warnings: x fem reader!, college au, suggestive, lowk long 😭
math has forever been unkind to you. c’s and sometimes d’s would be a regular occurrence with math. you were an a+ student don’t get me wrong but math? it just never made sense.
your teacher tried to help you, but it’d anger her to the point of having to take breaks while teaching you just so she wouldn’t yell at you. how could a straight a student like you not get a concept that’s been taught for months now?
you were in a bind. your gpa would be perfect if it wasn’t for math and you didn’t know who to go to. it was also a bit embarrassing to ask someone else for help. however, your teacher would make sure you’d get the help you needed.
it was the end of a lecture in your statistics class. you were reviewing notes and looking through your text books but you were still so lost. you figured you’d just study more at home and begin to get up from your seat.
“ms. y/n and mr armin, can we chat?” your teacher asks you. you make eye contact with the blondie from across the room who was still packing up his things. you head to your teacher but you can still feel a pair of eyes on you.
“armin, i’d like to ask you for a favor.” your teacher asks him. he smiles. “yes of course, anything miss.” he seemed so polite. and he was quite handsome too. a cute round face with a jawline popping out whenever he clenched his jaw, his cheeks were naturally a bit rose, and short hair that framed his face quite nicely. his attire matched his vibe and it was so put together but clearly not trying too hard. and his eyes-
“so what do you say y/n?” miss asks. you look over to armin who has hopeful eyes. you have no idea what she asked but you decide to go for a safe answer.
“yes.” your teacher giggles. “well it’s settled! tomorrow and after every lesson, armin will tutor you!” your eyes widen just a bit while looking back at armin who was already looking at you. he smiles kindly like he always does.
“does 3 work for u tommorow?” he asks you. “yeah 3 is good.” you smile back.
it’s the next day and you’re sitting at your desk, taking notes but can’t help but glance at armin every once in a while. how come you never really noticed him? was he sitting here all this time? so many questions you had to ask and you were hopeful you’d get them answered by today.
“y/n!” armin walks over to you when it’s the end of your lesson. “where do you wanna study?” it was weird. it’s almost like he was excited.
“we can study in my dorm if you’re okay with that. i got some snacks yesterday too that we can share.” you say hoping it didn’t sound too flirtatious. “sounds great.” you both smile at each other, walking and making polite small talk on the way to your dorm.
you guys are sitting on your floor while he’s talking to you about null and alternative hypothesis. for the first time in a long time, things were starting to come together. armin made sure to go back to the basics and reviewed it with you so you could grasp it and he made sure to prepare you for the upcoming test. armin could see you becoming more confident in your answers and you were solving problems without his help.
you both decide to take a break and you guys are laying on your floor, talking each others ears off. he talked about his interests in books and history, while you shared about how hard you had to work in school and what arts you were into. armin loved talking to you about these things, the things that made him, him. he could never go to his friends about this stuff, it was too sappy for them.
as hours go by, you guys are indeed sharing the snacks you offered him and you and armin are already so close. you both are talking about deep desires and wants, while sharing your secrets, free of judgement. a comfortable silence falls between you two.
“i’m proud of you y/n. you did a really good job today.” you both are on your bed at this point, your guys’ body heat meshing although you guys are just next to each other. “thank you. and thank you for all your help armin. it means everything to me.” you look at him with bright eyes, your skin heating. armin stares at you again with those kind eyes.
he holds a part of your face in his hand, silently asking for permission. instead of waiting, you grab his face gently and kiss him. the kiss is soft and sweet. it’s filled with curiosity as your toungues are exploring each other and seeing what the other likes.
it wasn’t armins first kiss but you took control of the kiss as if it was. you were a fire he wasn’t used to but he loved it. it was so thrilling to him. you straddled his waist while continuing to attack his lips. you were getting more confident by the second seeing the way armin melted underneath you. it was all too much but the sensation was nothing like you’ve felt before. his kisses were comforting, the way he’d give you a peck on the lips when you guys would slow down and then he’d dive for more. you both loved everything about it.
armin pulls away from you, looking incredibly disheveled. “y/n, i really like you. but before we go further i wanna take you on a proper date, is that okay?” you smile at him and wrap your arms around his neck, laying on him. “that’s more than okay. i’d love that.”
armin had been tutoring you for the last couple days before the big test. you both were getting closer and closer as the days went by, learning more than you thought you could learn about him in such a short time.
it was finally the day of the test and you and armin were walking in together, it becoming your usual routine now. he stops you when you guys approach nearby because he can tell you’re nervous. he was an observant one, you noticed.
“don’t be nervous y/n. you’re gonna do great and you studied so hard and for so long.” you sigh, “okay and what if i don’t do well?”
“i’ll be there to help you study and we can cover the basics all over again if you’d like us to. i’m here for when you need me, and you’re gonna do great so don’t think like that.” he gives you a kiss on the cheek and then on the lips. “now let’s go in.” he leads you by holding your lower back and rubbing ur back up and down.
you finish your test and hand it in while your teacher looks at it briefly. “i haven’t graded it yet y/n, but it’s looking good. keep up the good work with armin.” you smile a big toothed smile while saying thank you and walk over to armin who finished his test a bit before you. you guys head out the class and you jump into his arms while smiling and talking about the fact armin might’ve landed you an a in math.
“you did all that work yourself! i’m so proud of you.” he hugs you even tighter. “i think you deserve a nice dinner huh?” he grips ur waist while he pulls you away from him to see your face. your smile was infectious.
“come, i’ll take you to your dorm so you can get ready. my smart girl needs all the time she wants so we can go later tonight, let’s say 6? i’ll come get you.” he grips your hand while walking to your dorm.
what would you have done without your super smart, super cute, and super dorky tutor of a future boyfriend?
Then don’t fucking read it. You took the time to go through multiple smut fics by me. You don’t like it don’t fucking read it you absolute piss baby.
You aren’t being forced you wanna read lore accurate armin then read lore accurate fics god new people in fandom spaces are becoming the most insufferable people in the world. You have no fandom etiquette or any shame. You don’t like my fics or how i portray armin fine. There is no need to harass me in multiple comment sections of MULTIPLE fics.
This drabble is for @goldenshoyo‘s Holiday Event Collab
Day 20: Traditions
Armin x GN!Reader
Content warning: Cutie Armin
Word count: ~ 1,200
A/N: So I guess I am on an ‘accidental confession’ kick because I realized I have another on like this lined up
Armin had a lot of things going for him. He had a fun job, an amazing apartment with a spectacular roommate, and a wonderful friend. All of these things had one thing in common.
You were involved in all of them.
You and Armin both worked with each other at a local bookstore. That perfect apartment was shared with you, his roommate. And the best friend? Yep, still you.
While all these things were great, he always had one complaint. There was always just one tiny little thing that made all the ideal parts of his life a little less than ideal. Armin was entirely in love with you.
