You couldn’t help but smile.

"Apparently they are predators of the sea, vicious and dangerous. They come in all shapes and sizes, and they’re all hunters. The book even mentions how they have teeth sharp like razors and that they possess the ability to smell a drop of blood in the water from long distances."

"They sound quite awful. Build to kill." Your mind conjured the sight of a deadly sea animal, with teeth long and sharp like swords, eyes scarlet red and a body as big as those Marleyan boats.

"Maybe they’re just misunderstood," Armin whispered. His voice felt like a saccharine melody dripping into your soul and his hands started playing with your hair. "Perhaps it’s in their nature."

For a second, you noticed how his voice trailed off, mind lost somewhere you couldn’t follow.

"Then we should befriend them," your silly suggestion tugged a smile on his lips. "After all this. We could find out where they like to swim and build a little house there. Even if it’s in the middle of the sea." You pressed your cheek to his chest and he wrapped his arms around your waist. "We could observe them and maybe we’ll discover that they’re not so bad after all. Perhaps the biggest ones are the friendliest, the most gentle and caring sharks of all. And we’ll use your beautiful talent with words to rewrite history books and make sure those creatures are never misunderstood again."

"It seems you’ve got it all figured out," he chuckled. Walls, he loves you so much.

"Of course," it was the most obvious thing after all. Were you to survive all of this, you knew you’d spend the rest of Armin’s days exploring beyond the sea with him and befriending the world. "We’ll build our cottage, we’ll even get a dog, or three, and we’ll ride our horses onto the beach," you were mumbling against his shirt and you only now noticed how you both had unconsciously started to sway together, dancing to the music of your future.

"We could open a bookstore," he suggested, and his eyes lit up at the thought. It seemed you had both decided to ignore your impending doom. It was much more pleasant to picture yourself with Armin, walking on sandy beaches hand in hand, playing with your dogs in the fields, cooking delicious meals together, and making love into the night.

"With… lots of books in all sorts of dialects." You felt yourself dozing off, yet you fought sleep with all your might just to appreciate the moment for just a second longer. "A whole collection of books dedicated to sharks. And… multicoloured seashells and rocks to brighten up the place."

"Hmm," his eyes were closed, lost in the fantasy. Acting on instinct, he slowly and gently guided the both of you to the bundle of blankets you had accumulated on his cot over the last few weeks. You followed without question and giggled when he tugged your body so you both fell on the pile of softness. "Let’s make plans for tomorrow then."

You smiled gently and settled next to him. You tangled your legs together while he wrapped the thin blanket over your bodies.

"Yeah. Tomorrow."

He knew that tonight he would be dreaming of you and your impossible future together.

#armin x reader #attack on titan #armin aot #aot x reader #aot #armin #armin arlert #armin fluff #armin angst #x reader #reader insert #armin arlert x reader

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jongsie · 1 month

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CRUEL — A. ARMIN

🎧au — boyfriend! armin x gn! reader |🎧ft — angst 🫦💗 | 🎧cw — reader is sick. nicknames, implied character death, lmk if I missed anything | 🎧wc — 481

🎧 raven's note — I wrote this before leaving and queued for a random day so here it is. Let me know what y'all think of this :)

“Where is she? She’s not in her room,” Armin says, it’s the first words he’s spoken since he had to leave 2 days ago.

“We moved her to a different room after you left,” Hange replies. “I’ll take you there.”

Armin just nods his head at them, following behind as they make their way up the stairs. Every step he takes his heartbeat quickens, no matter how much he wipes his palms they get just as sweaty.

The locket you gave him rests in his shirt providing him with some comfort that everything will be alright.

“She’s in here,” Hange says, stopping in front of a door.

“Thank you,” Armins says before hurriedly entering in.

Inside all the curtains are drawn wide, some chairs and a table with flowers are place on one side of the room, and on the other side near a big window is a bed on which you rest.

At the sight of you tears brim in Armin’s eyes. Eye bags are prominent on your face, your cheeks have shrunken in, lips dry and cracked. He walks over to stand next to you.

Armin lifts his hand to place it on your face the touch making you open your eyes.

“Min? When’d you get here?” you ask, voice much quieter than what it used to be.

“Just now, my love,” he says. “How are you feeling?”

A weak chuckle escapes your lips. “Like I could die any second.”

“Don’t joke like that. You’ll be okay,” he tries to assure you and himself, even though you both know it’s not the truth.

“I’m sorry,” you apologise.

The room goes silent while you both look at each other, you take his hand which is on your face into your own. Your hand cold his warm.

“I wish we had more time together,” you say, breaking the silence. “I wanted to do so much with you still.”

Armin kneels to the floor, hiding his face next to you so you don’t see how close he is to breaking.

“Do you think you can forgive me?” you ask.

He shakes his head making tears collect in your eyes. “Don’t leave me please,” he begs.

“I wish I didn’t have to my dear, but the world is cruel,” you say, as tears cascade down your face. Every word takes everything in you to get out. But you speak because you know that any second now you would have to leave him.

Armin lifts his head to look at you with his own tears trailing down his cheeks. His blue eyes that you could look at forever were the things that showed you just how much this was hurting him.

“I love you more than anything Armin,” you whisper. “See the world for…”

And Armin lets the sobs he was holding back free as soon as your sentence hangs unfinished in the air.

#jongsie #armin x reader #armin x you #armin angst #armin arlert x reader #armin arlert x you #armin arlert angst #armin aot #armin arlert #aot x you #aot x reader #aot angst

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missmeinyourbones · 9 months

Note

for your midnights event could you “to hide that would be so dishonest” with armin?

TO HIDE THAT WOULD BE SO DISHONEST (a. arlert)

a/n: DRUNK ARMIN DRUNK ARMIN PATHETIC DRUNK ARMIN! secret relationship, loser core, non canon au

L’s MIDNIGHTS EVENT!

Armin isn't stupid—in fact, he's borderline brilliant. So you're forced to blame it on the alcohol when he's playing dumb and you're finally able to slip away from the stifling crowd, pulling him into a private room of the messy house party to finally breathe.

As if it’s his own (it’s not), he plops on the bed with ease, empty eyes gazing up at you to see why he's been dragged away from the fun.

Your glare says it all and still, Armin actively chooses to feign innocence as he shakes his head and asks.

"What?"

"..."

"Come on, please don't look at me like that."

"..."

"I'm... sorry?"

The question mark at the end of his words is what breaks you, and with an exasperated groan, you reveal all of your cards.

"You said we'd lay low."

He sways his legs a bit as he sighs, sticking his empty hand in his pocket. He uses the other hand to bring his cup to his lips when he shrugs, "Truthfully, I kinda consider what happened 'laying low' given the circumstances."

He physically feels your gaze harden on him, something he didn't even know was possible, when you squint and hiss. "You kissing me in front of all of our friends who don't know we're dating is not 'laying low,' Armin."

You swear you see him smirk, but your boyfriend smoothly plays it off by biting his cheek and shrugging once more.

"Maybe we just have different definitions, then."

You huff and close your eyes, head slightly tilting backward to gather your ramped thoughts before you mumble.

"What happened to us waiting to tell them, huh?"

Armin rises from the stranger's bed and scratches the back of his head, "I don't know, I just—”

He struggles with his words, like a child stuttering to explain his big feelings, before he settles on a whiny, "I love you, and that's not a bad thing, right?"

You shake your head, voice getting softer, "Of course it's not."

"Well, hiding it feels wrong," he declares, crossing his arms like his opinion is solidified. "It's like—like I'm lying to everyone."

You soften, removing the half empty red solo cup from his loose grasp and placing it on the nightstand of whoever’s room your in right now.

In the dim light of the bedroom compared to the strobing reds and blues of the party, you're actually able to see Armin for one of the first times tonight. His eyes are delicate, a bit shaky as they carefully cling to your every move, like you'd single-handledly hung the stars in the sky.

And while he's pathetically drunk and in the wrong no matter the way you swing it, he's yours all the same.

"It's not lying, you're just not screaming your love for me from the rooftops," you remind him in a gentle tone, pulling his lanky arm towards you. He silently thanks you for the touch by immediately slouching his weight against you and melting onto your shoulder.

"That feels like lying to me," he mumbles against the fabric of your sweater, "and a violation of my freedom of speech."

You can't help but shake your head and smile, "You're just a little drunk and dramatic right now."

"Are you mad?"

"No," you sigh softly, fingers finding the hair by his neck as you scratch the skin gently. "It's okay, just wish we were on the same page before you stuck your tongue down my throat."

A tiny, "M'sorry," is felt against your skin.

You tug lightly on his hair, prompting him to look up at you.

"Don't be. We can talk about it more in the morning when you're disgustingly hungover, okay?"

"Okay," he immediately agrees, like a child being promised the world and then some, "love you."

"I love you too."

Armin straightens his back, taking a deep inhale and shaking out his arms a bit. You smile when you hand his drink back to him, and while he accepts it, he carefully holds it up to your mouth first. You take a sip of the sugary cocktail with god knows how much alcohol poured into it, -and it tastes sweet on your tongue—a lot like how Armin did just a few minutes ago.

"Maybe no one even noticed. I mean—did you see Connie?" Armin finds his footing, convincing you that's he's a bit more sober now.

Gently grabbing your hand and making his way to the door, he continues, "He can barely open his eyes right now, let alone form a cohesive thought."

Your nose crinkles in amusement, "Can he normally form one?"

Armin blushes and pulls you along with him, "You'd be surprised."

#L’s MIDNIGHTS EVENT!#armin x reader #armin arlert x reader #armin x you #armin arlert x you #armin fic #armin arlert fic #armin fluff #armin angst #armin arlert fluff #armin arlert angst

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ambassadorarlert · 10 months

Text

HEAT WAVES... (Armin Arlert x afab!reader)

0.5 IS THERE SOMEBODY WHO CAN WATCH YOU? (main menu | spotify) 18+ MDNI NSFW ↳ summary: ...Armin begins to realize just how much he likes you ↳ warnings: obsession, swearing, Hange has they/them pronouns, brief mention of drug use ↳ genre: hurt/comfort, comedy ↳ word count: 12k

“Would you like some help with those?” Armin politely offered.

The kitchen was starting to go dim from the pending sunset. Everyone was outside apart from you and Armin. You stood at the sink washing the remaining dinner dishes. Armin figured he’d offer to help since he was the last to leave the table from dinner. You quickly glanced over your shoulder at him and smiled.

“I wash and you dry?” You suggested.

Armin nodded and joined your side at the sink. For every dish you scrubbed and rinsed, Armin took the towel to dry them off and place them back in their designated spots. You worked together quietly, watching everyone play outside through the kitchen window.

You were among the new Levi Squad assigned to protect Eren and Historia. You were all posted in a cabin deep into the woods. It was set far out enough to where you could make a reasonable amount of noise without being detected. Naturally, screaming and yelling probably wasn’t the best idea.

Eren and Jean’s competitive arguing turned into a fist fight very quickly. They fought like this at least once a week and no one else was really phased by them throwing hands at each other. Everyone continued to do just as they were, paying them no attention. Jean and Eren could never seem to put their differences aside, and they always had to hash it out until the last man stood.

It did get on Armin’s nerves sometimes. Why couldn’t there just be one moment of peace among comrades and friends? Armin inhaled and rolled his eyes as he dried off a dinner plate.

“They should just get married already.” He said under his breath. He watched as Jean was currently losing.

Armin’s sarcastic comment made you burst into laughter. You clamped your eyes shut, lips spread out into a genuine smile, nose crinkled in amusement. He paused.

His heart began to pick up speed, and his throat suddenly got very agitated and dry. Armin’s face flooded with blush. His chest swelled with the fact that he was the one to make you laugh, a glorious sound he didn’t realize he had grown quite fond of. Something had changed within him. A flame had been lit inside Armin’s stomach, and you were apparently holding the match.

He couldn’t tear his eyes away from you as you came down from your giggle fit. You resumed washing out the cup you put a halt on cleaning, and handed it to Armin for him to dry.

“You’re silly.” You sighed.

—

Chilly in here, was the first thought that arrived in Armin’s mind.

He sat up and shivered, holding his arms to his chest as a chill went through him. He didn’t have a shirt on, or any clothes actually. He took a quick tired look around the room. Your room. A blue hue was casted across all of your things. Armin spotted that the window was completely open. If it was this cold for him, someone who ran a warmer body temperature due to his peculiarity, he couldn’t really imagine how cold it must be for you.

With his mind fogged with sleep, he noted how unwise it was to leave your window open this way. So, Armin got up to close it. He tried to keep his eyes half shut so he could stay in the state of sleepiness he was in. By the time he got to the window and tried to quietly shut it, Armin was already starting to become more alert and awake. He was used to being up at this hour anyway. He paused to at least put his pants back on before going back to stand in an open window. All of his clothes were nicely folded across the back of a chair, and his shoes placed politely next to yours.

While Armin continued to wrestle with your sticky bedroom window, he noticed the pretty view of the pier and ocean in the distance. The water sparkled and glittered. A sliver of sunshine lined the horizon. Armin could hear the seagulls calling to each other from where he was standing.

He stared out the window, wistfully coming to his senses. Armin checked the time using your wristwatch on the bedside table. It was five-thirty in the morning. Every now and then, a person would walk on the sidewalk or a car would drive by. Armin wondered who they might be and where they might be going. He spotted a man walking with a strange black and white spotted dog, a woman and small child strolling hand in hand, and a boy on a bicycle. A fascinating contraption.

Armin wondered if any of those people had seen Eren. It was extremely unlikely that any of them did. But, if on the slim chance that they had, perhaps they saw him sitting on a bench enjoying the weather, or talked to him at a tavern, or even walked past him on the street. The world outside of the walls was far bigger than Armin could ever comprehend, and somehow his understanding of that was exceeded now that Eren was out there on his own.

What would the scouts do now that they not only let Eren slip away again, but they also lost the Attack titan in foreign and unknown territory? Armin hadn't really been keeping up with the Marleyean tabloids after the conference about Eldians being denied every basic human right, but Armin pictured that it wasn’t great. He hadn’t had the time to come up with a scenario on how to combat that. A sudden yet dull pain pierced through the top of his head, and into the back of his eye.

Armin was snatched back to his current reality when a noise from the present moment caught his attention. You moved your legs around under your blanket, shuffling and getting into a more comfortable position. With a little groan, you rolled onto your side. You turned to the open room, laying where Armin could see your face. Armin studied every detail, basking in this moment. If only he could pause time and stay in the memory of the night before. This particular second of bliss was enough to subside the ache from missing Eren. Armin didn’t want to think about him right now. He pushed Eren out of the front of his brain temporarily, and started to debate whether he should keep his distance, or suck it up and hold you the way he always envisioned

Armin has never seen a person sleep so peacefully. Your lips were gently separated, light breathing escaping from in between. Your eyelashes fluttered. The early morning shadows of blue, gray, and black did your beauty justice. He helped himself to sitting in the window, perching like an owl. He brought his thighs to his chest, chin resting on his knees, and arms wrapped around his shins. Armin watched your chest rise and fall with each breath. Somehow in the few hours Armin had slept, you had gotten more beautiful. He took his bottom lip in between his teeth. There was something rather tranquil about watching you sleep so soundly. His mind fell silent, except for the number rising in his head as he accidentally started counting every breath you took.

