Indefinitely - Armin X Reader

Chapter 4 | Mop Top

I would like to preface by reminding you again that in this story you are Eren's twin, therefore you have a lot of similar characteristics. You're both taller than Armin (I am short as hell so for example I would only just be taller than Armin), and due to how y'all were like,, orphans and homeless for a hot minute and went through a little bit of famine, you are relatively thin (which is great for me because I am a chubby mf so don't go and cancel me for being fatphobic, I put the fat in fatphobic). Again, you have green eyes just like Eren, however everything else is exactly as you want it to be :)

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In the dining area during training (first year of training)

I gave a small sigh, stretching my arms after hours of being stuck behind a desk, studying titans. I could only listen to the long lectures about the beasts for so long before everything just became a droning muddle of things I had heard before. Even Sasha and Connie had fallen silence for once, half asleep against each other. The only way to pass the time in these classes would usually be to make faces at Connie and then do my best to stop laughing at the faces he would make back.

I already know enough about titans. One ate my mum for fucks sake.

It was no wonder that after most of our classes had ended I'd followed Armin to where he normally sat when we had free time, a quiet place in the library where he would bury himself in one of his books and cozy up in the lone arm chair they had there. The chair was a lovely pure red, strangely soft despite the many stains it had. It was obvious that it was a second hand item, due to the lack of funding the military received, but still nice, warm and large.

While he sat down, I squeezed in next to him, resting my head on his shoulder. Unbeknownst to myself, Armin's cheeks flushed slightly but decided to pay it no mind, taking out the book he had hidden underneath the chair. As he opened it, I saw a drawing of something I had only seen a few times before in the illegal book Armin had as a child; it was the ocean. 

'Lands made of ice, flaming water, and fields of sand spread wide. And the ocean, a salt lake so big that no merchant could deplete it, not even in a lifetime.'

I recalled what Armin used to ramble about with a smile. 

"Where the hell did you get that?" I asked, poking him softly. "Y'know, if anyone sees you with that, there isn't much I can do to save you."

He sighed softly, knocking his shoulder against me gently in retaliation. "I found it buried away in here, like someone wanted it hidden and not destroyed, and I can understand why. But don't worry, I only read it when I'm alone."

"So am I just empty space?" I teased, and he blushed in embarrassment. 

"N-No!" He reassured hastily, looking at me earnestly. "You're... you're just safe. I don't need to hide when I'm with you."

I gave a hum of acknowledgement, leaning into the blond and sighing deeply. He seemed satisfied and went back to reading, and I watched from my view, head resting on his shoulder. It all seemed so fantastical, reading the words about a world that seemed so far out of reach. 

"We're still gonna go there someday, yeah?" I murmured quietly, eyes now closed. "Eren, Mika, you and me?"

"Yeah." He confirmed, voice eager. I couldn't see his face, so I chose to imagine him how he looked whenever he used to talk about the ocean. Eyes wide and vivid, as if he had already seen those amazing sights, a smile so bright it seemed as though it could never be wiped off his face. "We're all gonna go someday, and I'm gonna show you that it really does exist."