Maybe I'm influenced by Mihriban's latest chapters, but I kind of like the idea of Armin and Annie having unconventional pets.
Sure, Annie is a cat person, but Armin already has a bunch of rats when they move in together so she can't get a kitty. She's initially hesitant around them (they're small and squeaky and disgusting), and she makes Armin promise her that he'll do all the caretaking and that they won't bother her at all. Soon, however, she warms up to them. She spends lazy afternoons watching them play and eat and run around in the huge multi-decker cage Armin has built for them (full of microscopic swings and wheels and tiny hammocks), and she finds them oddly soothing. So she starts petting them and cleaning their cage and giving them treats. She likes the little rascals.
One day, while she's giving one of the rats (named Ratosaurus Rex - Rex for short) a bath, she feels a little lump growing on its belly. She asks Armin what it is.
"Probably a tumor." He grimaces. "They develop them very quickly."
Annie is devastated. "Should we get him to the vet?"
Armin sighs. "We will and he may have it removed, but there's a chance that there's nothing to be done. They live awfully short lives, I'm afraid."
Annie is a mess. She isolates herself in the bedroom and cries, refusing to speak, refusing to eat. Armin joins her at night, hugging her close as she sobs in his chest.
"What's the point of having a pet if they're going to die so quickly?" she asks miserably.
"We're not doing this just for us, Annie," he says while petting her hair. "We're doing it for them too. We're giving them the best life they could possibly have. Making sure they're eating well, that they're happy, that they're not alone; that's the most anyone can hope for." He squeezes her arms. "All good things come to an end. In the meantime, we enjoy the small moments."
Tears still swimming in her eyes, Annie says nothing, only buries her face deeper into the crook of his neck. He's right, she supposes, all good things come to an end. She wonders if that's what he tells himself all those times she has walked out on him (only to crawl back a day later). Then it hits her. Armin loves the rats like he loves her. Like her, the rats are small, kind of gross, misunderstood by most people, and not likely to stay long. And, like with her, Armin gives them his whole heart, pledging himself to their happiness until they flourish under his care. And maybe, she thinks, maybe she can love the rats like she loves Armin. Something playful, intelligent and pure, that she's scared shitless of losing, and to which she desperately clings to, nonetheless.
After that night, Annie becomes rat defender No1.
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