Three… Four… Five…

In his pretend scenarios Armin made up as he lay awake restless at night, he was always the big spoon. There was a gaping hole in his chest as he imagined holding you to his chest at night. He so badly wanted to be the one you curled up to, the one you sought comfort from in the dark. But for some reason, Armin was frozen. He dared not touch you, even though he was just as desperate for you now as he was hours ago. Armin wanted to crawl back into your bed and wrap himself around you. Or, embrace you in his arms. He didn’t really have a preference, he just wanted to be close to you. However, he kept his distance. He shrunk himself away as if you were the one who could explode at a whim. Armin had been fawning over you for so long and now that he actually could call you his, it seemed like an unforgiving joke.

Armin wasn’t funny like Connie, no matter how many times you may laugh at his jokes and tell him that he is. He could style and cut his hair any way he wanted, and he still wouldn’t be as handsome as Eren. Armin knew he would never be as strong as Levi-- or anyone else in the entire military at that, and there was no way he could compete with Jean in anything. He seemed to be the whole package.

Twelve… Thirteen… Fourteen…

Along with not being able to compare with any of his comrades, Armin was literally dangerous to be around. The Colossal Titan is powerful. Armin was capable of catastrophic, unpredictable damage, and it would be as easy as snapping his fingers-- not that he would ever have to use the Colossal to do intentional destruction anyway. Still, what business did you have being with someone like that?

Armin thought harder.

Perhaps it was your compassion and preference to see the good in others that made you believe Armin was worthy of your time. Any niceties you’ve shown towards him, he absorbed and hoarded it away like a crow to a shiny piece of metal. That was just the kind of person you were; unbiased and incredibly empathetic. After becoming a soldier, and killing a woman in cold-blood, his definition of what makes a good person and a bad person had become severely warped. The only constant that remained in his opinion was that he genuinely believed that you were authentically good.

Twenty-five… Twenty-six… Twenty-seven…

You would drop whatever it is you're doing to help anyone who needed it, and would give the clothes off your back to someone else. You were excellent at de-escalating arguments, cutting through the tension with patience and getting to the root of an issue with a neutral perspective. A soldier in your own divine right, ruthless and cut throat when you need to be, agile and precise when you’re going in for a kill. So far, you have four titan kills under your belt. Although you didn’t make it in the top ten graduates as a cadet, you were still incredibly intelligent. Any problem seemed easy to solve and didn’t take much brain power. You were brilliant, amusing, resourceful.

Ethereal.

Thirty-eight.. Thirty-nine… Forty…

Armin’s chest swelled with an emotion he had never really felt before. He could feel his hands heating up from the blood suddenly pumping through his body. Pressure began to build in his temples, his psyche was honing in on you while everything else around him began to fade out. Armin’s heart began to increase speed and there was an icky feeling in his stomach. It rose up into his throat, swelling as he kept counting.

Fifty-seven… Fifty-eight… Fifty-nine… Sixty…

Your people-pleaser attitude had to have come from somewhere. What could you have gone through to make you so resilient to negativity? You and Armin had been subjected to most of the same experiences being on Levi’s Squad and were friends as cadets. However, you existed before you were a soldier. Armin wanted to know what made you tick, what made the gears in your head turn, why your heart was so soft. Troubled childhood? Armin could relate to that. A bad break up? Not so much. Losing countless friends and comrades in the name of humanity? That was something you both, unfortunately, had in common.

Someone as precious as you needed to be protected and cared for, like a little baby bird that had fallen out of the nest. You gave your own time and energy running around to make sure everyone around you was square, but who was there for you whenever you needed it? Of course Mikasa and Sasha were an automatic default. But, who would be there for you if neither of them could fulfill your needs? Who’s shoulder do you rest on when you’re sad, angry, scared? Who tends to your wounds after being miraculous on the battlefield, or when you’re ill? Who do you share thoughts and ideas with? Where do you go when you need to be touched and loved?

Armin immediately scratched that last question out of his head. That icky feeling in his stomach turned sour and sickly. Just as quickly as he had made himself upset, it subsided with the realization that it didn’t matter anymore. Now, it was Armin you would come to if you needed anything. His brain tickled with an idea of a promise, a promise that he would walk to the end of the earth to fulfill. Whatever it was you needed, wanted, desired, Armin would be there to make it happen.

One hundred and eleven… One hundred and twelve…

Within the instant it took Armin to only blink, you had shot up and out of your tranquil sleep. A strange gasp for air squeezed itself from your throat. Armin jumped, shrinking back in sudden and blind fear. He put his hands out to protect his face and chest. Your eyes were wide and crazed.

Your heart was beating so hard, you thought for a moment that you were going to be sick. Your head pounded, mind fogged with the grogginess of an interrupted sleep and the surprise of a nightmare. You gripped your comforter as if your life had depended on it.

“Are you alright?” Armin tested. You blinked. Your environment became clearer upon hearing his voice.

Your eyes shifted to him in the corner of the room, sitting in the windowsill. He had one knee up, a hand pressed to his chest, and leaning against the glass. Armin stared at you incredulously. You weren’t sure which was worse; Having a terrible nightmare or the embarrassment of Armin seeing you wake up from one. You took both of your hands and quickly rubbed your eyes.

“Yeah. I just had a bad dream.” You muttered quietly.

“I have those too, sometimes. Do you want to… talk about it?” Armin asked. He put his body at ease, tucking his hands under his thighs.

You paused. Now that you were awake, you couldn’t recall a single detail about anything, but you remembered it feeling so real. You took a quick look into your shaky palms. The lines in your hands were just the same as they had always been.

“I don’t remember.” You shook your head.

You gave Armin a glance up and down. One side of his face was lit by the window, while the other was shaded by the darkness of the hotel room. His right eye glistened brighter than the other. You could see just how admiral his eyes were. Armin was as beautiful outside as he was inside. He stared at you softly, unsure of what he should do next. A question arose in your mind.

“Were you watching me sleep?” You questioned with one eyebrow raised.

You were mostly teasing. It was quite obvious that he had been looking out of the window, since you noticed it was now closed. You found it more surprising that Armin had actually stayed through the night instead of sneaking out at his earliest convenience. You saw Armin’s shadowed shoulders shrink.

“N-Not in a weird way…” He chuckled sheepishly. Armin took his tongue in between his teeth.

Your chest tightened looking at him. It was clear that Armin had just woken up. His blonde hair was frizzed in some places. His eyes were puffy with sleep. He looked so cute and sweet this way. What your eyes were really clued in on was how tragically gorgeous he was without a shirt on. Your memory matched the way his muscles felt under your fingers, in the dark, to how they looked in front of you.

The sweat that lingered on your skin felt gross. You could smell the salt of the sea in your hair as well as a faint hint of Armin’s own scent. You drew in a deep, grounding breath. There was a funny taste on your lips. An aftertaste of Armin kissing your lips after he had gone down on you just the night before. Your stomach churned with butterflies.

“I’m going to take a shower.” You declared. You threw the covers off of you and stood up.

“Oh, okay.” Armin spoke, slightly stunned by the change of environment and mood. He also wasn’t aware that you were wearing just a shirt.

His eyes were helplessly glued to your legs as you walked to the bathroom. You paused in the door frame and stretched your back out with your arms over your head, a yawn slipping in between. The hem of your shirt raised to reveal your backside. Armin bit his tongue harder.

“You can join me if you want to.” You invoked.

There was an articulation in your voice that sent Armin’s heart racing. It made his ears perk up, his blood flow harder in his veins, his attention firmly grasped. He began to faintly taste blood. Your voice was low and inviting. You batted your eyelashes at him as you waited for him to spit an answer.

This was another marvelous opportunity to be close with you. Private showers such as these were not a luxury at your headquarters on Paradise. The shower room was not co-ed, and the stalls were less than private. He might not ever have a chance like this with you back home.

“You don’t have to. I just thought I’d offer.” You shrugged.

Then, you closed the door, leaving Armin awkwardly on the other side.

You turned on the hot water and got your shower started. The bathroom quickly began to fill with steam. You were starting to realize that teasing Armin was fun. He either took it way too seriously, not understanding the underlying joke or sarcasm, or he clapped back with something as witty and crude. Armin was hilarious in his own way, when he wasn’t trying to be.

Flirting with him was different. You liked how easily flustered he could get, his cheeks and ears flushing pink whenever you taunted and made eyes at him. Armin had to recollect his thoughts and think before he spoke. Seeing the wheels turn under his blonde hair was entertaining.

Just when the shower was exactly how you liked it, you stepped in and began to gently wash your face under the hot water. You squint your eyes shut as you let your hair get completely soaked, doing a little turn to get wet evenly. As you did so, you heard the sound of the bathroom door being opened and shut very gently. An odd, ceramic on ceramic clack noise followed closely after.

You moved a corner of the shower curtain away, peeking out to see what exactly Armin was doing. He was fully dressed, minus the vest he wore yesterday. His button up shirt was lazily done, meeting halfway up his chest. Armin made himself comfortable on the lid of the toilet. You watched him curiously while he shuffled his feet around and tucking his hands in between his legs. He didn’t seem to notice that you were looking at him and observing him decide on if he wanted his feet on the floor or if it was more comfortable to cross his legs. He tucked his ankles together, making his position work.

That wasn’t necessarily what you meant by inviting him to join you, but you couldn’t really blame him. The gesture to simply keep you company wasn’t surprising. You remembered how pleased Armin was just from sitting outside of the bathroom door while you did your makeup for the Eldian Rights conference about a month ago. The way Armin’s bashfulness flip-flopped was interesting and slightly perplexing. You shrugged to yourself. As long as Armin was content, then you didn’t seem to mind him hanging out.

“I’m glad you stayed the night.” You spoke out over the loud water.

Armin sat up straighter. He looked in the direction of your voice, not being able to see you by the solid teal shower curtain. A smile tugged on the corner of his lips.

“Captain Levi isn’t doing bed checks anymore, so I figured I’d get away with it.” He lightly laughed.

You took your shampoo and worked it deep within your scalp.

“What are your plans for the day?” You wanted to know.

“Oh, I don’t know. Maybe do some more work. Reading… and stuff. What about you?” Armin sighed. He rubbed the back of his neck anxiously. What he was anxious for was unclear.

You hummed as you continued to scrub the grimy natural salt from your hair.

The date to the pier served as a successful distraction from the current every day drama of Eren’s vanishment. It was wonderful to spend time with Armin alone, refreshing to see him in multiple rays of new light. As your boyfriend, out and about in a striking and adventurous new world, feeling and appearing more human that he had been dragged out of a dark and depressing hotel room. Armin had been his usual self for the first time in weeks. You wanted to keep the spark going.

“I figured when I’m done, we’d get breakfast together.” You suggested. For a brief second, you changed the water from hot to cool to rinse the shampoo from your head. You shut your eyes as you spoke.

Armin switched from sitting to standing. He planted his feet in front of the sink and used the side of his hands to wipe condensation off of the mirror. He looked at his reflection, not recognizing himself for a split millisecond. His hair was tossed every which way, eyes still swollen with sleep. He used his ring finger to scrape a piece of crud from the inner corner of his eye. There was a foul taste in his mouth that he hoped you didn’t get a whiff of. Armin absentmindedly pulled the mirror open, revealing a rather empty medicine cabinet. He wasn’t sure what he was expecting. At least a tube of toothpaste. Armin closed it back.

On the edge of the bathroom sink was a small brown bag. Armin had seen you carry it around a handful of times, and watched as you rummaged around through it for whatever you happened to be looking for. He wasn’t sure what exactly you kept in it. You were always pulling seemingly random items out of it, then haphazardly throwing them back inside. It was sewn in a rather boxy-square shape, but you had so much stuff jammed inside, it looked more round. Perhaps you had toothpaste in there.

“Hmm,” Armin groaned. “I still have a lot of-” Armin began, but you interrupted him.

“Aw, please?” You politely begged.

Unbeknownst to Armin, you had taken a pause in gathering your conditioner in your hand as you waited for him to respond. You were hoping that the pleading in your tone would make him change his mind.

And unbeknownst to you, your tone melted Armin right in his spot. How could he decline your sweet offer now? His heart clenched unexpectedly. Out of context, he might have thought he was going into cardiac arrest. Your toiletry bag was already unzipped. Armin pulled it open more. Maybe you wouldn’t mind if he looked inside for toothpaste.

“Alright then.” He chuckled. He really didn’t try to hold his ground. Whatever you wanted to do, Armin would willingly do it.

You did a shimmy of giddiness, and continued to work your conditioner in your hair.

The smell of whatever you were using in the shower filled Armin’s nostrils with a scent he was familiar with. A blanket of domestic comfort wrapped around his shoulders as he lightly dug around in your bag. It was packed with little tubes and bottles of… things. Armin picked up a few items, held them to the light to get a glimpse of what might be inside. Some of them were half empty, and others were on their last leg of product.

Why did you have so much? What did they all do? Why are most of them empty?

Armin couldn’t help himself, curiosity had bested him. He had already found the tube of toothpaste he suspected that you had, but couldn’t stop himself from looking deeper inside. Some of it was obviously makeup. There was a strange metal contraption, like a pair of tongs but the ends were curved and elongated. Armin snapped them open and shut, eyeing it suspiciously. He hadn’t the faintest clue what he was looking at. He put it aside, and kept looking.

One thing he noticed was that most of the bottles and tubes were labeled or had labels. Even though he read them all, he couldn’t comprehend what they were for or what they did. However, one simply did not have a name. With his interest further piqued, he unscrewed the cap and gave it a whiff. The smell that he came to adore so much smacked him in the face.

Soft, sweet, with just a tinge of amber. Armin smelled it whenever you walked by him in the mess hall. He could catch it on the breeze whenever you were all sitting outside, hanging out and talking about nothing. The scent danced on all your pillows, clothes, and skin. Armin took another inhale of it as if it were oxygen itself. He could have died right there in ecstasy.

“Hey, yo?” Some called suddenly from the inside of your hotel room, just on the other side of the bathroom door.

Armin jumped at the unexpected visitor. Armin stepped back from the sink with the bottle still clenched tightly in his hand. His fingers moved quickly to screw the cap back on.

“Connie?” You called out, poking your head out from the shower curtain.

Armin froze, shoving his hands in his pockets.

You and Armin both knew Connie would ask questions and make assumptions. In this case, they would be true and there would be no way Armin could deny any of it. Jean knew how to mind his own business, but not Connie. Connie would tease and pry for any detail he could get.

“What should I do?” Armin mouthed to you.

There was literally nowhere for him to hide.

“Oh, are you in the shower? Can I come in real quick, I have something important to tell you.” Connie asked regretfully, sounding sorry to bother you.

Armin’s eyes were wide with horror. You bit your tongue, thinking of the only thing that you could do. You reached out of the shower, grabbed Armin by his shoulder, and pulled him in with you. The water began to soak his hair and the front of his pants and shirt. You slapped your hand over Armin’s mouth as he clumsily slipped and exclaimed at being unexpectedly handled. You put a finger to your lips, hushing Armin as he squeaked quietly under your palm.

“You can come in.” You announced over the sound of the running water.

You heard the bathroom door creak open.

“I have my eyes covered, I’m not looking! I can’t see anything!” Connie proclaimed.

The smog of the bathroom escaped and a rush of cool air came in behind Connie. He hid his face with one hand while the other was extended in case he ran into anything. Connie took tiny steps as well.

“It’s fine, the curtain is solid. What do you have to tell me?” You politely pressed.

Connie removed his hand from his eyes and blinked. He looked around your bathroom as his eyes adjusted and his thoughts realigned.

“Are you almost done? Hange and Levi want us all together to talk. Sasha went to get Mikasa, so I came to get you.” Connie explained.

You and Armin locked eyes. You furrowed your brows at each other.

