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“I guess what I’m trying to say, Mikasa, is that ever since I was a kid, I’ve hated you.”
Those words had absolutely done it for Armin. Not only had Eren come waltzing in the room when the two hadn’t expected it, but he also had the nerve to talk shit to them. The two people he had known almost his entire life, who had always been there for him. Armin wasn’t even sure if he was looking at the same Eren he knew.
Before Armin could stop himself, he was lunging across the table to reach Eren. Mikasa jumped up immediately, tears in her eyes as she held Armin back.
“Armin, don’t!” Armin shrugged her off of him and swung his fist, hitting Eren solid on the cheek. Eren stumbled out of his chair at the impact, but was on his feet again in no time. Armin barely had time to register Eren’s movements before he felt a fist collide with his cheek. Armin almost toppled over, but Eren wasn’t done. Eren shoved Armin into the hutch of plates and cups, cracking the glass and causing plates to fall and shatter on the ground. Armin’s vision had started to blur, but he swung his fist again, Eren easily dodging it.
“You know what, Armin? We never got into a fight as kids,” Eren said as he kneed Armin in the stomach. Armin started to topple over, but Eren was quick to throw two more punches at him. Armin felt a warm liquid drizzle out of his nose. Mikasa ran over to them, tears slipping down her cheeks.
“Please stop!” She begged. Eren ignored her, continuing to beat Armin to a pulp.
“Wanna know why?” Eren asked as he threw another punch. “Because it would’ve never been a fair fight.” One final kick to Armin’s stomach sent him to the floor, his face pressed into the carpet as blood soaked it. Mikasa fell to her knees by Armin’s side, starting to lift him up so she could carry him.
“Like I said before, there doesn’t need to be conflict involved. Just tell me where Zeke is,” Eren said, an emotionless look on his face. Mikasa avoided his gaze, cradling Armin’s barely conscious body to her. “Lock them up.” Eren ordered two Jaegerists by the doors. They roughly grabbed Armin and Mikasa, separating them and dragging them out into the hallway.
The pair were taken into a dungeon where they were thrown into separate cells and locked inside. Armin sank to the floor, his head throbbing and his vision blurry. He could hear Mikasa crying softly in the cell next to him, and he wished more than anything that he could see her and comfort her.
“Mikasa?” He called, his voice slightly raspy. He was unaware of Eren eavesdropping on the staircase, out of sight.
“Yeah?” Mikasa whispered. Armin used the last bit of strength he had to push himself up against the wall that Mikasa and his cells shared.
“Don’t cry. It’ll be okay.” Armin whispered back. Mikasa muffled a sob.
“Armin, he beat you. And all I could do was watch! God Armin, don’t ever forgive me for this!” Armin sighed.
“Mikasa, I’m not mad at you. I picked the fight in the first place, I should’ve seen it coming. I’m not nearly as strong as him,” Armin replied. “Besides, if you had gotten involved, he would’ve hurt you too. I don’t want that.”
“Why’d you do it, Armin?” Mikasa asked, her voice barely louder than a whisper.
“Because he was being mean to you.”
“Armin!” Mikasa sobbed.
“Listen to me, Mikasa. We may have lost him but we still have each other, okay? I’m always going to be here for you. Just stay strong. We’ll get through this,” Armin said, pressing his hand to the wall they shared. He couldn’t see Mikasa, but he knew she was pressing her hand against the wall as well.
“Together,” she whispered. Armin tried to smile.
“Together,” he repeated. It fell silent for a moment, Armin having to lean his head against the wall since he felt immensely dizzy from the blows.
“Are you okay? Are you hurting?” Mikasa asked urgently.
“It doesn’t hurt as bad anymore,” Armin lied, pinching the bridge of his nose to stop the steady stream of thick blood oozing out of it.
“Are you sure? He left you bleeding!”
“I’m sure, Mikasa,” Armin continued to lie, feeling slightly guilty for doing so but not wanting Mikasa to stress out about it either. He closed his eyes, panting quietly when his head started to spin. “Don’t worry about me, just try to get some sleep. It’s late.”
“Okay,” Mikasa whispered. “Goodnight, Armin.”
“Goodnight, Mikasa.”
Footsteps echoed up the stairs, but Armin didn’t even register them. He closed his eyes, thinking maybe he ought to try and get some sleep too. However, sleeping on a cold cement floor while having just been beat up pretty bad did not prove to be a good combination. Armin shifted uncomfortably, flinching when the movement caused his stomach to ache from the kicks it experienced earlier.
