Indefinitely - Armin X Reader

Chapter 14 | Guns And Ass Jokes

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Walking down the stairs to face the titans

The 8 of us all walked down the stairs together warily, keeping an eye out for any titans that were small enough to get on the stairs. We were headed downstairs towards the titans, to where all of our spare gas canisters and pairing blades were stored; we needed them if we had any chance of getting back up the wall. So with Armin's brilliant plan in mind, we were aiming to climb onto the rafters that just so happened to join up with the stairs. I was walking beside Mikasa, with Sasha, Connie and Reiner striding in front while discussing their gears condition and where to aim to kill the titans, as if any of us could forget; it was hammered in to our heads almost every day we studied, no matter what regiment of the military we were aiming to get in to. By now, it was almost a mantra. 

"1m high and 10cm across"

"Back of the head to the nape of the neck" Sasha announced loudly, repeating what we were told in class over and over again. 

"Worst comes to worst, you could always shove one of these up their ass; that's the other weak spot." Reiner remarked while lifting his blade, his face serious and tone helpful.

I snorted, punching him in the small of his back playfully.

"Shut up!" I laughed, "You know perfectly well that-"

"Are you serious?" Connie asked unbelievably, face blank. "That's news to me..."

"Did I miss a day of training or something?" Sasha's tone was earnest and worried, looking concernedly at Reiner in hopes he would enlighten her further. 

At this point I couldn't contain my snickering, and I was unaware that my laughs were echoing up the staircase, and were audible to Armin. Unbeknownst to me, he smiled faintly.

They are so gullible.

"Knock it off, Reiner!" Jean scolded, walking in front of us and turning around with a scowl. "Do you want your final words to be an ass joke?"

"I want my final words to be an ass joke." I murmured with a grin, wiping my eyes with my sleeve. "He's joking Sash, so don't try it."

We eventually made it to where the rafters attached to the wall, and one by one we clambered awkwardly along the thick beams towards where the lift was going to come down. I tried my best to avoid getting splinters in my already injured hands, shuffling awkwardly so that I could avoid hurting myself. I could see the titan's down below, smaller than the ones outside. It made sense that only the shortest of titans had made it inside, as the doorways were very small, but they were still sure to tower over us if we were down next to them. I eventually got to my position and found myself facing Bertolt and Reiner, and I gave a wave. Bertolt smiled and waved at me, and Reiner grinned, making a shoving moment with his blade causing me to have to cover my mouth to stop my giggles. The loud silence made it harder for me to stay silent, and when Sasha and Connie caught on to what was happening, the three of us were in stiches, with Reiner barely managing to compose himself every time he almost laughed. Our giggles eventually became audible, and it was lucky that the titans paid us no attention with the way that Jean was scolding us.

We all fell silent as the lift started lowering down, the seriousness of the situation setting in. My eyes were locked on Armin, and his were flickering back and forth between me and the eyes of the titan in front of him as it took slow, lumbering steps towards the lift. His face was blank, only his eyes revealing to me just how nervous he was. The horrors of today were racing through my mind, and I knew that he would be the same. I instinctively wanted to jump from my perch and protect him, his vicinity to the titan bringing back memories I would prefer to forget, but I had to be patient. All those on the rafters seemed to be waiting for the first scream of shock when a trainee got snatched, but it never came.