You and Armin became quick friends in college, the only two confident enough to sit in the front row of your literature lecture where most students wanted to sit in the dark back row so they could sleep. It didn’t take long after that for you and Armin to start spending all your time together and pretty soon you were inseparable.
Fast forward to after college, you both got jobs, moved to the city and would consider yourself, based on the most common term, starving artists. Armin was an amazing writer and you were a decent photographer. Though Armin would argue that you were the best and you were sure that had to do with him being the subject of most of your photographs.
See, Armin had a certain air about him that always made you feel good. You were sure it wasn’t only you that felt it. It didn’t matter what you were doing or where you were, Armin gave you confidence, made things fun, supported you, and made you feel like you could do anything. And somewhere along the way, you fell hopelessly in love with him.
“Armin! You ready?” You called from the couch, holding your envelope.
“Just about.” Armin couldn’t remember where he’d put your letter. It was a tradition for the both of you to write a letter to each other on Christmas morning. You filled it with things you hoped to do the following year as well as things you learned the previous year. On Christmas Eve, you would open the letter you wrote the previous year and read the different things that stuck out to you. It was supposed to be a time capsule-type thing, but depending on the kind of year it was, it was sometimes a roast.
The familiar red envelope stuck out from a book on his desk and he grabbed it, breathing a sigh of relief before going to the living room where you were waiting with your letter tapping against your chin.
“I thought I lost it.” He laughed lightly.
“See, this is why I need to keep them.”
“You’ll just read it early.” He accused, sitting next to you on the couch. “You think I don’t know you?”
“You’re not wrong.” You laughed and handed him your envelope and took his. You were never one to wait very long and you excitedly tore it open, scanning the page for anything interesting first. It already didn’t seem like a normal letter he would right. There were a lot of sweet words where you would usually write things like “dork” and “doofus”. Confused, you looked to the top of the page.
“Dear Eren?” You read out loud and Armin looked up from opening your letter to him.
It was definitely in the right envelope. You both made sure to always put it in a red envelope, another weird tradition you had. It helped separate your letters to each other from letters to others so you both never complained. Armin barely remembered writing a letter to Eren and as he peeked over to look, his heart sank to the floor. Your eyes continued scanning over the page and you very much realized that wasn’t your letter.
“Don’t read that.” He looked to you with a pale face and wide eyes, finally remembering what was in that letter and it most definitely wasn’t for your eyes.
“Armin…” You looked at him, having already read enough. “Is this…?”
“I said not to read it.” He reached to grab the letter from you, but you held it away.
“You wrote that you’re in love with m—”
“No—no—no.” He jumped forward and grabbed it, bunching the letter up in his hands and moving to the trash can in the corner and aggressively dropping it inside. “Damn it.”
This was not how you were supposed to find out. Armin was so angry with himself for making such a stupid mistake and he balled up his fists, resting one against his forehead as he tapped lightly, hoping it would all go away.
“Did you mean it?” You asked quietly, waiting for him to look at you, but he kept his eyes closed, cringing as hard as he could against his fist.
“I’m sorry.” He spoke, eyes still closed. “You weren’t supposed to… I’m sorry.”
“But did you mean it?”
He finally looked up at you. His cheeks were bright red which only made the blue in his eyes that much brighter. You knew how he must be feeling, but you weren’t able to comfort him because you were also nervous. If whatever was said in that letter wasn’t actually how you understood it, then it was quite possible your heart was about to be broken.
Armin looked away and you reminded him of your question by saying his name. He knew he had to answer you, but he wasn’t prepared for how different things were going to be when he told you the truth and he nodded.
That was all you needed to get up from the couch and walk to him.
“I can explain—” He put his hands up as if you were charging at him with anger. And while maybe you were charging at him, it most certainly wasn’t because you were angry. As you reached him in the archway to the kitchen, he opened his mouth to explain and you grabbed his cheeks, pulling him into a kiss.
You had obviously never kissed Armin before and you had no idea what it would feel like, but the growing anticipation didn’t do anything to disappoint. It was amazing. You knew he was shocked and so the slow movements of his lips was certainly not how it would always be, but you were hoping the way his arms wrapped around you, pulling you closer into him, would never change.
You leaned back slowly, wanting to give both of you time to process what just happened and what that meant.
“You just kissed me.” His eyes were wider than they were when he realized he’d given you the wrong letter and you laughed.
“I just had to make sure.” You licked your lips, briefly closing your eyes as you realized Armin’s hands were warm against your hips.
“Make sure of what?”
“That we both felt the same way.” You explained and Armin opened his mouth to speak, but you stopped him, leaning in once more to press your lips to his.
ArminxFem!Reader
Summary: Armin and Reader celebrate Armin’s birthday alone.
Content: Penetrative sex, oral (f receiving), sort of masturbation
Word Count: ~ 3,200
A/N: Getting close to the final chapter guys! I just want to say thank you for following along on this one! This story really meant a lot to me because of the new characters I brought in and the little world I created for Armin and Reader on the vineyard. I am going to try to get the last chapter out next week sometime. Thank you for all the feedback! I really appreciate all the love for this story! <3
After a long day, you were finally making it back to your room. It wasn’t even a full day of work, but it certainly felt like it. It was the second of November. Armin’s birthday was the following day and you were terrible at giving gifts so you made sure he at least got today and tomorrow off from his duties. You were only able to get his actual birthday off and today was a half day. Unfortunately, you had to squeeze a full day of work into the half day and now you were exhausted.
You opened the door to your room, not really sure what you were expecting to see, but you had a pretty good idea. Armin was still in his pajamas on the bed, resting on his stomach with a book in front of him and he looked up as you walked in.
“Is this the same one you were reading this morning?” You smiled, taking off your jacket and sitting on the edge of the bed to pull off your boots.
“I switched to another one. This one is about the history of Francisco’s country.” He helped you take off your tie and unbuttoned your shirt. “There’s so many people in the world we don’t even know about. It’s amazing!”
You could only smile at his excitement while he spoke. It never made any sense to you how he could sit and read all day. You hated reading, but Armin lived for it.
“Are you going to take a bath?” He hung your shirt up in the closet next to his uniform and came back to the bed.
“I think so.” You rubbed your neck, twisting your head to stretch it out, and stood up to move to the bathroom. “I’ll be quick.”
“Don’t rush.” Armin’s face was already buried in the book again and it made you laugh. Slipping into the hot water in the tub made you instantly relax and you sighed.
It was a couple days until your one-month trial period of Paradis was up. Things had certainly settled down in the last couple weeks like you knew they would. It helped a lot once Armin moved into your bedroom. Sleeping without him was nearly impossible and you refused to continue trying. Hange had no issues with Armin moving in, in fact, there was a shortage on rooms anyway so it only helped everything out.