“Talk about what?” You wanted to know.

Now would be Armin’s third time seeing you naked. You were just as stunning naked in the shower, a less sexual context, as you were in bed. The way the water rolled down your body, soap suds bubbling on your skin, hair soaked in product and dripping. It was longer than Armin thought it was, now that it was wet. He almost couldn’t stand it. Armin swallowed to try and keep his growing bulge under control, but he was too infatuated with your figure and too startled by Connie’s unexpected appearance. He kept his eyes up to the ceiling so as to not just stand and stare, focusing on what Connie was saying.

“This whole Eren business, I assume.” Connie sighed.

“Oh,” you replied. “I kinda just got started, but I’ll be out soon.” It was all you could say.

“I’ve been thinking,” Connie began.

Oh, God! You thought to yourself. Anytime Connie said that, it was usually followed up with something so dumb, you seriously doubted if he thought much at all. You hoped Connie wouldn’t say something unintentionally ignorant.

“Eren’s been so sluggish lately. Maybe he’s older than we predicted and he crawled off somewhere to die? Dogs do it all the time. I feel, like, if Eren actually was coming back he would have already.” Connie explained.

You sucked the back of your teeth.

“That’s a terrible thought, Connie. Don’t say that in front of everybody.” You warned.

“I know, I know. I just think it’s fucked up, you know? The way Eren just dropped everything and left us behind. Especially Mikasa and Armin, after everything they’ve done for him.” Connie ranted.

You squeezed your eyes shut. The secondhand embarrassment made you want to dissolve down the drain. All you could muster up was a hum of neither approval or disagreement. Connie carried on with his rant.

“I don’t know what Eren and Mikasa’s dynamic is but I’ll tell you what, she does not deserve him. He always treated her like some side piece he could care less about. The way he always pushed her away and hollered in her face made me so angry sometimes. I stayed out of it, because it’s not really my business, but sometimes I really wanted to tell him to just fuck off of Mikasa for just a minute.” Connie preached.

He took a quick look at his reflection. Connie ran his tongue over his pearly white teeth and smoothed a stray eyebrow hair only he would notice. He then flashed himself a handsome smile.

You stayed silent.

The more Connie vented, the smaller Armin felt. Although Connie did have a point about Eren being rude to Mikasa often, he was positive that it was never as intentional as it may appear. He knew in his heart that Eren didn’t mean to hurt Mikasa, he was just an independent man who was set in some of his ways. Mikasa was doting and compassionate not just to Eren, but to everyone. Armin included. It was in her nature to care just as it was in Eren’s nature to…

“And don’t fuckin’ get me started on-” Connie wanted to add. He did a quick flex in the mirror. However, you put an end to his raving.

“Connie, I really can’t talk right now. I’m getting soap in my mouth!” You lied. The signal in Connie’s brain finally started to fire up.

“Right, right, right. I’ll tell the ole Cap’n you’ll be there soon. By the way, have you seen Armin? He’s not in his room.” Connie mentioned before he completely turned on his heel to leave. You took a pause. Despite the warm water, your toes ran cold as ice.

“Strange. No, I haven’t.” You fibbed again, looking Armin directly in his pretty blue eyes. A glaze of sadness fell over his irises.

“Well, when did you see him last? Did you both go to-” Connie began to think too hard. You interrupted him again.

“Connie. Soap in mouth.” You reminded him coldly.

“Alright, alright. Put some hustle on it, you know the captain doesn’t like to wait around.” On that note, Connie shut the bathroom door.

You and Armin held your breaths until you were both certain that the coast was clear. After the sound of the hotel room door closed shut, you released your hand from Armin’s mouth.

He said nothing. His eyes looked somewhere else, not at you or really anywhere. The front of his hair and clothes were now soaked. He looked like a little wet kitten left out in the rain. You pouted at him, knowing that his feelings may have been hurt from Connie’s unsolicited opinion. It was no ones fault, as Connie wouldn’t have known Armin was there. You could still imagine the sting of his words. A hand reached out to brush Armin’s wet hair off of his forehead. Before your fingers could touch him, Armin moved to get out.

“I’m going to go change my clothes.” He said simply. He couldn’t hide the melancholy in his voice.

His tone had definitely shifted. The dark cloud that had been hanging over him for weeks had returned.

Armin’s heart thumped as he booked it to the private dining room. He managed to sneak back to his room, and change out of his wet clothes without getting caught. A million and one thoughts went through his mind as he hurried to be on time, knowing how unpleasant it was to keep Levi waiting.

Armin swallowed Connie’s words with a giant grain of salt. Hearing Connie voice his true opinion in what he thought was a safe space did hurt, he would not deny that, but he didn’t hold it past him. No matter how often Eren and Jean fought, the two of them plus Armin himself and Connie were the closest thing to brothers that they all had. Connie and Eren pulled numerous pranks on everyone, you being a common target. The greatest stunt they achieved together was setting about twenty frogs loose in your bedroom just before a cleaning inspection. Connie was the only person Eren could be mischievous around and not be told off about it.

Armin wasn’t the only person who was offended by Eren’s departure. Connie was also grieving a lost friendship, and said the first words that came to his mind. That’s all that was.

The only context Armin has was that Hange and Levi wanted to talk about Eren, but nothing more was given. Perhaps they had heard from him, or even found him. If not brought back in person, then at least a location was known. Or, even better, maybe Armin would lock sight on Eren as soon as he walked into the room. He would be in once piece, profusely apologize and explain what had happened to him for weeks on end. Maybe Armin was right about Eren getting his memories confused and gotten himself lost. Maybe he was kidnapped and managed to escape. Maybe he had another motive that the scouts couldn’t know about at the moment for good reason. Armin’s chest fluttered with hope.

Armin pushed the doors open, a fraction of that hope had diminished when he took account that Eren was not there. He greeted everyone, sheepishly closing the doors behind him as he did so.

“Good morning, Armin! How’d you sleep?” Hange cheerfully greeted, smiling wildly at him.

In the face, they could tell that Armin had low spirits. But physically, he appeared fine, as if he hadn’t been decaying away in a hotel room alone for weeks on end. Armin appeared to be wearing fresh clothes, and Hange could faintly smell soap on him. At least he had been keeping up with his personal hygiene. They were quite relieved that Armin seemed fine for the most part. Perhaps a day in the sun is what he needed after all. Hange made a mental note to give you your credit for your idea, as it seems to have done him good.

“I slept alright.” Armin shrugged, downplaying his night and trying not to blush.

Sleeping next to you was some of the best sleep he had gotten in weeks.

Hange and Levi made sly eye contact as Armin kept his head down and found a seat at the table. Their telepathic minds sent each other the same thoughts. Hange had made themselves comfortable at the head on the table, while Levi sat off to their left as usual. Levi said nothing. He kept his arms folded in the moments where he wasn’t reaching for his tea.

“Where’ve you been?” Jean asked Armin.

Jean was finishing the last of his breakfast. Armin sat across from him, deciding to skip out on food so early in the morning. Armin’s anxiety levels were on one thousand. He bounced his leg under the table. For now, it was currently Jean and Connie sitting and eating. If Armin ate anything, he might not be able to keep it down.

“What do you mean? I was in my room.” Armin lied through his teeth.

He figured Jean was the one who went looking for him. Jean put a pause on raking some eggs onto his fork.

“No you weren’t. I was just in there looking for you.” Jean raised an eyebrow.

Jeans questioning was not helping with Armin’s uneasiness. Of course now Jean would try to pry for answers in front of Connie and superiors. Armin swallowed, and kept his composure.

“What’s up with your hair?” Jean asked another question. Armin was taken back.

“I just washed it. Why, w-what’s wrong with my hair?” Armin reached up to smooth it down flat. He had no way of seeing his reflection, and he didn’t really have time to comb through and style it nicely.

“I like it!” Hange chimed in. “It’s wet and wild. It’s sexy!” They beamed.

Armin’s face pooled pink. No one had ever referred to anything about him as sexy, and coming from Hange made him slightly embarrassed. Hange didn’t care. They dramatic tossed their own hair around on their head, one thick piece covering their eyepatch, giving Armin a smolder.

Shortly after Armin’s arrival, Sasha and Mikasa appeared. Sasha was already dressed for the day, which was surprising because she was usually in more casual and comfortable clothes until it was absolutely necessary for her to change. Mikasa had definitely seen better days, though no one dared to speak up on that. Armin could tell that she hadn’t been getting a lot of rest either. She appeared thinner in the face, with rings under her gray eyes.

Armin immediately noted your absence, but kept his lips sealed tight. He put his hands together in his lap and squeezed.

“Right, so now that everyone is here,” Hange began. Their voice changed from being playful to quite serious. Armin’s heart skipped.

“Hang on,” Levi interrupted, raising his hand to put Hange on pause. “Where is Y/N?”

The sound of Connie’s fork stabbing into his plate followed behind Levi’s question. He poked at the sausages, half already being stuffed in his mouth.

“I went to go get them, but they were in the middle of takin’ a shower.” Connie said with his cheeks full of food. Levi cringed.

“Stop talking with your mouth full.” Levi snapped. He folded his arms back into their natural position. Connie quickly chewed, and harshly swallowed.

“My bad— I mean, yes sir. Sorry, sir.” Connie apologized.

“That’s not a problem, we can just wait! Let everyone get some food in their systems before we begin!” Hange declared, adjusting their rectangular glasses.

Mikasa and Armin were the only two who hadn’t helped themselves to food. Mikasa was too busy eyeing Armin down from across the table. She looked at him, through him, and beyond. Her eyes were judgmental. Armin already knew what she was criticizing him for: last night's rendezvous.

Armin couldn’t break his eyes away from Mikasa. A mild sweat started to break out on his temple. He had almost forgotten that Mikasa technically had caught him in the act of sneaking into your hotel room. What did she know? Perhaps it was your ridiculously squeaky bed frame that gave away the events of the evening, or maybe Armin himself was just too loud? What if you and Armin both were overheard? Armin briefly looked away, and then back to Mikasa, but her gaze remained unbroken. Armin almost couldn’t stand it.

Finally, at last, after about twenty extra minutes of idle chit chat from everyone else, and people filling themselves up for the morning, you walked through the door. You were disheveled, obviously having to put a rush on your morning routine. You had a towel draped around your shoulder as your hair was soaking wet and dripping from the ends. You had to let your conditioner sit for at least fifteen minutes to get the full benefits, and had absolutely no time to dry it normally.

“You’re late.” Levi commented harshly. You stood tall, at full attention.

“I-” You wanted to explain yourself, but Levi wasn’t having it.

“Sit down.”

“Yes, sir.” Your shoulders fell, eyes drawn to your feet as you tried to find somewhere to sit.

Just your luck, there was an empty seat next to Armin. He sat up straighter and pulled the chair out from the table for you to claim. Only you could see how he gently patted the cushion. The corners of his mouth pulled up into an anxious smile. You quietly thanked him as the room suddenly fell silent.

“Alright, now everybody is here…” Hange stood up again.

They sighed heavily. They removed their glasses and began to clean the lenses with the hem of their shirt. You took notice of the frown on their lips, a solemn and regretful look in their eye. With this behavior, and the topic of conversation, you had a feeling that whatever Hange was going to say wasn’t good.

You quickly took a look at all your friends. You and Mikasa widened your eyes at each other. Sasha had taken a pause on her breakfast. Jean rested his elbow on the table with his chin in his palm. Connie mirrored Levi with his arms folded across his chest, but looked more clueless than menacing.

Then you gave Armin a quick scan. His hands were folded in his lap. He pressed his hands together so tightly, he was basically white knuckling himself. His wrists trembled. You drew in a deep breath to compensate for wanting to grab his hand and hold it.

Hange began to speak, lowering their voice to a discreet and intimate tone.

“There’s no easy way to say this, so I’ll get straight to the point. Our situation in Marley is getting more and more dangerous by the second. With the recent verdict on the Eldian race, more and more establishments are demanding blood tests from all patrons. It’s to weed out any roaming Eldian’s, and to keep them in their designated internment zones. Since we’re the native island devils they fear and loathe, it’s too risky to stay here. Not just in the hotel, but in the entire country.”

Hange gently explained. They took a pause so all of their words could soak into six brains at once. Then, they continued.

“The next ship to leave Liberio’s port is scheduled to depart at nine tomorrow morning. So tonight you will all need to be packed, well rested, and ready to leave by at least eight just to be safe.”

A fog of confusion engulfed the room. Everyone present was thinking the same thing, and you all knew what it was. It dangled from the ceiling like a spider on a string of its web, frantically flailing around for a ledge to grab onto. Connie still had his arms crossed over his chest, his eyes fixated on the middle of the table as he listened and nodded. Sasha’s lips twisted into a pout. Jean rubbed his temple. You could hear just how hard Armin was breathing.

Mikasa sat as still as stone, looking blankly at Hange as she asked,

“What about Eren?”

Her words were a punch to everyone’s stomach. Only her voice wavered as she spoke. Her throat bobbed as she swallowed. Tears were starting to tickle her eyes. Without giving each other a single signal or clue, you and Sasha immediately abandoned your seats to be at Mikasa’s side. You wrapped your arms around her shoulders in a hug, her hand holding onto your forearm. Sasha knelt down to the floor, taking Mikasa’s free hand in her own.

“Can I say something?” Connie raised his hand.

“No, you may not.” You hissed.

You couldn’t mentally handle Connie putting his foot in his mouth again, not here in front of everyone else. Connie shut his mouth.

Hange hung their head.

“Eren has been missing in action for weeks. It’s unclear what his situation is, whether he abandoned his duties as a scout or…” Hange stopped themselves.

Everyone remained quiet, waiting for Hange to finish their sentence, but they couldn’t. They couldn’t muster the strength to picture Eren-

“Dead?” Armin had broken his silence.

All eyes turned to him. For some reason, Armin didn’t care about the incredulous looks he was getting. The possibility and reality had crashed onto him. Connie was going to say it anyway, had you not stopped him.

Your heart cracked. If only there was a way you could extend yourself to bring Armin into your embrace along with Mikasa.

“He’s not dead!” Mikasa’s voice echoed.

She broke free from your hug and stood to her full height and slammed her palms on the table. Sasha fell backwards on her ass at the shock. All of the dishes clattered and shook at the impact. Then, she pointed a shaky finger at Armin.

“Take it back!” She demanded. “Eren is alive! I know he is!”

Mikasa left no time for Armin to redact his statement just as she demanded him to. Armin blinked, his head bobbing backward ever so slightly. Mikasa’s neck snapped to Hange.

“Hange, let me stay behind. I’ll keep looking for him, I can find him!” She desperately pleaded.

“That’s not a good idea.” Levi shook his head.

The room had taken a complete one hundred and eighty degree turn. The sound of Levi’s voice alone sent smoke coming out of Mikasa’s ears like a kettle on a flame. You watched Jean cover his ears and squeeze his eyes shut, already becoming overstimulated by the tense environment. Connie’s eyes were as wide as the plate he ate off of. He wasn’t sure if he wanted to watch Mikasa’s meltdown, or avert his eyes somewhere else so as to not wrongfully make eye contact with her and be the next person she yells at. Sasha sat on the floor, frozen, mouth agape and unsure of what to do next.

You bit the inside of your lip. Levi was correct, of course and as usual. It was a terrible idea for Mikasa to say behind. She would have no ally’s or resources to conduct an investigation on a missing soldier on her own. There was no way Armin would allow Mikasa to stay here alone. You knew he would volunteer himself to stay along with Mikasa if he needed to. And if Armin stayed here, then you would have to as well. Even worse, what if Mikasa had been caught as an Eldian from Paradise? You could already visualize the dominoes and how they would fall.