Armin tried to picture himself on a beach somewhere, looking out at the ocean with Mikasa, Jean, Connie, and Sasha around him. Sasha was alive, Mikasa didn’t wear a sad expression on her face, and Jean and Connie were goofing off with one other. The illusion made Armin smile to himself as his eyes remained closed, the sound of the ocean in his ears. His state of peace was disrupted when the two Jaegerist guards from before came barreling into the dungeon.
“Armin Arlert,” one of them said. He heard Mikasa shift in her cell, meaning she must have woken up. “Mr. Jaeger needs to see you.” Armin felt his blood run cold. He heard Mikasa gasp softly.
“No! Not Armin! He’ll kill him! Take me instead!” Mikasa protested as the guards unlocked the cell and dragged Armin’s limp body out. Armin tried to give her a small smile but his lips trembled.
“Don’t worry, Mikasa. I’ll be okay,” he said, his voice shaking more than he wanted it to. Mikasa was crying, and it was one of the few times Armin had ever seen her cry so hard. The first, of course, was years back when they thought Eren had been eaten by a titan.
“No!” Mikasa cried as Armin was dragged up the stairs.
Despite having bruises everywhere and blood leaking from multiple spots, the Jaegerists were not gentle with him at all. As soon as they reached the room Armin was summoned to, they threw him in with such force that he fell to his knees. He pressed his hands into the floor to catch himself before he could faceplant. The door slammed shut causing Armin to jump. He heard footsteps trail towards him and a sense of dread washed over him. A shadow loomed over him, but Armin didn’t stand up or even look at him. Armin didn’t want to look into those cold green eyes ever again.
Armin felt a hand roughly grab his blonde hair, pulling it to tilt Armin’s head back. Armin refused to look Eren in the eye, directing his gaze to a chair off to the side of the room. Armin’s head was pounding horribly, and he started to feel this horrible feeling like he was going to be sick.
“Get up,” Eren ordered, his voice cold. Armin tried to stand up, his legs shaky, just to prevent himself from getting beaten further to the point where Mikasa would have a heart attack when she saw him again. Once Armin was standing (to the best of his abilities), Eren released Armin’s hair. Armin wobbled on his legs slightly, his vision still spotty from all the punches. Eren was staring at him with such cold eyes, it sent a chill down Armin’s spine. Eren suddenly grabbed Armin’s wrist. “You’re coming with me.”
Those words were enough to send Armin to his knees again, throwing up on the floor but realizing after it came up that it was blood, not vomit. Eren really kicked his stomach way too hard and too many times. Eren crouched down next to him, but Armin was already losing consciousness at that point. His body tipped over and would’ve hit the floor if it weren’t for Eren’s arms flying out to catch him at the last minute. Armin’s vision finally went out, surrounding him in darkness.
Eren hoisted Armin’s body up, wrapping his arms around his waist to hold him up. The door flung open and the guards rushed in, having heard Armin coughing up earlier.
“Is everything okay?” one of them asked.
“It’s fine,” Eren said. The guards’ eyes fell uneasily to Armin’s unconscious body, the boy’s head on Eren’s shoulder with a trickle of blood coming out of his mouth. “Is the train ready?” The guards quickly nodded their heads.
“Yes, sir.”
“Good. I’ll be leaving early with Armin. Find the other scouts and imprison them with Mikasa,” Eren ordered. The guards’ eyes widened.
“B-But…sir…where are you going?”
“The others found an abandoned cottage outside the walls. We’ll be hiding there until we can find out where Zeke is being held,” Eren said as he started towards the door. The guards stared dumbfounded at him.
“W-Why are you…bringing him ?” The other asked, pointing at Armin. Eren glanced down at the unconscious blonde in his arms, his brows furrowing.
“None of your damn business.” With that, Eren left the room and made his way to the train.
After boarding it, he made sure to tie up Armin’s wrists and ankles in case he woke up. He also decided to blindfold him last minute so he wouldn’t look out the window and see where they were headed. Before the train pulled away, Eren informed two Jaegerists to prepare a second train to bring the hostages the following day. Once all of that was worked out, Eren settled into a bench on the train as it pulled away.
Eren’s eyes fell down to his lap where he had placed Armin’s head, the rest of his body on the bench. Eren figured it was safe to slide his fingers through Armin’s beautiful golden locks, considering the fact that Armin was unconscious. It brought Eren peace of mind to sit there and play with his best friend’s soft hair. It was as if he had nothing to worry about.
Eren knew he had been hard on Armin. Hell, he wouldn’t blame Armin if the boy said he hated him. Armin’s words echoed in his head,
We may have lost him but we still have each other…
Eren felt anger boil up inside of him. He knew he had no right to get mad at Armin for saying they’d lost him. After all, Eren had treated them like shit. There was also no way in hell Armin would ever feel safe being around Eren knowing how many innocent people Eren had killed.