Honestly, once people found out about you and Armin, it was almost expected that he would move into your room, at least that’s the impression you got when you asked. It wasn’t necessary for everyone to accommodate the two of you, but they did. Each time Armin had to be in another city, you were sent there as well. Each time you had a shift at the harbor, Armin also came. Surprisingly, things were actually going well and while you both still talked about visiting Francisco, it wasn’t as bad as when you first arrived back.
Reluctantly, you stood up from the bath and grabbed your towel, drying yourself off. You probably could have stayed in there all night. Each time you stepped into a bath on Paradis, you were reminded of the showers back on the vineyard. Armin definitely missed the shower in the barn and you had to admit, you did too. There was nothing quite as refreshing as taking a shower after work.
You smiled as you wrapped the towel around your body and went back into the bedroom to sit on the bed.
There wasn’t a lot you could do for Armin’s birthday, but you had been planning it for a little while. You spent a good few weeks searching for someone who could make cheesecake, but came up empty. There were three things Armin loved, cheese, books, and sex. If you couldn’t get the cheese, you at least had books and sex.
There was a bookstore you found while working that you were sure Armin hadn’t seen yet and one day you snuck out to try and find something you thought he hadn’t read yet. As for the sex, you were lotioning up your legs and getting yourself ready for the night you had planned.
“Can I help you with that?” Armin closed his book and kneeled behind you on the bed, scooping some lotion onto his hands and massaging it into your shoulders and neck.
“That feels nice.” You groaned, letting your eyes close as he worked the lotion in. “Who knew sitting at a desk would be more painful than working on a vineyard?”
“Maybe you should take breaks and walk around your office.” He lowered your towel a bit as went over your shoulder blades.
“I barely even have time for bathroom breaks.” You laughed. “There’s no way I will be able to get up and walk around. Plus, I like making sure I have time for us to eat lunch together.”
You leaned your head back to rest on his shoulder so you could look up at him. He was smiling and it made you happy seeing him like that. A small part of you was actually worried that you wouldn’t see that smile again unless you went back to the vineyard. Then one day, you were both in bed and you couldn’t even remember what it was you were talking about, but Armin started laughing, belly busting laughing, and from there you knew things would be okay.
“Well if you’re not going to take care of yourself, let me do it.” Armin complained, his lips against your neck. You were fully lotioned up at that point, but he continued massaging your shoulders, making sure to hit all the spots in your neck that were stiff.
“Armin, you don’t have to do this.” You leaned your head forward giving him more room to work and he laughed a little.
“Who said anything about having to do it. I want to.” You honestly couldn’t argue with him. It felt so good having his hands on your shoulders, squeezing the tight muscles and loosening up the knots that built up. “Does that feel good?”
“So good.” You nodded. Armin smiled and continued his massage, lowering his hands. He kept one on your shoulder for support and the other one moved to your lower back, working under your shoulder blade. Your body felt like jelly and you were barely able to hold yourself in a sitting position.
“This lotion smells really good.” Armin’s hands continued their kneading, but he dropped his nose to your neck, breathing in. “It doesn’t smell like your usual one.”
“It’s new.” You smiled. “I thought you might like it.”
“I do.” His lips pressed gently against the skin of your shoulder, tracing a trail of kisses up to your hairline. Each kiss he gave you, his hands slowly stopped their massage until eventually they just rested on your waist.
“Armin.” You breathed as you tilted your head to the side, his tongue coming out to move over your skin. “That feels good.”
He lowered himself a little, one of his hands resting on your bare thigh as he continued his open-mouth kisses along your neckline. This wasn’t part of the plan. Your plan was to lotion yourself, change and spend time reading with Armin until it was time to eat dinner. Then after you both had eaten, you would come back to your room for sex.
His hand was gripping your thigh tightly and you dropped your head back to rest on his shoulder, your back against his chest, giving him more of your neck.
“Armin,” you whispered, barely loud enough for you to hear yourself. You were hot, your stomach was boiling and each inch Armin’s hand moved up your thigh, it had you breathing faster, your breaths shallow.
You weren’t even sure when his other hand slipped under the towel, resting firmly against your stomach as his tongue swirled circles on your neck. As he brought the hand on your thigh to your knee, you moved your hand to his hair, lightly grabbing a fistful and he separated your knees.
It all felt too good and you leaned back into him more, scooting your butt slightly off the bed. His lips were right next to your ear and you could hear him sigh, a deep rumble hidden in his throat, as his fingers traced along the lines of your folds.
“Armin…” You turned your head to see him and he brought his lips to yours quickly, taking a deep kiss and making it deeper. This was not part of the plan, but you didn’t want to stop. His tongue moved into your mouth and you completely lost any desire to stick to the plan.
He pulled open your towel, removing it from between you both and setting it on the bed. You could feel the heat from his bare chest against your back and you wondered when it was he took his shirt off. It didn’t matter though because quickly after the towel was gone, his hand was cupping your breast, massaging it in his hand as his fingers worked over the nipple.
You were falling harder against him and moaning breathlessly, barely able to control yourself as his other hand started slowly playing with your clit. It was amazing how he already had you coming undone.
The louder your moans got the firmer you felt Armin’s erection pressing against your back and you took your hand from his hair, reaching behind you to grip it gently through his pants. He whined into your ear and you reached around, trying to get his pants out of the way so you could stroke his length and he helped by thrusting into your hands.
He was still rubbing his fingers over your clit when he slipped the same fingers back, pushing through your entrance and he moaned into your ear.
“I need you, Y/N.” He thrusted his fingers lightly as he tried to lift your body up to sit in his lap.
“Armin, wait, it’s your birthday. We were supposed—I had a plan.”
“Don’t take this the wrong way.” He spoke in your ear and you could feel his smile. “I won’t make it through any plan. I really just need you.”
You nodded as he pulled his fingers out and you inhaled quickly at the empty feeling inside you. Armin slid his legs forward, moving to the edge of the bed and you sat down on his lap.
“Wait, wait, let me…” He lined up his erection, holding your hip and pulling you back down as he slid inside of you with a groan.
Your back was resting against his chest and you honestly couldn’t figure out why were you so turned on. It was a long day at work but you could barely keep your eyes open as Armin kissed along your shoulder, his hands exploring your body until they eventually rested on your chest again.
“I’m sorry, Armin.” Your body shook as he pinched your nipple. “I think I’m just a lot more tired than I thought.”
“It’s okay.” He relished the moan he pulled from you as his tongue moved over your neck. “Let me do this.”
He held your waist as he began thrusting lightly up into you. It really wasn’t often that you let him have control. It wasn’t that he minded it. On the contrary, anything that made you happy, he was okay with, but this was a different feeling. He was the one who got to make you feel good now and he could feel himself getting hot just thinking about it.