You put a hand on Mikasa’s shoulder and sighed.

“Mika…” You said carefully and softly.

Mikasa turned to you sharply. Her eyes stabbed you in the chest, and your blood ran cold. Mikasa was your best friend, and you weren’t necessarily scared of her, but you definitely didn’t want to be on the sharp end of her attitude.

“Don’t ‘Mika’ me!” She shoved your hand away. “This is wrong and you all know it! We can’t leave Eren, we just can’t! He wouldn’t leave any of us behind!”

The irony in Mikasa’s negotiation made you nauseous. Everyone shifted uncomfortably. Again, no one wanted to say what they were thinking. Mikasa was already incredibly upset. No one wanted to twist the knife. Levi, however, didn’t seem to mind doing so.

“He’s already left us behind. It’s been damn near a month, and that little shit hadn’t bothered to even write to us.” Levi said.

He stood up from his chair. His black hair glistened under the light in the room. His arms were still folded across his chest as he stood to his height.

“I know it sucks because you love him, or whatever. But it’s either we stay here and risk all of our lives on this god forsaken continent, or we escape by the skin of our teeth and leave Eren to fend for himself. We’ve all risked our lives for Eren before, but this is too risky. We’d be putting our whole island at jeopardy if we were busted out as Eldian’s. Does that sound like it’s worth risking, for him?”

Levi’s tangent was heavy. Again, Levi was correct.

Mikasa’s lip wavered. She saw black as anger consumed her aura. She wanted to scream at Levi, tell him to shut up, tell him he was wrong. But her tongue was tied with emotions. A sob left her chest as she took off. She stormed towards the exit, the door practically flying open before her, and disappeared. There was an eerie silence, similar to the calm after a terrible rainstorm. Everyone was too stunned to say or do anything except look at each other.

Sasha was still sitting on the floor. Her mouth hung open in an amazed ‘o.’ Levi sucked the back of his teeth in his signature “tch” and sat back down. Sometimes, it was all he could really say. Sasha stumbled to her feet like a newborn deer.

“Mikasa, wait!” Sasha called. She zoomed to catch up to Mikasa, not even looking back at her comrades or superiors for a reaction

You were absolutely gobsmacked. Yes, Levi was correct on every single point. It wouldn’t be wise to stay, as all of your lives were now on the line. You had no choice but to follow Hange’s orders, but you sympathized with Mikasa more than logic wanted to allow. Leaving Eren behind after everything you all lost, gained, and put at risk for him seemed… unreal. This all felt like a nightmare, as if you were still in your dream from earlier.

“Well, shit.” Connie heaved. He finally felt like he could release the breath he had been holding.

Jean cracked an eye open, examining his surroundings and slowly removing his hands from over his ears. Levi’s lips were drawn together tightly and eyebrows drawn in as he looked up at Hange, both of them shared conscience-stricken glances. It was expected that Mikasa, out of everyone, would be the most upset, but her outburst was magnificent to behold.

Armin had squeezed his hands together so tightly, his fingers had gone numb. His lips were kept straight, hi s face relaxed, but his eyes told all. If Armin really wanted to, he could cry over not seeing Eren again. And if he tried hard enough, he could laugh at the irony. He wasn’t sure where in the lines of this situation it was painted, but he could practically taste it. His irises slowly raised from looking at his lap, to making eye contact with you.

You scanned the room, observing everyone’s body language and mood. You weren’t sure what to say or do next. Out of everyone in the room, you wanted to go to Armin and embrace him, squish him to his chest and squeeze the pain out of his spirit. But, alas. Not here.

Without another word you quickly followed in pursuit behind Sasha, putting in work to keep up behind them both.

Mikasa ran straight to her hotel room and threw herself onto her bed. She screamed in agony into her pillows. It would be no surprise that she might have been heard on other parts of the hotel floor. For a moment, Sasha wrapped herself around Mikasa in a comforting hug. Mikasa sobbed into Sasha’s shoulder, and Sasha didn’t mind her shirt being soiled. She was notoriously terrible at offering advice and providing relief that isn’t humorous, there was little she could do here. You and Sasha exchanged faces at each other, unsure of where to start in unpacking all of this.

“It’s not fair!” Mikasa hollered one time over another.

Mikasa took her pillow in her hands and slammed it against the mattress as hard as she could, continuing her declarations of unfairness as she did so.

You and Sasha swapped places. Since you all would be leaving the next morning, it was best to start packing. Mikasa was fairly organized, so it didn’t take Sasha long to gather Mikasa’s things and put them away in her suitcase. You supported Mikasa’s anger from the sidelines. You were mainly making sure that Mikasa kept abusing her pillow and only her pillow. Lamps, books, and other non-soft breakable items were kept out of Mikasa’s immediate line of sight.

Even though Hange is the mastermind behind the scouts, the designated leader who had final say above everyone else, Mikasa blamed Levi. She swore up and down that it was his idea to leave Eren behind, that Levi never liked Eren to begin with. You and Sasha both knew that was untrue.

“I’m gonna rip that little bitch to shreds!” She gritted her teeth.

Mikasa balled her fists as tightly as she could to refrain herself from punching the walls. Mikasa always gave Levi a side eye, reluctantly following orders and every now and then disobeying them, calling him names whenever he left the room, and voicing certain acts of violence she wanted to inflict on him for the way he treated Eren. Mikasa insisted that Levi treated Eren like a step-child. She never learned, and in the case of Eren, she didn’t care what the repercussion would be for wringing the Captain’s neck.

“Don’t say that!” You tried to hush Mikasa just in case Levi happened to be near.

The fury was short lived. Mikasa huffed, sat back on the edge of her bed and began to cry. From that point on, the tears had not stopped. Her broken sobs had not lightened. You could see all of the pieces of Mikasa’s heart shattered on the floor. Mikasa clawed at her chest, leaving stripes of her fingernails across her flawless skin. She dug into herself as if there was anything she could bring out. Mikasa sunk her face into her pillow and screamed as loud and as hard as she could. All you and Sasha could do was stand in complete awe of the effect this disaster had done to your best friend.

Mikasa has been upset over Eren to the point of tears before. In less grander circumstances, Eren has said a phrase or two that would have hurt Mikasa’s feelings. Eren had never done anything this awful. Connie’s words played back in your mind. Eren was most definitely an asshole more times than not. Mikasa wasn’t the only one, you were a close runner up in some of Eren’s nonsense.

Hair seemed to be one of Eren’s favorite things to pick on. You always kept your hair in two neat braids away from your face. Eren often asked if you knew how to do anything else with it, and would sometimes tug on their curled tails when he thought you weren’t paying attention. In the mess hall, he’d flick small pieces of food at you. Nothing messy to stain your clothes or get on your face, but his aim was just perfect enough that a crust of bread he couldn’t be bothered to eat would land right in your soup. You never wasted time to pluck it out and chuck it back at him. By far, Eren’s favorite prank to pull on you was banging loudly on the door to your living quarters, jiggling the obviously locked handle, and pretending to break in. He did it at odd hours of the night, and sometimes early in the morning.

Through the red lenses of your vision, they were fond memories you would have and hold forever. But you were just too livid to see them from that point of view. Connie was right, after everything Mikasa had done for Eren is this the way he genuinely wants to treat her? Abandoning his post as a soldier, leaving his friends hanging high and dry in unknown and dangerous territory?

The scouts had saved Eren’s ass so many times, and if it wasn’t for any of you he would not be among the living. Armin vouched for him when it was revealed that Eren was really a titan, insisting that he wasn’t dangerous and that his power could be used for good. You thought he had gone mad. The original Levi Squad put their lives on the line to protect Eren against The Female Titan, leaving the other scouts in the dark about the real threat at hand. The caverns under the church was basically in the lowest part of Hell, you were convinced that the Devil himself would jump out from any corner. Nevertheless, you all went down anyway to rescue him and Historia with no real concern for your own lives. It was that day, during the battle with Kenny and his team, when you killed your first man. You did it all for Eren.

And this was the thanks you all got. It made you sick. You stood over Mikasa, lost in your own memories for just a moment, watching her unravel. This was no doubt her biggest heartbreak, and all you could do was watch. Even though Eren was a nightmare sometimes, for the first time in all the years you had known him, you hated him. You hated the way he hurt Mikasa. You hated the way he put Hange in a situation where they had to make a decision to leave him behind. You hated the way you saw Armin psyche break as he couldn’t come to terms with anything. You hated the way Eren left you to pick up his pieces.

“Mikasa, what can we do?” Sasha asked loudly. Mikasa’s crying bounced off of the walls.

“Are you thirsty? Do you want some water?” You cooed to her sweetly.

She declined, shaking her head. Her glossy black hair, that was always so shiny and looked so healthy, swished back and forth. You and Sasha stood over Mikasa as she howled in distress. Her face was wet with tears, snot slowly coming from her nose. The area around her eyebrows and her forehead were beat red. You excused yourself briefly to Mikasa’s bathroom, fetching the entire roll of toilet paper to bring her.

You came back and sat next to her, dabbing at her cheeks. You embraced Mikasa in another hug. Sasha helped herself to sitting on the bed, and took Mikasa’s trembling hand in hers.

You noticed that Sasha was particularly quiet, which was completely understandable. On top of watching her best friend suffer, and generally being awful at giving advice, Sasha was also upset about having to leave Eren. Who would take Eren’s place in their smoke rotation? Definitely not Mikasa, or Armin, or even you. Maybe, if they pressured him enough, Jean might crack. Sasha would have one less plate of leftovers, and one less tray to steal food off of. Sasha’s frown was deep and was quite unsettling to see, since she was always smiling and laughing at something or someone.

Even in the midst of your duty to tend to your best friend in her time of need, Armin couldn’t help but cross your mind. Where was he? What was he doing? How was he doing? Armin couldn’t hide his sorrows even if he sealed them in a vault with a lock and key. You had no idea what had happened in the meeting after you went to chase down Sasha and Mikasa. A sliver of regret pulled at your conscience, wishing you hadn’t left him at the table. Looking back, you probably should have stayed for his comfort.

Mikasa had to have been crying for at least an hour or two straight, and for the first time since coming back to her room her crying had stopped. She had bawled until her body had ran dry. Sasha quickly ran to grab her a glass of water. A drink seemed to calm her down significantly. Her weeping had settled down to pitiful hiccups.

“This is my fault.” Mikasa hushed under her breath. You squeezed her tighter.

“What makes you say that?” You pondered.

There was a pregnant pause. You and Sasha exchanged looks at each other as Mikasa blew her nose again. There was something she was leaving out, something that had gone unsaid until now. You both patiently waited until Mikasa collected herself. Then, she released a hard blow of air from her lungs.

“Do you guys remember when we found Eren at that campground?” Mikasa wondered, asking for context. You and Sasha both nodded.

“I caught Eren talking to that kid, the same kid who took Sasha’s purse. He was acting strange, saying weird stuff. He… He basically asked me what kind of relationship we had, what he meant to me…” Mikasa confessed. Your grip around her shoulders loosened as Mikasa unloaded her conscience.

It was no secret to anyone that Mikasa was head over heels for Eren, but it was unclear what their relationship was defined as. Sometimes, they acted as if they were a couple that had been married for years and years. Mikasa doted on Eren, and they squabbled often. The fact that Mikasa had been adopted by Eren’s parents and were raised together as children blurred some lines.

“What did you say?” You wanted to know.

Mikasa’s throat bobbed as she gulped. Her face twisted up again in a sob. She rubbed her eye with the heel of her hand.

“I told him he was family. I-I must have made him mad. Maybe I said the wrong thing, or maybe I hurt his feelings…” She admitted with a crack in her voice.

Mikasa didn’t have much energy left to continue her full blown weeping, but she shed a couple of more tears from being temporarily hydrated. You rested your head on Mikasa’s shoulder as she sniffled some more.

“Are you fucking kidding me?” Sasha scoffed.

Your neck craned to her slowly, eyes wide with a nonverbal warning to mind her words. No, Sasha wasn’t good at giving advice, but it didn’t stop her from speaking her mind and calling bullshit whenever she saw it. Righteous, outspoken, and fiesty, Sasha was the friend who told it exactly how it was.

“You mean to tell us that Eren disappeared into thin air because he couldn’t stand being rejected? Is that what I’m comprehending right now?”

You weren’t sure where exactly Sasha was going with her tangent, but perhaps whatever she was about to say wasn’t what Mikasa wanted to hear, but rather it was what she needed. You could see Sasha’s anger rising higher and higher.

“So what if you don’t see him from a romantic perspective? That’s not your fault, and it’s not your problem that he can’t deal with his emotions like a normal person.” Sasha explained.

“But I do love him! I-I-I was just too stunned, I didn’t actually know what to say.” Mikasa replied. She twisted a wad of tissue anxiously in her hands.

“And that’s completely valid, don’t get me wrong! However, we’re here in Marley on a mission. He shouldn’t have fucked off the way he has. Look at you! You’re crying like someone just murdered your puppy. I’ve never seen you be so upset. You’ve barely eaten and barely slept in weeks.” Sasha pointed out. She spoke with her hands, waving them up, down, and around.

“And even Armin had problems coping! Y/N had to lure him out of his rabbit hole just so he could get some fresh air and sunlight!”

Your heart skipped a beat at the sound of you and Armin’s name being mentioned in the same sentence. You still hadn’t told Sasha or Mikasa anything about Armin. Eventually, you would, perhaps when you returned back home. Now, it seemed inappropriate to speak about your new relationship while Mikasa’s pain was equivalent to a break up. Even letting your stomach flip at the sound of his name seemed selfish.

Currently, all you could do was listen to Sasha’s preaching. You agreed with everything she was saying so far. You might have phrased a few things differently for Mikasa’s sake, but the core message all stayed the same.

“At this point, whatever Eren has going on in his stupid, fat, melon, man-brain is his problem. Not yours.” Sasha declared this statement as if it were a fact from a textbook.

While she raved, Sasha paced around the room. She helped herself back to sitting on Mikasa’s bed. Sasha grabbed Mikasa’s face and held it firmly in her hands, forcing Mikasa’s silvery eyes to meet her brown ones. Mikasa blinked rapidly, a few more tears falling down her cheeks.

“It’s not your fault.” Sasha stated firmly.

You watched as the two stared directly into each others souls. It was times like these where you felt closer with your girl friends more than ever. An ache clenched at your heart. There was a time when you three were just little Cadets and instead of being a group of three, it was a group of six. Krista was now Queen Historia, so it was almost impossible to see her whenever you just felt like it. Annie went off to join the Military Police after graduation. You exchanged a letter or two every now and then, but the last time you had laid eyes on her was when she was wreaking havoc in Stohess and capsulated herself in a crystal. Her whereabouts were unknown, and you could say the same for Ymir.

You, Sasha, and Mikasa were all that was left.

“Fuck him! You deserve so much better than what Eren has, could, and ever will give you. If I could, I would grab the biggest ladder in the world, climb it, pluck every star out of the sky like tiny little berries, and give them to you. Then, I would spoon feed them to you like the precious baby you are!” Sasha declared with her whole chest.

“Okay. Alright.” You decided to put an end to Sasha’s gospel, as you could sense she was about to go overboard.

“I agree with Sasha. You deserve someone who’s going to be there for you no matter what. This level of stress he’s always got you under… it’s not healthy, Mika.” You spoke softly, rubbing Mikasa’s back gently.