The truth was, Eren didn’t hate Armin nor Mikasa. He loved them both so much, and okay, maybe the love he felt for Armin was a little more…intense. But still. He hadn’t wanted to get them involved in his shit. They meant too much to him. But after hearing Armin talking like they had lost Eren, and the way Armin refused to look Eren in the eye, Eren realized he was too much of a weak soldier to pretend to hate his best friends. He just wanted Armin to look at him with those pretty ocean eyes of his, with happiness in his gaze instead of hatred.
Eren was so lost in thought that he hadn’t even realized Armin had woken up and was shifting uncomfortably, his head still on Eren’s lap as Eren absentmindedly stroked his hair.
Armin slowly opened his eyes, shifting uncomfortably. Where was he? He couldn’t see anything. Was he… blindfolded ? Why couldn’t he move his wrists and ankles?
He was definitely in a moving vehicle, that was for sure. He could hear the thumping of train tracks as the wheels went over them, as well as the rattling of the seats. Armin was very aware of the fact that his head was on someone’s lap and there was a hand tangled in his hair, stroking it. Armin struggled to remember what happened before he had gone unconscious.
Come on, Armin. Think!
Armin vaguely remembered the Jaegerist guards coming for him, and Mikasa begging them not to take him. He then remembered being thrown into a room where Eren was, and after that, the rest was a blur.
Wait. Eren.
Armin’s stomach lurched when realization finally dawned on him. He was on a train with Eren. His head was on Eren’s lap. Eren was touching his hair . Armin felt sick to his stomach, remembering how those very hands had taken countless lives in titan form and had just beat the shit out of him. Realizing that Eren hadn’t stopped his movements, Armin figured he was unaware that Armin was awake. Well fuck that. Armin would make sure he knew he was awake so he would stop touching him.
Armin started to squirm, causing Eren’s hand to pause in his hair. But Armin’s plan didn’t work out how he wanted it to when Eren continued to stroke his hair again. Armin’s stomach did a flip.
“D-Don’t touch me.” Armin forced out bravely. He really didn’t want to get beaten up again, but he also couldn’t handle Eren touching him for the rest of the miserable train ride. Eren paused the stroking again, and even though Armin was blindfolded, he could feel Eren’s cold green eyes boring into him. He ignored Armin’s words, and instead said,
“We’re almost there,” before continuing to stroke Armin’s hair. Unbelievable! Armin continued to squirm, deciding that he would put up a fight. He didn’t even know where Eren was taking him. Where was Mikasa? Had Jean and the others managed to escape? What was Eren planning on doing with him? “Stop struggling.” Armin’s body froze at Eren’s chilling voice. Armin had always been one to feel afraid of those that were stronger and bigger than him, but Eren brought a whole new level of fear to him. After all, he was a mass murderer. Armin had every right to feel afraid.
Eren did stop touching his hair eventually, but Armin didn’t have much time to feel relieved when Eren brought his fingertips to lightly brush against Armin’s cheek. Armin flinched at the contact, not only due to the disgust he felt when Eren touched him, but also because he had a juicy bruise there from Eren’s punches. Eren’s fingers paused, and he moved them to trail up and down Armin’s arm. Despite having the blindfold on, Armin still squeezed his eyes shut. He shuddered at the contact, wishing for Eren to just stop touching him. But Eren wouldn’t, and Armin was in no position to stop him when he was beaten and tied up.
Armin’s wonderful ocean illusion with all of his friends was slowly fading from his mind as the train approached closer and closer to whatever Hell Eren was taking him to.
Eren stared down at the trembling boy, guilt eating him alive. He knew Armin was afraid, ever since Eren had shown up in the room earlier. But Armin had still tried to defend Mikasa, despite feeling absolutely terrified. Eren was proud of Armin for coming so far.
Even though he was well aware that Armin didn’t want Eren to touch him, Eren couldn’t help but let his hand rest on Armin’s arm, his thumb rubbing soothing circles onto Armin’s skin. He knew he would have to untie Armin when they got to the cottage, and it would be pretty difficult to touch him if the boy was constantly trying to run away. So while he could, Eren wanted to touch Armin as much as possible.
After they rode for fifteen more minutes, the train came to a halt by the start of the woods. It was a short walk through the woods to get to the cottage. Eren carefully lifted Armin up as he stood up, causing the boy to let out a small gasp.
“P-Put me down!” Armin choked out, struggling in Eren’s grip.