Armin needed to be careful now though. As much as he wanted to come, how desperate he was already to reach his orgasm, he needed to hold off. The longer he could last, the more time he had with you. You were already moaning, your body leaning back onto him, but he knew that he could help you along by moving his hand between your legs and that’s what he did. He drew small circles around your clit until you were moaning louder, gripping his thigh tightly.
“Faster.” You breathed, lifting your body up a little as he continued his thrusting. He leaned back a little, thrusting harder and speeding up the movements of his fingers while doing his best not to reach his own orgasm.
“You feel good.” He moaned, squeezing his eyes shut. He could tell you were close though. The way your head was dropping down, the way you were gripping his thigh, the breathiness of your moans. He waited until he saw that quick snap in your body as your movements froze. Your body tensed over him as you cried out and he slowed his thrusting, grabbing onto your waist so you wouldn’t fall forward onto the floor.
Armin tried to catch his breath as he continued his slow circles over your clit, letting you come down slowly. You hated being overstimulated, but you always told him when it was too much and when you gently grabbed his wrist, he pulled his hands away, resting his forehead on your back until he caught his breath.
You were exhausted and you hated yourself for it. It wasn’t like you didn’t know this day was coming, you had been preparing for it. So why now? Why when you wanted nothing more than to spend time with Armin, to make him feel good, did you feel so drained?
Armin lifted you off of him and laid you down on the bed, setting you down on your back and moving between your legs, his lips already on your inner thigh.
“Damn it, Armin.” You looked down at him. “I’m supposed to be doing this for you.”
“I’m enjoying myself.” His tongue moved closer to the crease of your thigh.
“But your birthday.”
“You think I don’t love doing this?” He sat up and looked at you. “This is the best birthday present you could give me. There’s plenty of time for me later. Let me give you this.”
Literally the most amazing person you had ever met sat in front of you and you narrowed your eyes at him. He was good. Too good. Always so good to you and you couldn’t even hate him for it because you loved him so much. His smiled widened as he looked at you, knowing he won. Normally you didn’t give in so easily, but for Armin, you gave him whatever he wanted.
“Fine, but tomorrow you’re mine.” You laid your head back down.
“I look forward to it.” He chuckled quietly, his breath fanning over your inner thigh. “You ready for more?”
“I think so.”
Armin started with his hand, caressing the inside of your thigh and then over your stomach before going back to your clit, checking your reaction. Seeing you didn’t flinch, he dove in with his mouth.
You honestly couldn’t understand the appeal of oral. Not that you didn’t like it, but Armin was always wanting to do it. You weren’t complaining, you just didn’t understand it. Maybe it was a confidence thing and he knew he did it well so he enjoyed doing it, but you could count on one hand the number of times you had sex with him where he wasn’t going down on you.
Even when you were trying to quickly squeeze something in before a meeting or during lunch, he’d either be under your desk or you’d find some closet somewhere you could both fit where he would be between your legs while his hand stroked himself. You looked down and smiled as his hands moved from holding your legs to stroking his erection back to holding your legs.
This was another reason you wanted to do something for his birthday. You had never been in a relationship where you were always the one getting the better end of the deal. Though Armin would argue that he was getting the better end and that honestly just made you love him more.
You were having trouble focusing on your thoughts as your pending orgasm built further in your body and you reached down to grab Armin’s hair, pulling a moan from him. Your body could barely take it anymore and your hips started bucking forward. Armin moved his mouth faster and harder over you, knowing you were close to release.
Finally, the cord in your stomach snapped and your back arched, pushing your head further into your pillow as you tried to cry out Armin’s name, but it could only come out in a whisper. You closed your eyes as your body tensed and you waited as the overwhelming pleasure ran through you.
Armin slowed down his movements as you started panting for air and he gradually made his way back up your body, his mouth tracing a path from your hip to your shoulder until he reached your lips and you pulled him into you.
“You’re amazing.” He whispered into your jaw.
“For what?” You laughed. “Lying here and doing nothing? You’re the amazing one.”
You grabbed his face and made him look at you and he smiled, bringing his lips down to yours. At least that’s what you thought he was doing. Instead he leaned in and kissed your nose and you’ve literally never felt your heart swell as quickly as it did in that moment.
“What the fuck, Armin?” You grabbed his face again, kissing his cheeks roughly. “How the hell are you this fucking cute?”
“Hey… hey…” He pulled away from your cheek kisses, laughing. “I thought you were tired.”
“I am. You’re right. You’re right. You just give me energy.” You laughed, bringing your hands down from his face and wrapping your legs around him. “I’m ready. Fuck me. I’m ready.”
Armin laughed at you and seeing that smile on his face made you so happy. He really was amazing because you never thought you could ever love anything as much as you loved him.
He leaned down, still smiling, and kissed you. You opened your mouth for him and at that point, everything started moving quickly. Armin’s hand reached under your back as he thrusted into you, groaning as he sped up. This was definitely all Armin, you weren’t going to come from this, but hearing his grunts and groans in your ear each time your hips connected, you were already in heaven and completely satisfied. He lifted your leg, hooking his arm under your knee as he tried to get himself to thrust deeper. Your heart was beating quickly as you heard him panting and whining as he got closer and closer to release.
“Oh m—I’m gonna come.” He thrusted wildly into you, his hand gripping the sheets next to the both of you and he dropped his face down to yours, your lips touching but barely kissing. He drove his hips into yours forcefully with one thrust and grunted as his body tensed. It was such a weird time to feel as much love for him as you did then, but it was overwhelming and even though you were both literally as close as two people could get, your bodies connected in the most intimate way, you needed to be closer to him and you grabbed his cheeks, smiling as you kissed him.
ArminxFem!Reader
Summary: Armin and Reader continue celebrating Armin’s birthday. Reader has a surprise for Armin, but she doesn’t know that Armin has his own surprise.
Content: Mentioning sex
Word Count: ~ 3,200
A/N: I’m not crying, you’re crying. I’m so sad this is over 😩😩 I know I’m more of a Miche writer, but this is one of my favorite things I’ve written. I’ve never created an OC that played such an important part in the story and I’m really proud of myself for it. I hope you guys enjoyed this story as much as I did writing it!
Armin dipped his head down to the crook of your neck, sniffing, for the thousandth time. When he leaned back, he looked at you and laughed at the face you were making.
“What?” He pulled you to lay against his chest. “I like the smell of the lotion.”
You had both decided to skip on dinner and stay in bed, having sex what felt like thirty times before you both fell asleep. When the sun started rising, you pushed yourself back a little bit further into Armin’s arms. Morning snuggles very quickly became your favorite and you found yourself wanting more of them since arriving back on Paradis.
The cool breeze blowing through the open window while the sun crept in combined with feeling Armin’s warm breath hitting your shoulder in a rhythmic pattern always reminded you of the barn on the vineyard. The best memories you’d ever had were in that barn.
