Chapter 10
Armin woke up to sunlight in his face and groaned in frustration, quickly turning his head away to shield his eyes from the bright light. He glanced at his clock, it was about ten minutes before he’d set his alarm to go off.
As Armin got up, he turned to see a sleeping Eren and sighed lightly. He strode over to the side of Eren’s bed, proceeding to firmly shake the brunette awake. Eren grunted irritably before sitting up, rubbing his eyes.
“I’m up! I’m up! Geez.” Eren whined, his voice gravely from sleep. Content, Armin moved to his closet, grabbing some clothes and then heading to the bathroom to shower.
Twenty minutes later, Armin came out of the bathroom dried off and dressed. Armin crossed the hall back to the bedroom to grab his beanie, only to find that Eren had rolled over and fallen back asleep. He grabbed a pillow and chucked it at the sleeping form, eliciting an annoyed groan from the other male. Armin smirked as an idea came to mind. He walked over to his desk and grabbed the camera from the drawer. He was going to use Mikasa’s method.
He turned the camera on and propped it up on the desk, facing towards Eren’s bed. He then went to the kitchen and grabbed a cup to fill with cold water. He added a handful of ice for good measure. With the cup in hand, he stalked towards their room, stopping right next to the slumbering Eren. Armin turned to wink at the camera.
“Eren, do you want to get up on your own, or shall I use Mikasa’s method to motivate you?”
“Don’t even think-” Eren began, poking his head out of the covers to glare at Armin, but he was cut off.
Splash
Eren shrieked and fell off the bed. If looks could kill, Armin would be dead a thousand times over.
“DAMMIT ARMIN! I’M GOING TO FUCKING MURDER YOU!” Eren screeched, launching himself from the floor.
Armin laughed and sprinted towards to the door, a soaked Eren following behind. Armin rushed into the study and hid behind a book shelve. He tried to control his heavy breathing as best as he could, but slapped a hand over his mouth anyway when he heard Eren’s loud footsteps, just to be safe.
“Where are you, Armin? I need to know so I can destroy you!” He growled.
As soon as Eren passed the bookshelf he was hiding behind, Armin bolted towards their room and locked the door behind him. He wouldn’t be safe for long, since Eren had a key, but at least he had time to prepare for his demise. He turned to the camera and gave a panicked look, jumping at the loud pounding at the door.
“Armin! Let me in! Accept your fate!”
“If I die here, I’d just like to say that… Jean, you’re a bastard and I hope you rot in hell. Krista, you are such a sweet person, I hope you get everything sorted out with Ymir, you deserve happiness. Bert, I’m leaving all my belonging to you. Grandpa, I love you and Mikasa, if you get this, show everyone this video and tell Erwin that I enjoyed working for him, he’s such a good boss.” He said into the camera, blushing at the last part.
The door then flew opened, banging against the wall harshly. Armin screamed as he got tackled to the ground, accidently knocking the camera over in the process. Eren gave him a victorious smirk and Armin pouted.
“Eren! Please don’t kill me!” Armin begged.
Eren threw his head back and let out a heinous cackle. “You’ve doomed yourself, Armin. Now feel my wrath!” Eren shrieked, assaulting Armin with mass amounts of tickling. Armin screeched loudly, overcome with laughter. He tried his hardest to wriggle out of Eren’s clasp, but failed and gave up, accepting his fate.
“Okay, okay! Uncle!” Armin said between giggles.
“Serves you right!” Eren chucked as he stood, offering Armin a hand up.
“You better watch out, Ar. Karma’s a bitch.” Eren said, hand on his hip. Armin laughed and picked up the camera from the ground. He frowned at the crack on the lens.
“Eren! You broke my camera.”
“Ahh, what did I tell you about Karma?” Eren chorkled. Armin glared at him.
“Come on Ar, I’m sorry.” Eren said, still chuckling lightly.
“If you’re really sorry, then buy me a new camera.” Armin retorted.
“But I’m broke.”
