continued from x
The decision to return to a shorter hair style - a hair style he had worn more in his youth - hadn't been an easy one for Armin. He'd liked to wear his hair longer later in high school, and he style had carried over into his college years until his blonde locks had touched his shoulders. It had grown a pain in the ass lately, though; it was too long, too hard to manage, and thick as hell. Armin didn't like to do more than brush it and pull the top of his hair up and away from his face, and it had needed more than that recently. So, with that in mind, he'd decided to cut it like he used to wear - even shorter, actually, shorter than the bob he'd frequented in his childhood. It'd been scary to think about it (and to say he hadn't heard the taunts of 'coconut head' echoing in his mind was a lie), but he'd gone for it.
When he got back to the apartment, he immediately stopped in front of the door and began to feel anxious about it. Opening his phone and the front camera, he inspects the haircut. The hairstylist had left his usual bangs so that they brushed his eyes, but she'd also suggested that he swoop them back in a quiff if he wanted to look more adult; the sides were still a little long, longer than the average boy's hairstyle, but -- but --- It didn't...
Just as the insecurity about the new haircut begins to swallow him, someone walks into the hall, and Armin spooks. Shutting his phone off, he pockets it and steps into the apartment instead. As dramatic as it sounds, closing the apartment door behind him feels shockingly final.
As soon as Eren's eyes land on him, the other boy pays him a compliment, and Armin's cheeks ruddy with it. "You're sure?" He mumbles, touching the shorter strands unsurely and brushing the newly-trimmed bangs away from his eyebrows. Before he has the chance to say what he doesn't like about it, Eren moves from the couch to greet him at the door, wrapping him in a hug. Armin flushes and drops his messenger bag to the floor with a soft thump, leaning into Eren as he kisses him on the cheek.
"You don't think it looks dumb? Or stupid? I know those mean the same thing, but humor me a little here."