Armin groaned quietly behind you, his lips brushing lightly against your skin and you smiled, knowing that if you turned around he would be sleeping still, but probably wake up from the movement. You couldn’t resist it.
You wiggled your body around until you were facing him and waited for him to wake up. His eyes were still closed, his mouth still pushing out his bottom lip the way it always did and he had a light dusting of pink on his cheeks from being a hot sleeper.
He normally would have woken up by now and you kept waiting, partially enjoying this time you got to just watch him sleep, but also wanting to wake him up. Gently bringing your hand up from in between you both, you barely touched his bottom lip with your finger, dragging it down to show his bottom teeth and you had to try so hard not to laugh. You let go, watching it bounce back up against his top lip and did it again. You were able to do it two or three times before he shifted around.
“You’re so annoying.” He groaned, bringing his hand to stop you from doing it again.
“You’re so annoying pretending to be asleep.” A smile grew on his face and he opened his eyes to look at you.
“How did you know I was awake?”
“Your breathing changed.” You laughed, snuggling into his chest as he pulled you closer. “How’d you sleep?”
“Knowing I didn’t have to wake up for work today? Pretty good.” He kissed the top of your head. “I know you probably made plans for today, but I was hoping to get more time to read.”
“Get more time?” You pulled back to look at him. “It’s your birthday. We can do whatever you want.”
“Yeah? Are you going to read with me?” He teased, knowing you really didn’t like reading, especially to the extent Armin did.
“I mean…That’s just—if it’s something—because it’s your birthday, you can read—maybe I—” Armin laughed and leaned down to kiss you, cutting off your stumbling.
“Happy birthday, Armin.” You said as he pulled away.
“Thanks.” He smiled, turning to lay on his back with your head resting on his shoulder. “So what’s the plan for today then?”
“Well, I have quite the day planned actually, but first—” This wasn’t something you wanted to bring up, but it was reaching the point where it was necessary. It had been a month. The month you both gave yourself to decide if you wanted to stay or if you wanted to go back to the vineyard. While asking him on his birthday and potentially bringing up negative feelings wasn’t great, you didn’t have much of a choice. “—it’s been a month.”
“It has, hasn’t it?” His eyes were focused on the ceiling.
“Yeah, so… we need to make a decision.”
“My decision…” He looked at you. “Is to be with you.”
“What kind of decision is that?” You laughed. “I meant whether you wanted to st—”
“I know what you meant. And that’s my decision. Anywhere you are, I am happy to be.” He gave you a comfortable smile and turned on his side to face you. “As long as I have you.”
You sighed not really sure if you were feeling relief or regret, possibly both. You wanted to stay, you knew you should stay, but parts of you loved the simplicity of the vineyard, of the relaxing mornings at breakfast with Francisco, and the freedom you had there. You had a father, but you never really talked to him much, not to mention you were pretty grown, time beginning to make you the wise old lady instead of the kid seeking advice. But you knew how quickly Francisco became a father to Armin and how much he missed him. That part was hard to let go of.
“So, we’re going to stay?” You knew he was saying you would stay, yet still needed the confirmation.
“We’ll stay.” He nodded.
“Good. Then that’s decided. I mean, who else is going to save the world?” You joked. “Paradis needs your brains.”
“And your strength.”
“You’re moving up with your strength.” You squeezed his bicep. “You basically threw me around all night.”
“I’m getting weak without all my dairy.” He laughed, not even able to make the joke.
“I’m pretty sure it was working on the vineyard, not the cheese.” You pointed out. “Oh! I have one more gift! Come on, get up.”
“Hang on.” Armin grabbed your waist and pulled you back to the bed. “First, I got you something.”
“What? It’s your birthday. You aren’t supposed to get me anything.” You sat comfortably on the bed, wrapping the sheets around you as you waited.
“Well, I got it around your birthday but I couldn’t give it to you then.” He fished around in the closet, pulling out a medium brown box and putting it in front of you before sitting next to you on the bed with a smile on his face. “Open it.”
It was in that moment that you realized you really had no idea if Armin was one of those people that gave good gifts or one of the ones that gave gifts you had to pretend to like. You were never good at pretending and you really hoped he was the former. It also had you worried that you really weren’t sure which one you were either and the gift you had for Armin might actually end up a flop.
You took a deep breath and pulled the ribbon off the box, struggling a bit before you finally got it off and lifted the lid. There was a bunch of thin paper in the box hiding the gift and you pulled it all out to find where the gift actually was.
“Sorry.” Armin laughed. “Connie and Mikasa said that was important to put in there.”
“It’s fun.” You smiled at him, looking back down at the gift.
There’s a feeling you get when you see someone in a place you don’t normally see them. Like your teacher in a grocery market or two friends you didn’t know knew each other, walking together. There’s a certain way your heart stops and you just stare, your eyes knowing you recognize them but your brain not catching up. Then once you remember how you know them, your mouth sort of drops open and you can’t help but smile at being so surprised by something that’s not even all that surprising. That’s how you felt when you saw the red, polka-dotted dress sitting in the box. The dress you saw in the window while you were shopping with Armin months ago.
“I… do you remember it?” Armin was watching you, checking to see if you liked it or not, but unable to read your face. “It was from—”
“I remember.” You smiled, your fingers running softly over the fabric. It felt just as feminine as it looked and your smile widened as you looked up to Armin. “I love this.”
“Yo—you do?” You could practically feel the relief wash over him and you nodded.
“How did you even get this?” You picked up the dress and held it up a little, admiring just how beautiful it was, even more than you remember it being.
“I bought it that day.” He smiled, remembering how proud he was of himself that you never found out.
{Flashback to them shopping in Chapter 4}
Armin watched as you turned the corner to the bathrooms, adjusting the bags on his arms and looking back up at the dress before making the decision to buy it for you.
He stepped inside the store and maybe it was because he clearly had already made a lot of purchases that day, or maybe it was because he had a desperate and lost look on his face that the women in the store all come up to help him.
“Hi, sorry, I was hoping to get that dress in the window for someone.” He pointed to the red, polka-dotted dress with the coffee cup in his hand. “Is there any way I can get it quickly? She went to the bathroom and I want it to be a surprise.”
He smiled to the women, looking at them with his big, blue eyes and they immediately went to work, finding out what size you were based on what you had already bought, helping him pay and shuffling the bags around so this one was hidden from you before he ran back out to wait on the sidewalk, readjusting the bags just in case.
{Back to present}
“You did all that?” You asked him, honestly amazed that he was able to keep it from you.
“I even hid it in the suitcase under my books in order to get it here.” He smiled proudly.
“You are sneaky, aren’t you?” You narrowed your eyes and smiled at him. “What else are you hiding?”
“Nothing.” He laughed, putting his hands up and you pulled him in for a kiss.
“Should I try it on?” You held it up against you and looked at it.