“Allvarligt Eren! Bara använda din lön!” (“Seriously Eren! Just use your paycheck!”)
“Armin, if you talk in Swedish, then I’m speaking German.”
Armin sighed in frustration. “Oh för Guds skull!” (“Oh for god sakes!”)
“Armin, stoppen ernsthaft auf Schwedisch sprechen!” (“Armin, seriously stop speaking in Swedish.”)
“Obs tills du köpa mig en ny kamera.” (“Not until you buy me a new camera.”)
“Alright! Fine! I’ll buy you a new camera! Just stop speaking in Swedish!” Armin smiled victoriously and stuck his tongue out to Eren.
Eren rolled his eyes and smirked.
“Yeah, whatever. I’m gonna go get dressed.”
Armin nodded and grabbed a pair of socks from his wardrobe, put them on, and slipped on his black converse afterwards. He adjusted the black beanie on his head and looked at his phone, disinterested. It could use a new look, he decided, so he replaced his previous case with a grey, Star Wars one. It seemed like a good time for Star Wars.
His phone rang in his hand and he raised his eyebrow at the unknown number. He had this weird thing against answering unknown numbers, but eventually just decided to just answer it anyway.
“Hello?” He said.
“Hey, Armin!” He heard Bert’s voice and let out a sigh of relief.
“Hey, Bert!”
“I was wondering if I could pick you up to, you know, fool Reiner into thinking that I’m being a gentlemen to my boyfriend.” Bert joked.
Armin laughed. “Alright, I’ll ditch Eren and Mikasa.”
“Great! I’m right by your house!” Armin laughed once more.
“Alright, I’ll be out in a minute.”
“Sounds great.”
“Eren! Drive Mikasa and yourself to work! I’m going with Bert!” He yelled.
“Fine! Later, Ar!”
“Wait, before I go. We should go out drinking tonight. You up for it?”
“Sure. But you’re holding my phone. I don’t ever want to drunk dial Levi again.” Eren made a face.
Armin laughed. “Alright. Later, Eren.”
“Bye!”
Armin stepped out and scanned the driveway. He noticed a familiar red car and walked towards it. The windows rolled down, revealing Bert’s smiling face.
“Hop in.”
Armin smiled and opened the passenger door to get in. As Bert drove off, Armin heard a familiar song on the radio. He smiled widely and turned it up, humming to the melody.
We started off incredible
Connection undeniable
I swear I thought you were the one forever.
He sang the lyrics with a smile.
But your love was like a loaded gun
You shot me down like everyone
'Cause everyone's replaceable
When you're just so incapable
Of getting past skin deep.
“You know this song?” Bert asked. Armin grinned and nodded.
“This is the song that got me over Jean.”
Bert raised an eyebrow. “You and Jean dated?” He asked.
“We did. We started dating the end of highschool. We broke up after two years of dating.”
“May I ask, why’d you guys break up?”
“Well, we broke up because he cheated on me with Marco.” Bert’s eyes widened.
“I’m-”
“Don’t apologize, it had nothing to do with you. You didn’t know.” He gave Bert a warm smile.
“Armin…”
“Bert, it’s alright. Really. I’m over it, just pay attention to the road.” Armin teased, Bert smiled and nodded.
“Armin, I really appreciate you helping me with Reiner. I do. Thank you.”
“Don’t even thank me! I love helping my friends out.”
“You’re the best Armin.” Armin gave Bert a genuine smile.
“Thanks Bert.”
Guess what, another game over
I got burned, but you're the real loser
I don't know why I've wasted my time with you
You're bad news, a history repeater
You can't trust a serial cheater
You're good at hooking up but you suck at love.
Armin continued singing along to the song softly. He absolutely loved that song with all of his heart. It really had helped him get over Jean.
“You know, you have a really nice voice, Armin.” Bert commented.
Armin blushed at the compliment and shook his head. “Nah. You really want to hear some nice vocals, listen to Eren sing. Jean and Eren were amazing at singing together. Too bad they both despise each other.”
