Chapter Text
“Do you need a blanket?” The kid crouched on the ground shook off his glazed expression to look up at the speaker. He took a little while to process their environment after having been in a daze for so long. Eventually, he shook his head slowly, eyes still wide.
The girl holding out the folded blanket to them from a stack tucked under her other arm knit her eyebrows together. She dropped in a crouching position in front of him and asked quietly, so as not to wake the sleeping people around them, “Are you alright? Do you need medical attention?”
“No. I’m ok.” They let out a shaky sigh. “I’m just…”
“In shock?” He nodded. She scooted to join him on the dusty floor with their backs against the pillar and set her pile of blankets to her side. Passing them out could wait for a bit if it meant that she could help this kid. “That’s ok. I’m sure a lot has happened over the last few days so it’s perfectly understandable. Do you want to talk about it?”
They slowly shook their head again. “I can’t stop thinking about it. About … what I saw.” He moved their hands to cover their face as he started to tear up.
Desperate to do something to comfort him, the girl grabbed their hands in hers, forcing his attention to her, and said, “Hey, look at me. What’s your name?”
“Armin,” they managed.
“Well, Armin, my name is Margaret and I’ve lived in Trost my whole life. I know that you are going to be able to resettle into a nice new home here. It's a good city with good people. You see that woman over there?” She pointed at a woman across the pavilion in a green dress carrying a basket of bread. “That’s my mom. And that,” she pointed again, this time at a man who they could see was bandaging a young boy’s arm in the dim lantern light, “that is my dad. We are all here to help you all feel welcome in our city. I heard what happened in your old town with the wall and everything, but look at that.” This time, she directed Armin’s gaze at the thick stone wall that towered over them in the moonlight. “That is Wall Rose. She is going to protect us and keep all the titans out. I’m willing to bet that you’ll never ever have to see a titan ever again.”
“That’s not true!” they burst out, shaking their hands out of Margaret’s grasp. “People thought we were safe. ‘For one hundred years, we’ve been protected,’ they said. But look where we are now! Shiganshina and all of Wall Maria has fallen. I am a refugee,” he cried. Gesturing to the group of people, an older man and two other kids around their age, he continued, “My friends, my family —everyone here has no home now. All because we thought we were safe. Those cursed titans … all they do is take the things we love from us.” They succumbed to more tears. Margaret watched concernedly as he began to lose control of his breathing and look around the crowded room in a panic.
Margaret answered sternly, “Hey, now, what did I say about that? This is your home now.” She tilted up his head again to look her in the eyes and said gently, “I know you are scared … I am too. But we have to trust in the military. They have been training for so long and I know they haven't had much success in the past, but they are now our only hope. We have to support them and trust that they will protect us. Even if those stupid walls can’t.” She recalled something her father had taught her one time that was meant to help people who were panicking like this. Reached over, took back one of his hands and placed it on her chest over her heart. “It’s ok. It’s ok,” she repeated. “Just breathe.”
Armin watched her with their blue eyes. Slowly, shaky breaths fell back into a normal pattern copying her own breathing and Armin eventually returned to a more comfortable position against the wall. Margaret shot a cautious eye over to her mother who had a finger over her lips. She had been afraid that their conversation had gotten too loud. The pavilion was tightly packed with displaced people and most were sleeping after all. She glanced back at Armin and noticed the bags under his eyes. He probably hadn’t slept very much since it happened. They probably couldn’t .
He drew in a long inhale and released it slowly. “Sorry. I- I shouldn’t have burst out like that. You’re right; the military is our last chance.” A solid determination sank into their eyes. He turned his head back to face her and said, “Tell me more about yourself. Please,” they added as a shy afterthought. “I need a distraction.”
Margaret smiled at seeing their renewed calmness. “Well, I showed you my parents earlier, right? My mom is a midwife and my dad is a doctor. I want to go into the medical field just like them and that’s why I’m here right now; I want to help out people and gain some experience. Earlier, I helped my mom clean a wound for the first time …” She wasn’t prone to talking extensively, but it’s interesting how strange situations like this drew out different sides of people. Besides, Armin needed to get his mind off of his situation and she was happy to bring him comfort ー even if that comfort was boring him to sleep. He tried to stay engaged by asking the occasional question, but the weight of eyelids and exhaustion from recent events overcame their willpower and he drifted off into a dreamless sleep. Their head bopped down and down until it rested on Margaret’s shoulder.
Seeing she had done all she could for the moment, she shifted his weight off of her and placed them in a balanced resting position against the wall before standing herself up. She draped a blanket over him and one over each of his sleeping friends. The older man, whom she had thought was asleep, leaned his head up from his laying position to accept a blanket from her. “Thank you,” he whispered, tears in his eyes.