“I was hoping you would wear it.”
You were too and you jumped up from the bed, sliding it on and making sure all the buttons were done before looking back up at Armin.
“How does it look?”
“Amazing.” He smiled broadly. “You look amazing. So beautiful.”
“Why do I feel like you’re lying?” You narrowed your eyes and walked over to the mirror to check. After seeing yourself, you closed your eyes with a sigh, he was definitely lying. “My hair is a mess. Are you sure it fits well? Maybe it’s too tight on my arms. Also, I don’t have any shoes to go with it.”
You kept finding problems with it the longer you stared. It was honestly a really pretty dress, just as pretty as when you saw it the first time, but seeing it on you somehow made it less pretty. This wasn’t really a style someone like you could pull off.
“Maybe I shouldn’t wear it today. I don’t know.” You rubbed your stomach as Armin came up behind you, wrapping his arms over yours. “I feel like I don’t look as—"
“You look beautiful.” He spoke against your neck.
“Yeah, but—”
“Hey, stop talking about the woman I love like this. She’s perfect. You’re perfect.” He looked at you and you couldn’t explain what you ever did to make him find you even remotely tolerable, but you were grateful for it.
“Thank you for this.” You turned your head to look at him and leaned back into his chest. He brought his lips to yours quickly, his hands trailing to your hips as you turned around to face him.
“What was it that you were going to surprise me with?” He spoke into your neck.
“Oh right—” Armin’s hands moved down to your butt, grabbing the fleshy meat and squeezing as he pulled your hips against his. “You’re distracting me.”
“I can’t help it.” He kissed your neck and you pulled his hands from touching you.
“Get dressed.”
You smiled at him before moving to the bathroom to get ready. You were pretty sure Armin was going to like your gift, even if it was something he had to work a bit for.
Armin was pulling on his pants when there was a light knock at the door.
“Come in.” Armin called, waiting for the door to open, but no one came in. He waited a little longer and nothing. It’s not like people accidentally knocked on the wrong door. He walked over and opened the door to see Jean, not wanting to open the door just in case.
“Sorry, I know it’s your birthday, but you both are needed.” He couldn’t bring himself to look up at Armin, knowing how annoying this would be to him. “Hange told me to tell you. I’m sorry.”
“What? I got permission from Hange.” You peeked out of the bathroom, having heard what Jean said.
“I know. They are sorry, but there was a shift change overlap and there aren’t enough scouts guarding the harbor.” Jean looked down at his watch. “We have to leave in twenty minutes.”
Perfect. Just perfect. Before you knew it, you and Armin were on a train bound for the harbor to work on his day off. Even worse, on his birthday. Armin was never one to complain about working or having to do things he didn’t want to do, but you were and it was unfair to interrupt his birthday when that was all you asked.
You looked down at Armin’s hand holding onto yours, his thumb rubbing your thumb and you looked up to him, trying to smile, but struggling.
“It’s okay. I don’t mind.” He smiled. Such a bright and happy smile in spite of everything. “I had enough fun yesterday.”
He kept reassuring you the whole train ride to the harbor, but it didn’t stop you from worrying about this ruining his special day. He hadn’t had a lot to look forward to and you both just decided to stay. Knowing your job as a scout could interrupt you no matter what you were doing was definitely something that you worried he was thinking about.
The train reached the stop at the harbor by midday and everyone got off. You followed Hange and Levi while Armin was pulled to go with Jean which was even more perfect. You really hoped Armin was okay. He had been smiling and joking on the train, but you couldn’t help but worry.
“So how did it happen? If you don’t mind me asking.” Jean pushed Armin’s shoulder lightly.
“What do you mean?” Armin walked in front of Jean as they squeezed through the crowded hallway on their way out of the building.
“I mean with you and section commander.” Jean clarified.
“Oh.”
“Was it you that made the first move or her? When did it happen?” Jean walked through the doorway as Armin held it for him. They were both assigned to the hill which wasn’t the greatest post, but it was at least quiet.
“I think it was mutual?”
“Bullshit.” Jean laughed. “How could it have been mutual? I bet she made the first move. No offense to you.”
Armin tried thinking back to when things first started. It honestly felt like so long ago he could barely remember who started anything. He smiled as he remembered the barn and cringed when he thought about how he slammed your head against the door in an attempt to woo you. He let out a small chuckle thinking about your drunken night in the barn after Francisco’s birthday party. Finally, he sighed, thinking back to the moment he knew he would never forget. The moment he knew he would never care about another person the way he cared about you. The moment he never shared with anyone else, including you.
“Maybe it wasn’t mutual, but it was definitely back and forth for a while.” Armin shrugged and they both stepped into their section post, getting ready to start their shift.
“Hey commander.” Jean waved to Hange and Armin turned to see Hange and Levi walking up to them.
“I thought this was our post.” Armin turned to the commander and captain, wondering why they were there.
“It is, we just wanted to stop by to say happy birthday.” Hange smiled, gesturing to the hills behind them. “Don’t we live in such a wonderful place, Armin?”
“You’re insufferable.” Levi groaned, leaning against the half wall behind him, crossing his arms over his chest.
“Call it what you must, I’m simple trying to remind Armin of what wonderful land lies behind us.” Hange gestured again, a bright smile on their face.
Armin wasn’t sure if you had mentioned to them that you both would be staying. Honestly, he wasn’t sure if the plan you both had to possibly leave was ever brought up to them at all. If it wasn’t though, he had no idea what the commander was talking about.
“Is this about—”
“Ah, I think we’ve done our job.” Hange smiled, looking just past Levi.
“Good, can we go?” Levi stood up and Armin’s gaze followed Hange’s to you, walking up the hill to meet them. You were no longer in your uniform though, now you were back to wearing the red, polka-dotted dress.
Armin held a confused look on his face the entire walk up that hill which may not have been that long of a walk, but felt excruciatingly long as you waited to explain to him. When you reached the top, Armin held your hands as you smiled widely.
“Why aren’t you in uniform?” The level of confusion he held was nearly making you squeal because you actually managed to do it. You succeeded in outsmarting Armin Arlert.
“I had to look good for our guest.” You said simply, pointing to the harbor. He was still lost but looked to the harbor and saw a plane landing.
“What guest? What are you talking about?” He looked back to you, completely lost and you rolled your eyes, unable to believe you were going to have to spell it out for him.
“Who else do you think would fly to Paradis?” You watched Armin’s face go from confusion, to thinking, back to confusion before his face completely dropped aand he realized who it was you were talking about. He quickly looked to the plane, now landed, at the harbor.
“Is that…?” He turned back to you and you nodded.
“We planned it before you and I flew out—” You couldn’t even finish speaking before he was grabbing you and pulling you into his arms.
“You’re amazing.” He squeezed you tighter.
“Our trip was sort of a practice run for him.” Armin grabbed your face and kissed you roughly, hugging you again.