With no warning, Sasha sprung herself onto you and Mikasa in a gigantic hug. Her upper body strength constricted you all together, cheeks squishing together. Sasha groaned as her arms held you all tighter and tighter. You were definitely feeling the love. You coughed under Sasha’s grip, her affection and solidarity for girl-power restricting your airways.

Mikasa was caught in the middle between her two best friends. She squeezed her eyes shut. Mikasa sensed that some pieces of her fragmented soul were being cemented back together. Of course, it wouldn’t hold and solidify overnight.

“I love you guys so much! Men suck, and if anyone hurts either one of you, I’ll fucking kill them.” Sasha promised.

“Cool, Sasha, let me go! Please, you’re choking me!” You pleaded.

Laces in between Sasha’s oath and your desperate gasps for air something flickered inside Mikasa’s chest that as long as she had the two of you, plus Armin and Connie and Jean, she might just be alright.

It went without saying that no one felt any better than they did the day before. Bags were packed, people tossed and turned all night in final hopes that Eren Would miraculously show his face. He didn’t. So the following morning, just as planned, everyone was aboard the boat home by 9 AM. Finally by 9 AM sharp they said sail back to Paradise.

Apart from the ship, tearing through the open ocean waters, no one under the word. Mikasa had a firm grip on Eren’s suitcase, clutching it for dear life. The contents inside were all that remains of him. He had hardly unpacked anything. All of Eren’s personal belongings stayed perfectly in their place, barely touched. Armin found that quite odd, since Eren was less than his definition of organized. It took more time for Armin to put away his own belongings than it did for him to gather Eren’s.

Jean clapped Armin on one shoulder well Connie placed his hand on the other. You couldn’t make out what they were saying, but you could only guess that they offered their support. They mirrored you and Sasha, whose arms were linked together with Mikasa, and she sat in between you both. Mikasa was a quiet girl to begin with. Not shy or timid in the slightest. What more could be said or done? She stayed with her as she cried herself to sleep. She probably didn’t have any more tears left to cry

Armin’s hands gripped the side railings, holding his breath as the city line of Marley faded into the background. He clenched his jaw so hard, he could feel his back molars pressing onto each other. You were so occupied with Mikasa, you were unable to visit Armin to give whatever comfort you could. You eyed him closely. He nodded and shrugged as he, Connie, and Jean whispered among each other. You waited until they gave him space. Connie sat next to you, reaching across your lap to put a hand on Mikasa’s knee. He kept his mouth shut, but Mikasa could feel his tenderness in his touch.

“Everything will be okay, Mikasa.” Jean mumbled. His cheeks filled with blush.

It was all Jean could come up with. It wasn’t as romantic or as normal as he wanted to sound, but it came from his heart. Jean wasn’t sure if competing for Mikasa's hand would be easier or more complicated now that her heart has been broken. Whatever elbow grease was needed to help her heal Jean will put in the effort overtime.

“Thank you, Jean.” Mikasa replied. Her nose, lips, engine were buried under her signature red knitted scarf.

Armin still stood alone. You moved past Connie’s arm to stand and quietly made your way to speak to Armin. You approached him carefully so as to not startle him. His focus was trained on the water below.

“Hi.” You spoke softly. Armin blinked, giving you a weak smile.

“Hi.” He said back. A beat of silence rolled past.

You try not to focus on the water below, just looking out at the waves made your stomach uncomfortable. You got, unsure of what approach to take with Armin. More than anything you wanted to embrace him a hug kiss them across, bless cheeks and hold them close. However, you had a feeling that you were being watched. Feeling and touching all over him in front of your comrades, superiors, and other civilians aboard wasn’t a good idea.

“Sorry I didn’t come see you last night.” You apologized.

Armin turned to look at you for the first time this morning. You looked so beautiful to him in the open, fresh ocean air. Your hair flew back against the breeze, the sun kissing your skin and making you blow. A bashful yet sorrowful smile was curved on your lips. Armin’s own lips burned to be on yours. He licked them.

Just when he thought you couldn’t get any sweeter, you surprised him. Here you were, apologizing for something out of your control. It was increasingly obvious that Armin’s feelings for you had gotten stronger overnight. You barely said a thing and yet here he was, melting in your presence more than usual.

“Don’t worry about it.” Armin shrugged dismissively.

“How are you feeling?” You wanted to know. You moved a centimeter closer, making Armin’s heart pick up it’s pace.

Armin shrugged again. He looked away, breaking the mild eye contact you both held. He blinked out into the horizon. The clear sunny day, the crispy water around the boat, and Armin’s eyes were all the same color. Aesthetic wise, if the ocean were a person, it would be Armin.

He couldn’t deny the heaviness in his chest. Armin was still, understandably, confused about the turn of events. Angry, he may never get the closure everyone deserved. Scared for Eren’s safety. Armin concluded that, no matter what the others might say and despite statistics, Eren was still alive. He could feel it sitting hard and firm in his gut. Armin looked down at his shoes.

“I’m sad.” He confessed.

His answer held a different hue of honesty compared to when Jean and Connie checked on him.

You watched his Adam’s apple bob as he gulped. The lips you desperately wanted to kiss were tied together with a frown. You bit the inside of your lip and reached for the hand closest to you. You placed your palm over his knuckles. A simple gesture. Armin looked back at you once again. His eyes softened tremendously thanks to your touch.

“You know you can tell me anything, right?” Armin wondered out loud.

This feeling in his chest sucked. He wouldn’t wish this level of loneliness upon his worst enemy. Perhaps Armin wasn’t there enough for Eren. Maybe he didn’t listen well, or care about things as much as Eren did. Whatever the behavior was, Armin would not repeat it with you.

“Yeah,” you confirmed with a nod.

“I mean anything. Even if I’m the problem.” Armin insisted.

You chuckled.

“I seriously doubt that would ever happen.”

Armin tucked his top lip behind his bottom row of teeth, apprehensive of his next words. He didn’t put it past himself that at some point he might screw up. It was only fair that Armin let you know that you could tell him anything and everything, just as he could be honest with you. You had gone out of your way just to prove it. The same date to the pier was the nicest thing anyone had ever done for him. He owes you big time, and then some.

“I’m sorry I’ve been so… distracted.” Armin sighed anxiously.

He flipped his hand around, locking his fingers in between yours with a gentle squeeze. He drew a wavering breath in, and a shaky breath out.

“Armin,”

“But I promise when we get home, things will be different. You’ll be my top priority.” He swore.

You couldn’t help but beam at his proclamation. It was quite clear that Armin what is a sensual and romantic person. You could tell by the way he made a move on you in the tent, how he fucked you both times, and you peeped the binders of his stacks of books. At least one had a lovey-dovey title. You pondered what tricks he might have up his sleeve.

Armin didn’t digest the words you kindly spoke to him at the pier, that Eren’s troubles had nothing to do with Armin himself. But now, he could see what you meant. Even if he didn’t understand the full picture. Whatever Eren was up to now was out of his hands. All that he held onto now, literally and figuratively, was you.

There was no way Armin was going to let you go. You squeezed his hand back.

“I’ll do the same for you too.” You nodded as you spoke.

As much as you hate it, too, you released your hand from Armin’s. It was a bit of a shame that your stomach was now getting upset. You had no time to eat breakfast, plus the rock of the ship made you feel uneasy. If you look down at the rushing water, one more time you might get sick. Armin reframed a chortled laugh as you excused yourself back to your seat, claiming your spot right in between Mikasa and Connie.

Low and out of Connie’s ear shot, Sasha leaned in to speak to you.

“You know, you still have to wash that hand.” Sasha commented. You rolled your eyes.

“Oh, shut up.”

thank you. reblogs and feedback are appreciated! arlertwitch © 2023. all rights reserved. do not translate or repost any works by arlertwitch on any other platforms. violators will be prosecuted in accordance within the law.

#this part is kinda boring #it’s all downhill from here folks #my writing #heat waves #armin imagine #armin arlert #armin x afab reader #armin x y/n #armin x reader #armin x you #armin x fem reader #armin x black reader #armin one shot #armin smut #armin fluff #armin angst

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arminismyhusbandddd · 4 months

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Armin Arlert like your older brother .｡◦♡

♡ After your parents were killed by the police, you were raised by your grandfather

♡ He kept talking about his book and told you a lot of interesting things

♡ He, like an older brother, tried to teach you to read and write, although he himself did not fully master it

♡ When you were leaving the store together and hooligans attacked you, he always made you run away with the bread, but he stayed behind

♡ You spent a lot of time together by the river ♡ He learned how to braid hair to make you cute hairstyles

♡ Armin often took on the role of guardian and sometimes "teaches" you

♡ After the wall fell, he started following you around a lot more, especially when Grandpa died.

♡ When you found out that he wanted to join Survey Corps with his friends, you wanted too, but he was categorically against

♡After becoming cadets, you studied a lot and spent time together, although you were a little jealous because he was mostly with Eren and Mikasa

♡Before missions, he always begged you to be very careful

♡ He negotiated and influenced the disposition of soldiers during missions so that you would be in his field of vision.

♡ When he first killed a person, he distanced himself from you and did not even talk, because he thought that now he is a monster in your eyes ♡Every evening during the curfew, he would sneak over to you to check on you and if you were awake, and force you sleep, but he often forgot about it when you started discussing everything in the world

♡ When he inherited the power of the Colossal Titan, he was very depressed, and so he was afraid not only to speak, but to approach, because he is not confident in controlling his power.

♡ After Eren's escape, he was very sad, but one evening he came to your room and just burst into tears

♡ Sometimes, when such conversations go too far, he asks you "If I were not your brother, who would you choose?"

♡ On the mission in Liberio, he was madly afraid that his Titan's explosion would somehow harm you

♡ Before the mission itself, you listened to his monologue for 30 minutes about safety and how important it is to be careful right now, in someone else's territory

♡ After fight with Eren, he kept quiet and didn't say anything about it until you found out from Jean yourself.

♡ When Annie came out of the crystal, he was very afraid of your negative reaction

♡ He LITERALLY never takes his eyes off you

♡ After the rumbling, he visited you often and wrote a lot..

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situationzs · 5 months

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“ she, she, she, she gets to me like broken bones ”

🧪 sabotage !! ;; armin arlert x fem!reader * social media au

synopsis — when armin meets the completely fucked up girl from his new psychology class from being paired up for a group project, he learns new things. although the knows he shouldn’t fuck around with her judging from her current situation, she practically begs for his attention and armin can’t help but to fall for her flaws and toxic habits.

genre — ANGST, modern/college au, probs strangers to friends to lovers (kind of exes?), SLOW BURN, toxic relationships, right person wrong time, little percent chance at it having a happy ending

warnings; talk of serious mental illnesses and dark and heavy topics, implied cheating, toxic relationships, suicide topics (included self harm), kys/kms used as a joke, drug usage, (name) is a bitch here, nsfw-ish (from a minor). If you are sensitive to any of these topics please DO NOT READ. I AM IN NO WAY TRYING OR WANTING TO ROMANTICIZE ANY OF THESE TOPICS. (I’m writing this from my own experiences and in no way should you or anyone else around you romanticize any of these topics or want a relationship like this)

status — TBA (STILL A WIP START DATE NOT DECIDED)

taglist — closed (for now)

“ i know it’s self-sabotage, but I don’t mind ” | profiles (2)

“i can fix her” headass — armin, eren, niccolo, jean, connie, bert

seeking therapy — (name), annie, mikasa, sasha, historia, ymir

⚠︎ — for chapters with written fic

I. TBA

II. TBA

III. TBA

IV. TBA

#situationzs #armin angst #armin x reader #armin arlert #armin aot #armin arlet x reader #attack on titan angst #attack on titan smau #armin smau #Spotify

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crazychaoticizzy · 5 months

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The River

Armin X Reader

If I follow you to the river, throw my blues out to the sea, will you stay with me forever? Will you chase me in my dreams?

WARNINGS: fluff, angst, kissing, heartbreak, i didn’t wanna put effort into a summary so I took lyrics from the Daisy Jones & the Six song, btw this is inspired by “The River” by them

Word Count: 2.7k

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There was a river you and Armin would go to. It was just down the road from your small town and always had flowers blooming on the riverbed. You remember the first time Armin asked if you wanted to go there with him when you were eight years old.

“Wanna go somewhere with me?”

“Where?”

“The river. It’s down there.” He had pointed to his left.

“I’ll follow you anywhere.”

“Then why’d you ask?”

“I just wanted to know where we were going.”

You had already started walking beside him by that point. You looked down at your feet and kicked rocks, your hands in fists in an attempt to keep them warm against the cold atmosphere.

“Grandpa said we had to be back before dinner,” Armin said. He kept with your pace, thought it was obvious he wanted to move a little faster. “He says if we stay out too late we’ll catch a cold.”

“Okay. My mom also said we were coming to your house for dinner and a game or something.”

Armin nodded, turning his head to face you. “Yeah, my grandpa said the same thing.”

He suddenly smiled and grabbed your hand. “Can we race?”

He was practically bouncing on the balls of his feet, fighting back a smile as he waited for your response. You nodded without a second thought, and moments later dirt and dust were kicked up behind you as you sprinted to the river.

You had slipped and nearly fell in that first time, but the water had frozen over so instead of dipping your feet into it, they slid across the surface.

Armin pulled you back. He’d grabbed you by the wrists and dragged you backward until you looked up at him beneath a leafless tree. You smiled at him and laughed, pushing yourself off the ground and dusting the dirt off yourself.

The two of you sat and talked for hours. You built mock snowmen out of dirt, giving them pebbles for eyes and sticks too big for the figures as limbs. You picked a blade of dead grass out of the ground and gave yours a scarf, smiling at your work.

You had lost track of time that first time. It wasn’t until the natural daylight was nearly gone that you and Armin realized you needed to head back, and you sprinted so you didn’t get in trouble.

Every day after that you went to the river. It didn’t matter how cold or hot it was, how rainy or humid or dry it was, every day you and Armin would meet on the riverbed and talk for hours on end, pushing your worries to the side.

One day, you decided to follow the stream. It led down a hill, pouring out into an area of water not quite big enough to be a lake but not small enough to be a pond.

You will always remember the smile on Armin’s face. So big and bright and perfect. He let out a breath of a laugh, looking at you for a moment before he grabbed your hand and dragged you to the dock.

He jumped in first. You gasped and covered your mouth, not expecting him to do something so spontaneous. It wasn’t cold, but the weather wasn’t ideal for swimming. He must be freezing.

His head popped out of the water, his blond hair sticking to his forehead as he turned to find you. He smiled, awkwardly paddling over to you.

“You should come in,” he said. You knelt down, leaning over the edge of the dock so you could talk to him easier.

“Do you know how crazy that is?”

Armin shrugged. Then he lifted his hand, splashing you with water.

You yelped and jumped back, trying to avoid the cold water. You let out a laugh, looking down at him again as he smiled.

You softly shook your head. You thought yourself insane, absolutely bonkers to be agreeing, but you took your shoes and socks off anyways and stood at the edge.

You took a deep breath, and then another. And then one more for good measure. And another one just in case-

“Stop stalling,” Armin said. You glared at him, making him chuckle. “It really isn’t that bad, I promise.”

You exhaled. Despite the roll of his eyes he gave, you took another deep breath before jumping.

It really was that bad. The water was freezing and it felt like you were being stabbed with a million needles by the time you reached the surface.

God, you regretted it. But seeing Armin smile made it all worth it. You chuckled, and then Armin chuckled, and that was the start of a fit of laughs that continued on even after you had gotten out of the water and retrieved your shoes.