Bert laughed and parked the car. The two stepped out and took hold of each others hands.
“Come on. Let’s go fool that air head.” Armin laughed and lightly swung Bert’s hand.
As they walked, Armin glanced around, looking at the various people passing the two of them. One of which was Erwin, who seemed to be walking to his office. His aura was different from normal, holding an almost palpable tension. Armin felt his stomach drop.
Why does he seem so stressed out all of a sudden?
“Well, I have to get going. I’ll see you later Armin.” Bert said. Armin smiled and nodded.
He let go of Bert’s hand and watched him walk away. Armin took a deep breath and walked up to Erwin’s door. He softly knocked and listened to the vague ‘Come in.’ When he entered, Erwin was slumped over his paperwork, a hand massaging his temple.
He frowned and stood in front of Erwin’s desk. The man paid him little attention. Why did he seem so frustrated?
“Good morning, Sir. Can I help you with anything?” Armin asked politely. He treaded lightly, concerned about Erwin’s attitude.
“No. Please leave me to my work.” Erwin said, still not looking at the younger blonde. Armin flinched at his cold tone.
Armin turned to leave, but as he reached the door, he turned back to glance at the man. Armin wanted to say something, anything to figure out why such an easy-going man was in such a foul mood.
Erwin only then looked up to meet Armin’s gaze. His expression was blank, eyebrows furrowed slightly. “Did you need something, Arlert?”
“I-I was just… no, Sir.” Armin felt the urge to apologize, though he didn’t know why. Why should he apologize for doing his job?
“Then why are you still here?” Erwin asked coldly, and Armin felt a jab to the heart. A wave of anger washed over him.
“Last time I checked, Sir, I was your assistant. Correct me if I’m wrong, but aren’t assistants supposed to actually assist their bosses? Sorry for trying to do my job.” Armin said harshly.
Armin glared at Erwin, eyes never leaving the others. Armin didn’t deserve Erwin’s attitude at all, and he wasn’t going to sit back and take it. Erwin’s eyes widened.
Armin had been working for Erwin for the past month and Erwin was never this cold to him. Why was today any different?
“Armin-”
“Don’t.” Armin cut him off. “I’ll leave you to your work now, just like you wanted. Have a nice day.” Armin said sarcastically.
He turned on his heel to leave, but something caught his wrist. When he turned back, all he could see was Erwin's blue eyes looking down at him. They were bright and intense, almost remorseful. Armin felt his face heat up at their proximity. A puff of warm air hit Armin’s face and Armin could smell the mint on Erwin’s breath.
He really shouldn’t like that smell as much as he did.
“Armin, wait. I know it isn't much of an excuse, but I've just been feeling really tired and stressed out lately. I had no right to take it out on you. I'm terribly sorry.” Erwin said, sincerely.
Armin felt his heart stop. Erwin was really apologizing to him? He couldn't find his voice. Instead of trying to find it, he stared into Erwin's blue eyes and released the breath he hadn't realized he was holding.
“I-It's alright, Sir. But for future reference, there are certainly better ways of relieving stress than taking it out on other people.” Armin quipped, quickly getting over the previous irritation.
“Oh? Care to elaborate on your method of relieving stress?” Erwin teased lightheadedly, chuckling at Armin’s inability to give a coherent response to the question.
In his defense, Armin really hadn’t meant it that way.
Erwin let go of Armin’s arm and moved to sit back down. He ruffled through a stack of papers, before handing a few to Armin.
“Now that that’s settled, could you run these to Jean Kirstein for me please? He's the assistant of Nile Dok.” Erwin asked. Armin's eyes widened.
“Something wrong, Armin?”
“No, it's nothing.” Armin
flashed him a fake smile and grabbed the papers from Erwin.
“He's on the 5th floor and to the right.” Erwin guided, looking back to his work.
Armin nodded slowly and walked away. He looked blankly at the packet in his hands, trying his best to ignore the violent twisting in his gut.
I think I’m going to vomit.