“Oh my God! You’re amazing.” He held your cheeks, giving you forceful kisses all over your face in between his words. “So amazing… you are… so… incredible!”
“We should probably go meet him, he can’t see us from here.” Hange reminded and everyone exited the post.
“You are definitely the sneakier one out of the two of us.” Armin whispered to you, giving you one last kiss before he turned to run towards the plane, the door now open.
You watched as Armin’s little head of blonde hair bounced on its way to Francisco who was nearly falling out of the plane to hug him and you ran, following shortly behind.
Things were definitely going to be different for you guys, but you were sure now that they’d be alright.
ArminxFem!Reader
Summary: Reader and Armin spend their last day with Francisco and set out to Paradis.
Content: No warnings, just a little sad.
Word Count: ~ 3,000
A/N: This chapter is kind of fast-moving and short. I could have just combined it with another chapter, but I felt like it sort of deserved its own place.
Feedback is always appreciated :)
The day both you and Armin had been dreading was finally here and neither one of you were prepared. Breakfast didn’t feel the same as it normally did. While you both would laugh and joke with Francisco, this time it was silent. You peaked over at Armin and he was looking down at his food, chewing slowly. You looked to Francisco and realized he was doing the same thing. This was your last day together and they both wanted to be silent?
“Can’t we just act like normal?” You set your fork down noisily and both of them looked up from their food. “I know we’re leaving tomorrow, but can’t we enjoy one last breakfast together?”
Armin looked at you and smiled. “If you give me that cheese on your plate.”
You rolled your eyes and both you and Francisco laughed as you moved the cheese from your plate to Armin’s. Even Francisco put his cheese on Armin’s plate.
Waking up that morning was a lot harder than other mornings. You held your eyes closed a little longer, hoping you could go back to sleep a little more until you felt Armin’s fingers brushing through your hair lightly and you opened your eyes.
Waking up to get to work was easy, waking up to leave the life you’ve known for the last half a year was a lot harder and the look on Armin’s face said the same thing. He closed his eyes and pulled you into his chest where you both laid until breakfast nearly became lunch.
The trip back to Paradis was going to be a lot smoother than the trip you made here, but that didn’t mean it was going to be any easier leaving. On one hand, you were going to miss everything and everyone here. On the other hand, you weren’t going to be floating aimlessly in the ocean for hours.
The last couple weeks, Francisco was helping you both locate a pilot willing to fly near Paradis. You didn’t think it would be an issue until you remembered what everyone thought of Paradis and the people who lived there. People like you and Armin.
No amount of convincing with words or even money was persuading anyone to make the trip so you had to compromise, offering for them to take you as close as they could and you and Armin would jump from the plane into the water, making the rest of the trip swimming. It wasn’t ideal, but there weren’t many other options. Not to mention, it wasn’t the first time for either of you to jump from a plane, but at least this time it would be planned.
Finally, Francisco was able to find someone to help you. An old friend he knew when he first left his home country to start his vineyard. The agreement was to leave in the morning so when the plan approached Paradis, it would be covered by the protection of night and that’s when Armin and you would jump and make your way to the shores of Paradis.
It wasn’t fool-proof, certainly wasn’t the safest, and definitely did a terrible job at representing how much thought and effort you had actually put into the plan, but it was all you had. You knew the plans Paradis had for Marley and honestly, the timeline for those plans were coming up quickly. You and Armin both needed to get back before they were put into motion or there might be bigger problems.
After breakfast and the last-minute checklist for the plan, you and Armin went back up to the barn to pack the things you were able to bring with. Originally, you had a plan to pack nearly all of things you both accumulated while being there. You had grown to love your clothes and really didn’t want to leave them, but when the plans changed to both of you skydiving into the ocean, you knew you would barely get away with a small suitcase of things. Most of the space you wanted to give to Armin for the books he wanted to bring back.
“Do you think we will get to come back at some point?” Armin wondered, trying to decide which sweater he wanted to wear.
“Don’t forget you need to wear dark clothes.” You reminded him and he set aside the light blue one, pulling on the black one. “I think we might be able to.”
If you were being honest, you had no idea. It had been so long since you had been home and you really didn’t even know what was happening. A war could have started for all you knew.
“I think the others would really like it here.” Armin smiled, changing into dark jeans. “Do you think Francisco would want to see Paradis?”
“He probably would.” You both smiled, thinking about the interactions between your friends back home and your new friends here. “Can you imagine him with Hange?”
“Or Ernesto!” You both laughed even harder at the thought. “The trip there would be hard for them though.”
“Please, you think they are going to jump out of a plane?” Armin looked over to you, wondering what you meant. “Francisco would just buy a plane, learn to fly it and make weekend trips to visit.”
“You’re right.” Armin smiled. “I’d like that actually.”
“Armin!” Francisco called your names from outside the barn and you both moved to the window to see. “Come down when you guys are done. I have something for you.”
You both quickly finished your packing and went down to see Francisco. It’s not like you had that much to pack. The time-consuming part was deciding what stayed and what would go with you. That, and trying to fit it all in the suitcase.
When you stepped out of the barn, Francisco was sitting out on one of the chairs on his porch, enjoying the afternoon sun. It was starting to warm up more and more now that it was October and Francisco began spending his days out on the back porch as you and Armin worked. Today though, he brought out two extra chairs from the kitchen.
He stood up from his chair when you approached and smiled, his sunglasses covering his eyes. You didn’t see when he picked it up, but he was holding something behind his back and as you stood in front of him, he held it in front of himself.
“This is the first wine you both made. I saved the bottle so that we could drink together, but I want you to have it.” Francisco handed the bottle to Armin and sniffled lightly, adjusting his glasses and it made sense to you now why he was wearing them when he normally would have taken them off to talk to you.
Armin held the neck of the bottle, his eyes moving over the label and from where you were standing, you could see them filling with tears. He looked at Francisco and tried to smile, but couldn’t.
“Ah, I know.” Francisco breathed as Armin moved forward and rested his head against Francisco’s chest. Francisco rubbed the back of Armin’s head. “I know, Armin. It’s okay.”
Francisco reached his arm out and motioned you to step forward and join in on the hug. You weren’t really one to hug people, you didn’t really like any sort of touching or emotions either, but you could feel the tears building in the corner of your eyes and took a step forward. Francisco grabbed the shoulder of your shirt and pulled you until you were against him and Armin in the group hug.
Armin’s breath was continuously catching and it really made you wonder how one human could hold so much emotion. It was possible you were using that thought and watching Armin as a distraction because you were also feeling quite emotional. Crying wasn’t going to help though. Yes, you were going to miss Francisco more than anything. Yes, you were going to miss your life there. Yes, a small, tiny, sparkle of a part of you was going to just tell Armin that you weren’t going back, you both would stay with Francisco and forget about Paradis and you were pretty sure Armin would agree to that, but you couldn’t. You had to go back. There were too many things you had to do, too many responsibilities you had and crying about leaving Francisco only made you think that it really would be the last time seeing him and you weren’t okay with that. Treating it like you were leaving for a short time and would see each other soon is what kept you from crying.