You started going to that little lake, too. Not nearly as often as your spot on the riverbed, but sometimes during the summer the two of you would swim together until your fingers were puny and the sun had set.

It really shouldn’t have been a surprise when you caught feelings for each other, considering how much time you spent together. It wasn’t complicated either. Instead, it was something that happened gradually, something that felt natural. It started with small touches that would grow longer and longer, discreetly sitting closer together until you eventually began sitting in his lap beneath the tree. You would read books together, sometimes eat snacks or meals by the river.

You cherished the river. It was the closest Armin would ever get to the ocean, seeing as he was dirt poor and the chances of him getting out of that poverty were extremely low. Armin loved the sea and the river and the little lake you’d found, and you loved Armin, so you loved the sea and the river and that little lake, too.

Your little situationship solidified when you finally kissed him at sixteen. He had been talking, staring across at the other side of the river as he droned on and on about customers he had encountered that day.

You weren’t paying attention. How could you when the boy you were so in love with looked so pretty?

You leaned forward, pressing a soft kiss to the corner of his mouth. You weren’t sure if it counted as a real first kiss, but the way Armin’s eyes widened in shock made you smile.

He turned to look at you, asking about that kiss. You had shrugged, trying to play it off in case he didn’t like it—in case he didn’t want it.

You left him breathless, his mouth slightly agape before he closed it and swallowed. You watched his Adam’s apple bob as he flexed his hand, wrapping his fingers into a fist before stretching them out again and wiping them on his jeans.

“I-I liked it,” he mumbled, and then he looked away and cleared his throat.

You stared at him for a moment, fidgeting with one of the tears in your jeans.

“Do you want another one?”

He paused for a second before nodding, turning his head back to you.

He didn’t kiss back at first, getting used to the feel of your soft lips against his. He wanted to memorize the way they moved against him so much he almost didn’t kiss back at all, but then he felt your hand graze his arm and he pressed against you, pulling you closer.

It was soft and timid. Experimental in the way neither of you did anything but pucker your lips and push them together. You didn’t want to mess it up, and you feared you had before you pulled away and saw the dazed look Armin had on his face.

You smiled, and he smiled too. You remember thinking that this must be the most perfect moment to have ever existed.

“Does this mean we’re . . ?” You left it unsaid, not wanting to push anything if he didn’t want it.

Armin nodded. “If you want.”

You nodded, too. “I do.”

Armin nodded again, not knowing what else to do.

“Will you stay with me forever?” he suddenly asks. He swallows again, and immediately regrets asking because maybe forever is too much of a commitment for what just started.

“Armin.” You gently cupped his cheek with your hand, pressing your forehead against his. Maybe this was too much, maybe it was too much of an intimate moment for people like you, but you did it anyway. “I said I’d follow you anywhere when we were little. I intend to keep that promise for the rest of my life.”

Armin smiled. He remembered when you said that, too. He thought about it every day, wishing that you’d said those words when you were older and had an idea of what love was. But when you made that promise to him, he was over the moon.

You talked about visiting the ocean that day. You suggested that you start saving money so you eventually had enough to travel, to the ocean side. Maybe even live there, if you got lucky.

You agreed, and the next day you brought a used tin to put money in. You and Armin hid it in a tree, which might not have been the best idea but every day when you looked it was still there. Every time you put an amount of money inside it, you and Armin would kiss. You would kiss even if there wasn’t anything to add. Sometimes your kisses would progress, growing steamier along with your need to be closer and closer to Armin.

The thought of true love crossed your mind one night after the two of you had gone skinny dipping (a stupid decision, really, but nothing made it more worth it than the fact that you did it together), and you decided for yourself that you’d found it. Your one true love, forever and ever until death did you part, was Armin Arlert. You were sure of it.

But it wasn’t death that did you part, no. Instead it was something you never saw coming.

At eighteen, one cold day in December, Armin told you he was joining the military the following year.

He gave you no warning. There wasn’t even any indication before then that he had considered enlisting. But here he was, mumbling it against your lips as you kissed.

You had stopped kissing him, pulling away. You could tell from the way he didn’t chase your lips like he normally did that he was expecting you to do that.

You sat up, adjusting the blanket beneath you so you sat on it instead of barely on the corner. Armin followed, biting the inside of his cheek as he awaited your response.

“What do you mean?” You didn’t know what else to say. Your words had been stolen and it felt like your tongue had been cut out with how difficult it was to string that question together.

“I . . . Yeah.” His lips were pressed into a line. He didn’t know what to say either.

“Why?”

Armin shrugged. “I’m never gonna get out of here anyway. And . . . I’d like to see the ocean at least once.”

“So you’re joining the Marines?”

Armin nodded. “That’s what I hope, at least.”

It was silent. For once, you hated that it was quiet. Silences with Armin were never like this. You felt comfortable in his presence all the time, but all you felt now was dread.

“I . . . was also hoping you’d come with me.”

You met his gaze, and looking back he knew in that exact moment what your decision would be before you’d even made it.

You found yourself softly shaking your head. You aren’t even sure when you came to that conclusion, but you knew you couldn’t.

“I can’t. I can’t just leave everything behind, Armin.” You wanted to say something else, but you just trailed off, the words getting lost in your throat.

“Don’t you want to come with me? I know I won’t be there a lot at first, but then I’ll retire and we’ll be living in a new city.” He took hold of your hand. His fingers were cold against your warm ones. His cheeks and nose were pink, and you could tell he was cold. “It’d be a new start, like we said.”

“But . . . Are we just going to leave everything? My parents, your grandpa?” You squeezed his fingers, trying to warm them up, but also trying to convince him not to go. You wanted him to know that what you had was enough. You didn’t care if you never got that fresh start or saw the ocean or saw the world, you just needed him.

“I know, and we’d visit them sometimes.” He squeezed your hands back, scooting closer to you. He lifted a hand and place it on the back of your neck, holding eye contact. “If we stay here, Y/n, we’ll never leave. We’ll never see the ocean or travel the world or do anything else we talked about doing.”

“I don’t care if we never do any of that, Armin,” you say.

“You were the one that always brought it up.”

“Because it made you so happy when we talked about it. I just- I was trying to dream up a future with you.”

Armin lets out a breath, he dropped his head, resting his forehead against your shoulder.

“Please don’t make me choose, Armin,” you softly say. “Because I won’t be able to.”

He lifts his head, softly nodding. He brings your hand to his lips, kissing your knuckles and your fingertips and your wrists before he says, “Then don’t. Stay here. I’m joining the Marines either way, and maybe we can work it out.”

You exhaled, brushing your fingers against his cheek. “Armin . . .”

He hummed, leaning into your touch for the briefest of moments before quickly pressing his lips against yours and standing up. “We should get going. It’s getting late.”

“Armin.” You stood as well, but Armin had already gathered some of what you’d brought and started walking away. “Armin, wait!”

You scrambled to pick up what was left over and catch up to him, but it wasn’t the same after that. There was a divide between the two of you now, one you didn’t know how to fix.

You weren’t sure if that was a break up. All you knew was that the air between you two was more tense. The kisses you shared were shorter and less emotional. They didn’t have that same love and sweetness they once had, and you knew you were losing him. You were losing him, but you didn’t know how to get him back.

You remember softly crying one night. Your mom had heard the sniffles from your room and came to check on you. You told her what you were feeling through your tears and all the advice she offered was, “Life will run its course, sweetheart. People will come and go but that doesn’t mean it’s the end of the world.”

The thing was you didn’t want Armin to be something that came and went. You wanted him to stay. You wanted to be able to wake up next to him every morning and say good night every night and be able to say that’s my husband when people asked.

You just wanted him. It didn’t matter how you had him, you just wanted him to be by your side like you had always been at his.

But you didn’t want to leave your family. You didn’t want to become a military wife that waited for her husband to come home for a short amount of time before he left again. You couldn’t do it.

You and Armin didn’t talk about it again, but in the months following it felt like you were growing apart. You stopped kissing and you’d stopped sitting so close. Early in spring, you found yourself waiting for him by the riverbed.

He didn’t come that day. Or the day after. Or the one after that. Or the one after that.

You knew he hadn’t left. You’d seen him in town. You had visited his house. But he never came to the river anymore. You still went everyday, hoping he’d be there. He never was. And he never came.

And then he was gone, and you cried for weeks.

He’d moved on and saw the sea without you all because he went somewhere you weren’t willing to follow.

this was a vision that came to the in the middle of the night and i wrote it in one and a half sittings

anyways i hope you enjoyed <3

TAGGING: @arlerts-angel @ocean-armin if you’d like to be notified whenever I write for Armin please leave a comment or DM!

#izzy’s imagines ❀#attack on titan #aot #armin arlert #armin x reader #armin arlert x reader #armin fanfiction #armin #attack on titan armin #aot armin #armin aot #armin attack on titan #snk armin #armin x y/n #armin x you #armin fluff #armin angst

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justkennadi · 4 months

Text

ocean boy.

notes: something a little different. i got inspired by this one fic abt armin seeing an old friend after everything happened so here i am. not proofread😭

also takes place in the actual aot world a year after the rumbling.

context: old childhood friend armin x fem reader (reader is implied to be dark skinned)

you used to be part of the Scouts or Survey corps or whatever a few years ago.

When you look around your new home you think back to those days. Once Eren was captured by Bertholt and Reiner you took it upon yourself to just abandon the team. It became too much. You found a way down and off the wall and took off. So much was going on you knew you were crazy for joining in the first place.

And from what you’ve seen and heard it only got worse.

You now reside in what used to be the Stohess district. The new members of the Garrison, plus some of the old ones who survived, was the only current authority around. It’s been a year since the scary events of the rumbling. When the news came back of the aftermath of the rumbling you couldn’t help but have a panic attack. Imagining all those innocent people, children and pets, getting crushed alive? They say 80% of people died.

And yet here you were. One of the lucky 20% of people.

Did you think you deserved it? No. Not after possibly leaving your friends worried sick. They probably thought you fell off the wall and died or got crushed under the armored titans feet during the fight.

You felt bad for not announcing your departure especially during a moment like that. But what else could you have done? Everyone was so caught up on being this brave warrior willing to give up their lives…

That wasn’t you and it never was.

You only joined the Scouts because they provided food and shelter for refugees back when wall maria was breached. You, Armin, Eren and Mikasa were too young at first but then finally you guys were 12 and able to sign up. At first you didnt really want to. It seemed scary. Even the other options like the Military police or the garrison seemed a bit much.

In the end no one forced you to. Aside from the promised food and proper shelter you only joined for one person….

Armin.

From the day you moved to Shiganshina to when you met Armin you were picked on for looking “different”. You noticed even at a young age you were different and so you were lonely. People were weary of you. But that was until you met Armin. He was sitting under a tree reading a book and you hesitatingly approached him hoping for a new possible friendship.

He was startled at first when you tapped his shoulder but then calmed down. He quietly observed you but you quickly mistakenly took it as him being like everyone else when he was just curious. As you turned to leave he grabbed you hand and told you that you were beautiful. More than anything he’s read about the outside world.

Little did he know that’s exactly where you were from. However you never told him that.

Armin told you about his secret book and everything he saw in it. You knew about most of the stuff already but to see him so excited brought a smile to your face. Especially when he talked about the ocean. He loved the ocean so much when you told your grandma about him you called him “Ocean boy”. It wasn’t just because he loved the ocean though but also because his eyes were as blue and deep as the ocean itself.

You really liked his eyes. Back at home no one had blue eyes.

He was also smart and kind hearted and not like most boys. You didn’t know why you liked being around him so much but you did.

You were happy someone was treating you like you belonged and even more happy his friends were the same. He introduced you after a few weeks of talking and laughing and being children. It was green eyes boy and a black haired girl. Eren,the boy with green eyes, seemed stand off ish at first but he was still nice to you and Mikasa,the girl, was basically your new bestie. When Armin was busy it was you and Mikasa either playing with each others hair or dolls.

Everything was great until that one horrible day.

The day Maria fell.

It was so so scary. Your Grandma brought you inside the walls to be save. There were some eldians back where you lived sneaking in somehow and brought titans with them. You assumed they swam?

Your parents went missing as the town went into a panic at seeing a real titan so your Grandma moved you into Shiganshina to escape.

But she didn’t survive that day.

You lost her and couldn’t find her in the crowds of screaming people but deep down you knew she was gone. You and Mikasa cried over your losses on the boat while Armin comforted you both and Eren declared to kill all the titans.

Yes, Eren was a fighter. And Armin was a dreamer. And Mikasa was a lover and a strong soul. But who were you? What was your purpose other than following then around?

You never wanted to fight those stupid scary things. You never cared about the theories and the secret truth to titans. You just wanted to hide anyway and pray they all just disappeared or leaves you guys alone for once.

Then Eren was a titan too. You felt like life wasn’t real for years.

There was real trauma you developed from this all. When you quit the scouts you wanted to be sure no one found you so you ran to Wall sina and lived in the underground under the Stohess district working at all bar.

You made just enough working there and occasionally stealing and reselling some things do you don’t have to turn to prostitution. You lived in a shitty tiny home with 4 other random people so you guys could split rent and go about your days. Sometimes you snuck out to get fresh air and sunlight.

Days turned into months and months into years. You were now a young woman wondering what was happening on the outside. You got most of your news from word of mouth but also an occidental rare newspaper. That’s how you got updates on the scouts and marley and the rumbling…

You learned after everything was over that Eren and his brother started the whole thing and Armin was the one to finally end Eren. Things slowly went back to as normal as it could be.

Everyone had to move about ground to try and rebuild life. For now rent and food was free so you were trying to enjoy that but you couldn’t shake the depression from knowing 80% of the world was now flat and dead. Why were you here? You’re a coward, a loser.

Armin saved the world from extinction and always had these big crazy dreams and was highly intelligent. What would he think of you now?

As the town attempted to rebuild for another day and clean up a Garrison member announces that a member of the Scouts is coming by the speak to a couple residents and that everyone needs to get inside immediately and be quiet. Simple protocol for when one of the special group people like that stop by.

You go into your new tiny home where you live alone. The town was quiet as everyone was indoors. You just sit drinking tea in your kitchen waiting for the day to pass but then you hear. .. a knock?

But you were being quiet! You leave the kitchen preparing to deal with a Garison member. You collect yourself as you open the door…

When the door is opened you did not expect to see what you saw in front of you…

“…..Armin?”

Oddly enough, you feel more fear than surprise.

In front of you was a boy who slightly towered you. No, a man who slightly towards you. A blonde, blue eyed, softer but stern looking man. He wore a white button down and brown pants. Clothes only higher ups could afford now.

He stared.

And stared.

Like he’s holding his breath, like he’s re living something crazy and couldn’t believe his eyes. And then finally,

“Y/n.”

You wondered why he was here. How he was here. This..was the Scout coming to town?

“How..what..?” Is all you can say. You then notice your appearance isn’t too clean.

You wear a plain green dress that’s probably a couple decades old and your hair hasn’t been brushed properly in weeks.

“………May..i come in?” The man softly asked snapping you out of your embarrassment. Of course you move out the way as he slowly steps inside.

“Armin….” You begin to say. But then realize, what CAN you say? Why you left? Did you miss him?

He looks around like he’s studying the place.

The house was obviously abandoned during the height of everything. You assumed it belonged to an older couple just by how it was decorated. Over the past year you add bits of your own touch but it still looked like a grandparents home.

You watched as your childhood crush friend roamed your dining room and living room and made his was into your kitchen. You started to wonder why he was really here.

He stops in front of your unfinished tea cup.

“This is the same tea captain Levi drinks..” He says softly.