“You’re a mess.” You smiled at Armin as he pulled away from Francisco, his nose and cheeks all red and wet with tears. You wiped your thumb across his cheek and smoothed his hair out.
“Come on. Come on. Let’s drink this.” Francisco patted the both of you on the back and gestured for you to sit.
Getting drunk before a major trip like this one wasn’t a great idea, but between the three of you, and the one bottle, each only got two or three glasses. Armin only had one and a half and was already tipsy, claiming he was going to go read all the books in the library before it was time to go. He ran inside and came out with a stack of books, laying out on the grass and starting to read them.
“So do you feel ready to get back home?” Francisco turned to you as you took a sip of your wine.
“Definitely not.” You laughed quietly.
“Nervous?”
“I think so. We weren’t that advanced a couple years ago and I know we’ve only been gone seven months, but I can’t help but think that things will be so different. Even more different than they’re already going to be because Armin and I are so different.”
“You fell into a country you didn’t know and found a way to live off of nearly nothing for a month. You even took care of Armin.” Francisco clinked his glass to yours. “If there’s someone I trust to survive any situation, it’s you.”
“Let’s not forget how you found me.” You both laughed and turned to see how Armin was doing. The book lay open on the grass, his cheek resting on the page as he snored softly. These were the moments you would miss. You couldn’t even remember the last time you were able to just lay out on the grass in Paradis. The thought of being stuffed in your office for so many hours of the day was already exhausting.
“Do you think Armin is ready to go back?” You turned to him as you heard Francisco speak.
“Definitely not.” You both laughed. “Armin is a great soldier and a great leader. He’s smart and understands strategy better than anyone I know, but I think the military isn’t really a life that he would have chosen had he been given the choice. Being here with you reminded him of that.”
“Is your relationship going to be an issue when you get back?”
“Possibly. I haven’t really thought about it.” You shook your head. “Back home, we don’t really have time for relationships.”
“Can I give you some advice?” Francisco turned his body to face you.
“Is it going to be the same advice you gave Armin?” You drank the last bit of wine from your glass, reaching for the bottle to pour another for you and Francisco. He nodded a ‘thank you’.
“Very funny. You both got together in the end though.”
“That was not because of you. I had a black eye because of you.” He waved his hand in a dismissive way and smiled.
“You know, you’re going to find a lot of people don’t like your relationship with Armin, but you have to learn to ignore that.” He rested his head back on the chair. “Not everyone will understand, but you need to remind yourself that the important thing is that you care about him and he cares about you.”
“I take it you’re speaking from experience.”
“Experience is what I have a lot of.” He laughed and clinked your glass again.
It didn’t take long for the bottle to be emptied and at that point it was dinner. Everyone was trying to get to bed early that night because you were leaving tomorrow before the sun came up. You all quickly said your ‘good night’ and you did your best to fall asleep which wasn’t easy.
As soon as you woke up, Francisco drove you to the hangar and the plan was to leave right away. The flight time was going to be a little over twelve hours and the goal was the reach the point of jumping at eight o’ clock at night. That would give you both enough time to swim and get to shore before you were completely exhausted.
The three of you exited the car, looking at the plane. Armin tugged the little suitcase you brought out of the backseat and stood next to you and Francisco.
“Please take care of yourself.” Francisco reminded you both as he pulled Armin into a hug, whispering to him. “And make sure you take care of her.”
Armin pulled away and nodded, trying to force a smile while also holding back his tears.
“And you.” He quickly pulled you into a hug before you could fight against it, patting your back gently. “If you find time to visit me again, please do or I will have to find you both.”
You laughed as you pulled away. “I’ll do my best.”
Francisco got back in the car and you followed the pilot to the plane. You hadn’t really seen many planes before, mainly in photos. So you weren’t really sure what to expect, but it was a lot smaller than you thought while at the same time bigger than you thought you needed. There were plenty of seats inside for only you and Armin.
At that point, everything was starting to feel like a dream. You quickly stepped on the plane and just as quickly, you were in the air. It was a completely new view of the world. Everything was so small. Even the ocean you floated in for hours seemed like a puddle. The depth completely unknown to you while you were in the air.
Armin interlocked your fingers and you turned from the window to sit down and look at him. He wasn’t enjoying the plane ride as much as you were which surprised you, but you were sure it was sadness from leaving Francisco and everything you’ve both known to go to the unknown. You were sure things were different. There was no way things would be exactly how you left them.
Maybe there were more railways or new foods or maybe even newer advancements, more recruits, better friendships. Not all of them could be good though. With the good things were bound to be bad things, like losing people.
You sighed and gave him a reassuring smile which he didn’t return. He only looked at you, his hand going to your cheek and his lips going to yours. He pulled away and rested his forehead against yours, swallowing hard.
Armin wasn’t scared to go back to Paradis because of what was waiting for you both. He was nervous, but he was sure most things were probably the same as when you both left. What was becoming hard for him to handle was the dangers you were going to face. It hadn’t been so long living on the vineyard that he’d forgotten just how often scouts were risking their lives. Maybe it wasn’t as bad as when titans were roaming free, but it still wasn’t completely safe. Not safe like working on a vineyard was. He pulled away, kissing your forehead and trying not to think about it.
It had been dark for a while now and you were sure you were getting close to the drop point. You opened your bag and pulled out snacks and you both ate quickly. Just as you were finishing up, the pilot called back to you both.
“You guys ready? We’re about twenty minutes out.”
You took a deep breath, getting the parachutes ready and strapped on and as soon as you were ready, you let the pilot know and he gave you the okay to open the side door.
Just as quickly as you got on the plane and just as quickly as it took off, what somehow seemed even faster than that was you and Armin holding hands and stepping off the plane. It wasn’t as if you were experienced swimmers this time around, but knowing when the water would hit, knowing what it would feel like, knowing which direction to go, it all made it that much easier.
…..
The night was clear with a small crescent moon in the sky giving just enough light to see without so much light that cover was impossible. Thankfully the weather was warming up and being out at night wasn’t as bad as it was a couple months ago. The colder temperatures of July weren’t the favorite of the dark-haired captain as he laid on the ground behind a hill.
“Captain, there are two people approaching from the water.” Levi took the binoculars from the scout and looked for what they saw. It was harder to see with the small light provided, but he could definitely make out two figures of a similar size, one of them had bright blonde hair and Levi narrowed his eyes, focusing harder until he could recognize faces.
“I need you to go get the commander.” Levi stood up quickly, tossing the binoculars to the scout.