“Oh, yeah well it’s all they have now.”

He stares into the cup a bit longer. Almost like he was deeply thinking of something.

“Do you want to sit somewhere?” You asked but he doesn’t move except his eyes into yours.

They’re still small pools of the ocean or the endless sky. The same ocean and skies you found yourself lost in often as children.

Armin sighed and looked away.

“It’s been years. Years since you…i don’t even know anymore? Everyone thought you….”

“Died?” You finished. “I’m sorry. I can explain everything if that’s why you’re here…”

He doesn’t say anything so you take that as a yes.

“I just……couldn’t do it anymore. I was never a Scout or a solider or any of that. I just didn’t want you guys to leave me. I had no one left, not even my grandmother. Everything was getting to me and everyday was a nightmare so I had to leave.”

You said all that as Armin leaned against the counter on the opposite side and crossed his arms looking at ground and listened.

“What else was i going to do? I didn’t have a dream like you or the drive like Eren… I just wasn’t cut out for it. But i’ve been here the whole time, Min. Living among the last bit of survivors.”

“We missed you. Mikasa was a mess.” Armin says coldly.

You felt horrible. Tears well up in your eyes as you imagine Mikasa depressed over your disappearance.

“Armin-”

“And Eren was only just then getting worse. We had a search party for you after we got Eren back. But you were no where to found. We even had a makeshift funeral…Do you think no one else was scared?!”

Armin is looking at you now staring you down making you feel small.

“I was the weakest on the team. Intelligence can only take you so fucking far, y/n! Do you know i died? I got burnt alive and Levi chose me over Erwin to be revived! Why?? Everyday i have to live with that. Everyone was going through a hell of their own so what makes yours so special?!”

He was looking into your eyes now and turning an angry shade of red.

You shivered.

You had nothing to say. You felt like a failure already for years and this only confirms it.

“What do you have to say, y/n? Why did you leave us, why did you leave…me?”

“I’m sorry. I just couldn’t anymore.”

“Why didnt you tell us how you felt? Why did you just leave?”

“I thought you guys would call me a coward.”

He slowly walks towards you and puts his hands on your shoulders. It’s been so long since anyone has touched you let alone your old friend.

“I don’t think you’re a coward.”

“But you said-“

“I think you were like anyone else and was scared. And we’ve all done things to be ashamed of and that, was probably the least worse thing out of all of us. You just left. Eren caused the rumbling. Killed innocents. We all have. I have.”

You look into his eyes with horror as you hear him say he’s killed people. When this whole thing started he was the sweetest boy who couldn’t even hurt a fly. Eren you can imagine maybe but Armin?

“I’ve killed so many people. And i have to live with that also the rest of my life. Everyone does. All you did was leave.”

“My god…” You were in shock. What really went down all those years of you being gone?

“I missed you dearly. It ate me up alive when we thought you were gone. I had so much i wanted to tell you.”

“Like what?”

He looked away. Then he looks back at you and hold your face with both hands, hands now nearly the size of your face.

“I love you.”

Your entire heart dropped to your stomach. Maybe even your fucking ass. Did the boy you had a crush on since you were 9 really just say he loved you? Did he “love” you or did he love you? Your eyes just widened but you said nothing.

“You were so kind to me. By my side even when Mikasa and Eren wasn’t. I love your heart. Your mind. You. I loved you and i wanted to tell you but there was never a good time it seemed. And then you…. disappeared.”

“Armin-“

“Shhh.” He interrupted. “And when i heard you were one of the remaining residents here i just had to come. No way she’s still alive right? No way this is the one and only y/n i was head over heels for right?”

You lift your hands to gently hold Armjns wrists as you looked into his tired eyes. God you missed his eyes.

After a small moment he slowly leans in and kisses you. His lips were dry but passionate. Like you were gone his last kiss ever. You sighed into the kiss as you wrapped your arms around his neck and he lowered his hands to your sides.

The kiss was half a minute long but felt like eternity for you. When he pulled away he hugged you tightly. You still didn’t know what was happening but you were happy. Somehow happy. Even after all this.

“I’m so glad you’re alive. You’re all i have left next to Mikasa.” Armin says into your shoulder.

“I guess the ocean isn’t on that list anymore?”

“No.”

You knew a bit of history from when you went to primary school. You knew Eldia was an island isolated from everyone else and they were supposedly “devils” but you suspected otherwise. You knew marley and eldia had issues and when you moved to eldia and heard this boy speak about the “outside world” and the ocean you knew it was only a matter of time before he learned the truth. Before they all did, at least the naive innocent ones like him.

He pulled away.

“I want you to tell me everything. The truth. I want to know where you are from, what you’ve been doing here…”

You led Armin to a chair by your small dining table and motioned for him to sit. Once sat you started.

“As you probably know know the titans specifically go after you guys. Eldians. So some Eldians were somehow sneaking to where i lived, across the ocean, and somehow titans followed. Confusing but people in my town started to panic. I lost my parents and my grandma was all i had left. She had this crazy idea to move inside the wall where we’d truly be safe. So after a couple week long boat ride and lots of carriage rides we ended up in Shiganshina.” You sighed.

“I lived in the outside world.”

Armin just stared.

“I didn’t say anything because i already stood out so much. At least here i did. Back where i lived everyone looked like me. Dark. And hearing you so interested in the world outside the walls i didn’t want to disappoint you. There isn’t much other than enemies for you guys.”

“Well…”

“Are you upset?”

“I don’t know how to feel honestly. Just a question, what did you guys have to be afraid of if the titans just wanted to eat us?”

“I don’t know that one honestly. I never saw one eat anyone until we got over here. But living so close to those things was scary enough…I’ve always hated titans.”

“You and me both.”

“But i hear the curse is over now?”

“Well, yes. Ymir’s curse has been lifted so…the titans are finally gone. But at what cost?”

Armin looks worn and empty. Completely different from what you’ve seen in the past.

“And i also heard you’re..a commander? What’s that about?”

“Hange sacrificed her self. I was handed down the responsibility of being her replacement.”

“Oh no…I loved her…” You were truly heartbroken at this. Oddly enough she loved titans. Found them fascinating.

“We all did..” Armin sighed. “I’ve been trying to make peace with everyone around us. Especially since we no longer pose a threat.”

“Well, i’m proud of you. You’ve always tried to search for the best answer to things around you.”

“Yes, and what about you? What have you been doing the whole time?”

You looked away, thinking back on the past few years.

“Well, i’ve been living in the underground working at a bar. I shared a place with a couple of people to pay the rent and after all this rumbling drama they moved us up here to rebuild and i’ve been here. Uneventful really.”

“The underground huh…”

“Yeah, nothing special. Wasn’t too fun but i’d rather that than facing titans and the threat of being eaten everyday.”

“I see..” Armin crossed his arms. “So now that we’re all caught up, where do go from here?”

You walked to the window by the front door and looked out at the deserted street in front of you. You thought a moment about your answer.

There’s something you always wanted to do with him…

“You wanna…go see the ocean with me?”

You looked back at him who stayed seated at the table. He looked ahead with his arms resting on the table now and with a tear running down the side of his face.

He nodded.

On the way there Armin joked about how going to see the ocean is what seemed to have caused this mess to begin with.

Once there, you two took your shoes and socks off and roll up your pants and go to sit by the shore. Armin sits and you followed. It’s evening now. The sun was setting. It was truly beautiful.

All you two could do we stare into the distance in silence. Sharing this bittersweet moment. Neither of you knew what the future held or if a future was even possible but now you guys had each other and that’s all that mattered.

Now it was you and him.

You and your ocean boy.

- Sooo i wrote this over the past 2 days… i might make a second part but tbh school is starting up again soon so i don’t know where we go from here. If this does well i might even make it a series.

#aot x black reader #aot x reader #armin imagines #armin attack on titan #aot armin #armin x black reader #armin x fem reader #armin #snk armin #armin arlert #arminarlert #armin aot #armin x y/n #armin angst #aot angst #aot x female reader #aot imagines #aot fandom #aot fanfiction

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jeanbie · 1 year

Text

WAYS TO SAY I LOVE YOU #3 ★ masterlist.

pairing: armin x reader

genre: fake dating au, modern au | wc: 1.5k

⏤ Imagine the first time they say I love you. Imagine them bursting forth in the middle of a laugh, childish in their enthusiasm but shocking enough to silence all sound.

There are times where Armin looks back on his life and regrets it all.

Times when he cheated on tests, times when he overreacted in an argument with his friends. Times when he had pushed his grandfather further and further away from him, and times when he stupidly, stupidly fell in love with his childhood friend.

Although at the time, it was something that even he couldn't have even predicted. To be frank, Armin can’t quite remember the exact moment when he came down to the conclusion that he was in love. Love. He had never expected to fall in love so soon, let alone with you.

Love- something that is enormous and unavoidable. Something that makes up a whole relationship, something that leaves butterflies swarming in your stomach, something that leaves you with a warm sensation pooling out into a smile every time they walk into a room you’re already in. His parents had been in love, once. The thought of him falling in love, though…it terrified him.

But, it had happened. So unpredictably and unexpectedly that Armin didn’t know what had hit him until it was all too late, and at entirely the wrong time. His handful of regrets surrounding you started to pile up, reaching high for the sky, all from the moment you first stepped into his life. The moment you asked if you could sit by him during lunch, to the moment you kissed his knee better when he fell off the swing at the park. Armin knows for certain this time that the moment where things started to go wrong was the moment- the exact hour, minute, second- that you had uttered those words that haunt him: “I need you to pretend to be my boyfriend.”

Originally, he had refused. To jeopardise a friendship like that…he couldn't risk losing you to it. But, noticing the way your eyes seemed to beg without words, and the way you meant what you said about him being the only one good enough to pretend with, the only one you want to pretend with. The boy doesn’t know what came over him but all that matters was that he said yes, without ever really doubting it again.

Until today.

A bundle of blankets surrounded the lovers as you sit, comfortably, in the lap of your ‘boyfriend’. A cheek snug against your temple, you shift slightly to angle yourself perfectly towards the television at the front of the room. Across sits Eren and his girlfriend of three years and Jean and his girlfriend of two months. Both couples watch cautiously from the corners of their eyes as Armin raises both arms to let you settle between his legs, a perplexed look upon his features, a crimson heat on his cheeks.

“You’re so uncomfortable,” you huff, finally setting with your body sideways between him. As he raises a brow to argue, you add: “you’re too squishy that everywhere I move to, I’m too comfortable that it makes me uncomfortable.”

He sighs, “you’re so picky. Sit somewhere else then-”

“Why would I want to sit anywhere else?” you respond. “When I’ve got my boyfriend as my body pillow?”

A small, almost smug, smile appears on Armin’s lips as you settle once again. “That’s true. Sorry, Eren…anime body pillows are so 2013-”

“That was one time!” the friend argues, and Armin is partly distracted whilst you settle between his legs, a hand gingerly placed on his leg as you push yourself up, rubbing all the wrong places, hair in his mouth, feet touching underneath the blanket.

“Guys,” Jean proposes, “we should get some snacks for the movie. Pizza, anybody?”

A chorus of cheers erupts in the room as the boy rises to a stand, followed by his lover who mutters something about the menu on the counter. Then, Eren’s girlfriend rises from the couch to rush after Jean- “please get pineapple pizza!” “who the FUCK eats pineapple on pizza?”, followed by Eren standing up and yelling, “me!”-. as if by coincidence, the room begins to empty until it is only you and Armin, alone, in the living room. You barely register the fact, still trying to get comfortable.

“God damn, have you got the TV remote wedged down your pants?” you joke, and Armin whines, holding your hips as you rise and move to a less compromising position.

“Stop moving and it might go away!” he pesters. “It’s embarrassing for me, too, you know.”

“I’m sure,” you sigh. “It’s poking me, Armin-”

Armin can’t help but laugh and taunt- “Just like good old times.”

Eren’s girlfriend and the man himself peek their heads around the kitchen doorframe, watching as you scoff and turn in his lap. She squeezes Eren’s arm with anticipation when you almost straddle Armin’s lap and his hands, as if on instinct, come to hold your thighs, a grin on his face, his eyes bright and wide.

“You did not just say that,” you seethe, jokingly of course, and he knows this. It's a show. The grin only widens and he pouts, pawing your thighs with his hands.

“I think I did, babe,” he answers quietly. For a split second, a shocked look masks your features and Armin has minimal time for it to give him a kick. Rather quickly, he finds himself laughing as your lips upturn to a wide-mouthed grin, a baffled yet amused scoff leaving where your voice should. He pauses, although he can’t move anyways, in his movements as you turn in his lap, crotch over his thighs, grasping at his hands which extend over his head as he attempts to move away.

“You’re such an asshole,” you mutter, and Armin lets out a large laugh, releasing his hands from your fists and quickly, and tactfully, embraces you with his arms, grinning up at you. To be honest, he hasn’t actually realised the raunchiness of your position on his thigh, but, even if he had noticed, he wouldn’t be the first to complain.

“You love it,” he reminds sweetly.

“No, I don’t.”

“Sure you do!”

“Nope.”

“Come on, don’t lie. It’s just us here.”

“Armin,” you murmur, “the guys are in the other room…”

He hums thoughtfully, “they can’t hear us.” But he totally knows Eren and his girlfriend are watching from the kitchen doorframe. To them, this only looks like an ordinary scene between the two of you- play fighting isn’t limited to couples and trust me, Eren has seen this happen plenty of times before. What’s new about it? Upon thinking of that, the boy beneath you begins to panic internally, wondering if at any point of the night they have caught on. It’s not like they didn’t already doubt your relationship, anyways…it was rather sudden, and nobody expected it to actually happen.

Thinking quick, Armin sighs and looks back up at you, his thumbs smoothing crescent moons in your lower back, and a quiet hum slips from his throat.

“I love you,” he says. No, admits- no, declares.

The silence that follows is painful. But, Armin doesn’t mind; the way your lips part in pure shock and the way your cheeks burn to a sangria shade makes it somehow worth it, and after that, he can’t stop the bubble of laughter that leaves his lips: “didn’t you hear me? I love you. I love you!”

“Hey,” you manage out, squirming as his fingers run across your skin in a tickling motion. “Yeah, hey! Stop! C-cut it out!”

“I love you, I love you, I love you-”

“I love you too!” you breathe, gasping for air until he stops, promptly falling still: “I love you too.”

It’s later, now.

Roughly 2 hours after Eren announces that he has a “food baby” that needs tending to, Armin thought that was a good time to leave with his hand in yours, tackling the December breeze as it bites at your skin. The journey home is short and painless- only with a few sentences of him nagging you for not wearing something warmer. Eventually, though, the snow thaws and your feet arrive at the three steps up to your front porch, Armin’s hand lingering on your lower back as you turn to face him: “tonight went perfectly.”

Then, he nods, “right?”

“We had them fooled,” you grin, over the moon. “Honestly, thanks so much. You’re saving my life here.”

He is? “I am?”

You nod, “of course.” Even though a silence falls, you sigh and glance up at him, “what you’re doing for me…it’s a lot to ask. I’m really thankful, Armin. You’re an amazing friend.”

He winces, almost. “Anytime. Anything for you,” he replies.

Bringing you into a hug was easy. Saying goodbye with a simple kiss on the cheek was easy, too.

But watching you leave with his heart in his throat, knowing that nothing will ever be the same again, was something Armin had little ease in doing.

#armin arlert #armin arlert x reader #armin x reader #armin imagine #armin fanfic #armin angst #attack on titan armin #attack on titan #aot #aot x reader #snk #mine #armin au #fake dating au #ittojean

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arminsumi · 1 year

Text

˗ˏˋ꒰ 🐚 ꒱ BEYOND THE SEA

Armin x fem!reader

Chapter index / Chapter Ⅰ: Secret

Overview; a story of your forbidden love affair with Lt. Armin during the war.

Content; 1940s au, fluff, romance, drama

Warnings; angst, tragedy

A warm sunset light cast over Armin and Eren as they crossed over the bridge that lead to their barracks.

They kept a slow pace and absorbed the warmth of the dozing sun.

"So, are you going to tell me about that nurse who you've been swooning over?" Eren asked nonchalantly.

Armin responded defensively, "I'm not swooning!"

"Yes, you are." He replied with a smirk.

There was a pause of silence between them. Armin let out a suppressed sigh.

"I don't know her name," Armin began.

"You don't even know her name?" Eren interrupted.

"No, but," Armin continued regardless, "I remember hearing her sing down the corridors in the early morning. If I would hear her voice again, then..." He trailed off, almost murmuring dreamily at the end, because of the memory of you appearing in his mind.

Eren waited for Armin to finish his thought, but he never did.

"You can't find someone with just the memory of their voice. What did she look like?" Eren asked.

Armin was visibly struggling to recall the image of you in his mind.

"I can't remember too well." He finally responded, "But I recall her father; he had a sullen face that I won't forget. When he entered the ward once, he gave me this prejudiced look."

"A 'prejudiced look'? Oh, you've got to be kidding me, Armin. You're swooning over the Head Chief's daughter? Do you realize what kind of trouble that could get you into?"

Armin gave a sheepish smile, "I know very well the kind of trouble that it can cause, Eren. I already got in trouble once with him, when he walked into the ward while I was laughing with his daughter."

"What happened?" Eren asked half-sympathetically, half-curiously.

They descended the steps at the end of the bridge, and took a moment to look out onto the glistening sea.

"He called for her to meet him in private. They must have had a brutal argument, because afterwards I saw her wailing on her friend's shoulder, and the next day she didn't show up to administer medicine to the patients. I learned through her friend that she was moved to the East wing, and was forbidden from even walking near the West wing."

Armin distantly observed the rolling waves, feeling his spirit sink as low as the depths of the ocean.

But like a soldier, he quickly masked his feelings, and straightened his posture before his heavy mood affected Eren.

"Let's get back." He said.

Eren didn't say anything, but he mustered a sympathetic look for his friend. He could tell how great of an impression you had on him by how fondly he talked about you.

A deep navy washed over the sky, and dots of stars came out to gleam and twinkle.

The lamp posts lining the cobblestone road lit up. Armin and Eren headed down this road to the barracks, and just before they entered their bunk room, Armin turned to Eren and asked with great seriousness;

"Eren, can you promise me something?"

"What?"

"Promise me that you will keep this between us... if the Captain finds out, he's going to tell the Commander."

Eren scoffed, "I'm sure that would strip you of your 'lieutenant' title very quickly."

"Eren." Armin looked at him pleadingly, "I'm not the only one who would get in trouble; so would she, and I don't want that."

"Yes, yes, alright. I will keep it secret."

"Thank you." Armin thanked him with relief in his voice.

"What's a secret?" Connie smirked when Armin walked into the bunk room.

He had overheard enough of their exchange to become curious.

Armin immediately tried to brush off Connie's curiosity by acting a fool, "Huh?"

"I heard you guys! Come on, what's a secret? You can tell me. I'm the best secret keeper." Connie said.

Eren quipped, "Connie, you can't keep your mouth shut to save your life."

"Hey!" Connie frowned.

Jean snickered behind his sketchbook, so Connie spun around and looked at him.

"Don't you laugh! I'll snatch that thing outta your hand and show 'em what you're drawing — or rather, who you're drawing!"

Armin laughed under his breath while climbing into his cot on the top bunk, "What a promising secret-keeper."

"Mind your own business, buddy!" Jean snapped at Connie.

They playfully bickered, and to deter Connie's curiosity, Armin fueled their jokes. Anyone passing by their window would see the glow of light and hear the ringing laughter coming from within.

But by the midnight hour, the lights were out, and everything fell silent.

Armin tossed around in his cot, his mind buzzing.

"If you keep tossing around like that, your bunk is gonna come crashing down on me." Eren's voice sounded from the bottom bunk.

"You're still awake?" Armin whispered.

Eren spoke in a low voice filled with sarcasm, "Of course, I'm brooding on your tragic love story with that nurse." he said.

Armin excitedly sprung to life at the mention of you, "Oh Eren! I wish you could have met her," he rolled over excitedly in his cot to peer down at Eren, "She had something absolutely wonderful about her. I felt as fulfilled and peaceful in her company as I did when I first saw the sea."

Eren pondered Armin's words in silence.

Eventually, he replied teasingly, "Maybe if this whole lieutenant thing doesn't work out, you can become a poet."

"Hey now, you be careful with what you say. Remember, I'm on the top bunk; I could crush you." Armin warned.

"How intimidating. You should use that line on the battlefield next time, it'll scare them shitless."

The two of them giggled quietly.

"You're not the God of Destruction anymore, you're the Cot of Destruction."

Armin repeated the pun to himself to savor the humor. Connie stirred awake and grumbled for them to shut up.

"Hey, Connie, don't talk to me like that; I'm the Cot of Destruction, you know! I could crush you!"

"What on earth are you on about?" He mumbled sleepily and dozed off without catching the joke.

Eren and Armin's banter tapered off, the atmosphere became still again.

"Eren, do you think I'll meet her again?" Armin asked seriously.

There was a lengthy silence.

"It's more than likely." Eren speculated.

Armin fed on Eren's response as if it were the only thing giving him hope.

Once Eren fell asleep, Armin laid awake in his cot like a lonesome insomniac, daydreaming of you to whittle the hours down until the new day dawned.

The anticipation of his awaiting duties had his gut clenching with anxiety. He was no longer just a somebody on the Captain's squad, but a newly promoted lieutenant; expected to be the replacement of the Commander, should the war take him.

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chrollohearttags · 7 months

Text

BEYOND FACT OR FICTION: the boy who wanted to see the ocean • armin artlert

In this world, there are two types of people born into it. Those that live and those that experience it. The average and the exceptional..to say that Armin Artlert was on the latter of both sides would be an understatement. From the day of his birth to the early years of his childhood, it was blatantly obvious that he was not like the others around him. Considered a frail and sickly child, despite growing up in more modern times with access to the best healthcare, Armin found himself confined to his room most days. Fortunately, he did come from a rather affluent background so he had all sorts of materials and resources at his disposal to keep him occupied. He didn’t feel he was ever missing out on much because the rare times that he was able to even attend school, he was bullied by his peers. So he felt much more comfortable and safer in the essence of his own company. Especially since he had become rather infatuated with one topic in particular: the ocean. Next to the hospital where he often found himself a resident was a beach with the most crystalline of waters flowing over bright, beige sands. Palm trees swaying in the distance and resembling that of a screensaver, it was so perfect. It was a beautiful scene and one he had come to admire. To say the least! Some would even say that Armin was enamored..obsessed even. So much so, he dedicated his entire life to researching and learning all he could about aquatic life.

he was utterly fascinated with all things marine life and the functions of the waters. Granted, as humans, we’ve barely scraped the surface with only a 5% discovery rate of our vast waterways. The open seas were a mystery but being the inquisitive, determined mind he was, Armin wanted to unearth all of it. He would stop at nothing until he achieved his answers. Once he graduated from high school, college was next in the docket and as everyone suspected, the overachiever sought out his degrees in marine biology..he wanted nothing more than to solve the mysteries of our world’s waterfront. He took several courses in aquatic science, marine studies and by the time his academic journey came to an end, Armin Artlert had taken on the title of doctor by earning his PhD. Needless to say, he was super successful and living his dreams.

But around late 2017, things began to shift for the young scholar..friends, family and colleagues alike began to notice a change in him. As if his devotion to work wasn’t already enough, he became completely enamored with the topic of finding the ocean’s origin point!..discovering where they originated from and was there a precise point. Absolutely absurd but nothing was out of reach for Mr. Artlert. There wasn’t a thing going to stand in the way of his research. Not the government, the academic board or even money..at all costs, he had to make it happen. He was becoming erratic, spouting ramblings and nonsense about things beyond anyone’s comprehension. Staying up all hours of the night, plastered to his computer screen and reading texts from long ago.

“Please, just front me the ten grand and I’ll pay it back with interest, you know I’m good for it.”

“Just five thousand until the end of the month and I’ll get it back, I swear. Just trust me, please..”

Empty promises never fulfilled by either end because the people around felt that this was all going too far. He was doing good work and had written many theses on his findings. He had a high rise condo, nice car and even a beautiful lady..so why wasn’t it enough? Why did he have to surpass mankind and exceed his limitations? Curiosity was one thing but toying with mother nature was another level of insanity. So as you could imagine, on the night of April 11, 2017, when his girlfriend and fellow researcher, (y/n) (l/n), came home from work to find their condo completely empty. And not just silent..COMPLETELY AND UTTERLY BARE! Stripped of all furniture, decorations and most importantly, any trace of Armin! You were completely taken aback but the worst of this mystery was yet to come. Not wanting to alert anyone, you’d call around and ask if anyone had seen or heard from him, thinking that something could have happened to him. Not only that, if someone had come and cleared this apartment out in the span of a 12 hour duration, taking him along with them, who knew what..or who else they’d come after? Frightened, you rounded up all of your mutual friends and decided to assemble a search party. Because he was now 25 and very much a legal adult with the reserved right to go missing at any time, the police gave you all the typical runaround about having to wait twenty four hours to file a police report. Even so, time was of the essence and 24 hours was something you didn’t have to waste. So once everyone came over to the condo, you’d put your heads and all of the information together to hopefully reach a consensus about where he could have gone..you’d send a group out to scour the local coffee shops and libraries he frequented, even some of his favorite stores. Hoping to find a trace of him somewhere. His ‘Find my iPhone’ feature was disabled and the phone was going straight to voicemail.

“When’s the last time you saw him, (Y/N)?” his best friend and the person who knew him best, would question. If anyone had an inkling of the mental state he was in, it was most certainly the person who had known him since they were born. “This morning, in the cafeteria at the research center..he was grabbing breakfast and heading back up to his office. We were supposed to have lunch but I had few conference calls and studies so I couldn’t make it.”

You didn’t want to leave any stone unturned..and the first clue may have appeared a lot closer than anyone thought. Just down the hallway from the master bedroom was a small guest room where Armin conducted a lot of experiments. Sometimes late into the night and early mornings..and under absolutely no circumstances, was anyone allowed in. Not even you. He’d ensure so by installing a state of the art lock that was fingerprint and rigged with a series of intricate puzzles and questions that only he knew the answer. It was brilliant. A regular padlock wouldn’t suffice because what lay behind the door was something not only baffling but downright terrifying….

You worked for hours to hack the system and get it unlocked but to no avail. You even resorted to brute force by kicking and trying to hack it open with tools but no dice.

“Damn you, Armin. This is so like you…making everything difficult and mysterious. Where the hell did you go?”

It was around one in the morning and you were exhausted, from both work, the strenuous search efforts and just the long day in general. But a bit of good news would peer through this bleak situation..it was just as you were sitting on the floor, knees to your chest and your face buried in your hands, you’d hear a loud cackle.

“Ha! Finally..we got it.”

Just then, you’d hear a faint beeping noise and watch the padlock omit a green light. Signaling that it had been hacked successfully. Courtesy of one of your other scholar colleagues who worked in IT. For a mystery like this, you guys were going to need all of the man and brain power you could get. Upon unlocking it, you’d be the first to enter and once you pushed the door open, nothing could prepare you for what was inside…

“Oh my God!” a loud shriek left your mouth, only to be cupped by your hands seconds later. You were bewildered by the sight in front of you, as was everyone else…every wall, every inch of the space was littered with writing! Equations, secret codes and countless words were everywhere. Not only that, it was dimly lit with only select areas being illuminated..but perhaps the most frightening part were the makeshift pillars. Carved from marble and constructed six feet high, it was insanely creepy. How had he managed to do this? And by himself nonetheless because no one here had a clue what Armin was up to. What you thought would lead you all closer to answers had only left you even more confused. Not even the most brilliant of minds could decipher the messages or figure out what he was into. When it came to his personal research, he was very tight lipped about it.

days, weeks and eventually months went by without an answer or trace of Armin. Not a single clue, lead or anything brought you any closer to figuring out this mystery. Once the police finally got involved, they conducted routine searches, put out BOLO’s for his Mercedes and even brought the case to the news. But all of it was a waste.

it was all a waste until the day of October 11, 2017. Six months EXACTLY to the day he first went missing. You were at work, trying to power through the day as you had been doing. You were in the middle of typing up some findings from your earlier experiment when your phone rang and saw that it was the police department. Your heart and stomach sank immediately, expecting the worst. Had they found Armin? Was he okay? What was going on?! But the only instruction you received was to come down to the hospital because they needed to speak with you. Halting all else, you snatched up your car keys and coat, making a beeline for your vehicle in the parking garage. You didn’t hang up the entire time, even as you got buckled in. Because there was something else they told you, that had you racing toward him.

“He’s alive. He desperately needs medical attention but he’s alive, miss (L/N).”

so you placed it in reverse and peeled out there like a bat from hell! You refused to hang up until you laid eyes on him and knew for certain this wasn’t a prank. Fortunately, the hospital was only ten minutes away and in no time, you were pulling into the parking lot, rushing inside to see him. You’d reach the receptionist and ask if someone by the name of Armin Artlert had been brought in and at first, she was a bit hesitant, despite you showing ID, because after all, his case had gained national media attention so people were gathering to be in the know of if he was okay or not. But suddenly, a detective in a button down would come and scoop you up, giving a quick escort to the back area where he was being treated. Once you two arrived, the detective would ask you one simple question:

“Are you certain you’re ready to see him? He looks a bit different…”

but you didn’t care! You’d love him regardless and would be happy no matter the outcome. As long as he lived.

“Armie..oh my gosh..” whispering in a shrill cry because he looked really bruised and battered. His pale arms littered with red and purple bruises, head wrapped in bandages, arms stuck with needles and IV’s and an oxygen mask on his face. He was so fragile; dropping a staggering thirty pounds since his disappearance. He was severely dehydrated, flush and so weak. You couldn’t believe the condition he was in. You were even more surprised to find that he had wandered up to the police station, disoriented and talking out of character with nothing more than a thin loin cloth type thing on. He remembered his name but didn’t know what day it was, why he disappeared or where he had come from. It was as if whoever was keeping him, had put him in pretty bad shape. When asked about what happened whilst he was gone, he froze up and even began crying…that led all of you to believe that some very powerful people had gotten ahold of him. But what followed would send you into utter shock. The detective would pull you aside and ask to speak privately. It was there that he’d inform you that they suspected that Armin had not only gone missing of his own volition but that he staged the disappearance as an attempt to either evade the government for his findings or to garner more money for his research. People tended to shell out hundreds, even thousands when someone went missing so he figured he could swipe some of the funds from the GoFundMe to fuel his projects. It didn’t matter though, because your baby was back home and that was all that mattered.

to this day, no one knows what occurred on that night and what prompted Armin’s strange disappearance. Some still speculate that it was all a ruse and a ploy to get money. Others think that his research went entirely too far and landed him in hot water with the wrong people. But what do you think?

is there truth to this tale of the seas or a watered down lie?

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