“Let’s go,” Eren said, ignoring the boy’s protests as he made his way off the train and into the woods, carrying Armin the entire way. Halfway there, Armin had given up the fight, having lost too much energy from when Eren had hurt him. Eren still felt horribly guilty, but he would make it up to the boy. He’d find a way.
When they finally reached the cottage, Eren stepped inside and examined the place. It was really cute, and decent in size for Eren to house a few Jaegerists and his friends. Eren made his way into a nice-sized bedroom that he instantly claimed as Armin and his. He carefully placed Armin down on the bed, watching as the boy curled in on himself. Eren gently un-tied Armin’s wrists and ankles before pulling the blindfold off. Armin crawled back instantly until his back hit the headboard of the bed.
“What do you want with me, Eren? Haven’t you already made your point?” Eren was again hit with a strong pang of guilt. Eren cautiously walked over to the bed, sitting down on it, causing Armin to scoot back to put distance between them. “L-Levi and the others will find me! You won’t get away with thi—“ Eren didn’t give Armin a chance to finish before he was climbing on top of him, shutting the blonde up by pressing his lips against Armin’s. Armin froze up underneath him at first, but then he started squirming. He was too weak to actually push him off though, since Eren had hurt him pretty bad earlier and Eren was naturally stronger than him.
Eren did eventually pull back so they could both get some breath. Armin was staring up at him with this horrified look on his face, as if the very thought that Eren had just kissed him was sickening to him.
“Why did you do that?!” Armin cried out. Eren brushed the boy’s bangs out of his eyes.
“To shut you up.” Armin’s face was bright red and he was still trying to catch his breath from the kiss.
“W-Why am I here?” He whimpered out.
“I brought you here because no one will find us,” Eren said quietly. He trailed his fingers across Armin’s forehead, causing the boy to shudder under him. “I need this pretty brain of yours, got it?” Tears welled up in Armin’s pretty eyes and Eren instantly hated himself for making Armin upset again.
“I won’t help you! And I won’t tell you anything! You can h-hurt me as much as you want, but I’ll never tell!” Eren tilted his head to the side, watching Armin tremble uncontrollably under him. There was no doubt in Eren’s mind, Armin was absolutely petrified. Eren just wanted to hurry this up so he could treat the wounds he’d made on Armin and get the boy to calm the fuck down.
“You’re going to tell me everything you know, because every time you don’t, I’m going to kiss you,” Eren said, pressing his thumb against Armin’s bottom lip. Armin instantly paled and he weakly clapped a hand over his mouth, shaking his head back and forth viciously. Eren tsked at him and tugged his hand away, pinning his wrists above his head with ease. Tears had started to slip down Armin’s cheeks, and Eren couldn’t help but lean down and kiss them away. That only caused Armin to cry harder.
“Where’s Zeke?” Eren asked. When Armin didn’t reply, Eren leaned down and pressed his lips against Armin’s throat, in one of his most sensitive spots. Armin let out a sob, his body too weak to fight it. Eren lifted his head up again, gently nuzzling his nose against Armin’s cheek in an attempt to calm him down. “I’m going to ask you again, Armin. Where’s Zeke?”
“I don’t know!” Armin sobbed. “Don’t touch me! Get off of me!” Eren sighed.
“You’re lying to me, Armin. I guess it’s going to take a lot more kisses until you come clean, huh?” Armin’s eyes widened in horror as Eren leaned down to whisper into his ear,
“Or maybe I should mark you up, that way, when your comrades get here, they can all see that you belong to me.” Armin fell dead silent, his body frozen with dread. Eren lifted his head up, noticing how distressed he’d made his friend and instantly feeling guiltier. He sat back on the bed, releasing Armin’s wrists. Armin hugged his wrists to his chest, cowering against the headboard of the bed.
“We’ll try again tomorrow,” Eren said as he stood up from the bed. He needed to unpack his things that he had taken with him, basically just necessities like clothes, food, and water. Eren felt a little excited when he realized that Armin would have no choice but to wear his clothes, unless he wanted to stay in his scout uniform forever.
He left to retrieve his bags and returned to find Armin curled up into a ball, crying softly. Eren’s facial expression softened and he sat down on the bed, leaning over the boy.
“Hey, I need to clean your wounds so come with me to the bathroom,” Eren said softly, placing a hand on Armin’s arm to shake him gently. Armin flinched noticeably, but he slowly sat up, avoiding Eren’s gaze. Eren grabbed his hand and tugged him up, pulling him into the bathroom in the room.
Once he had Armin up on the sink, he carefully took a cold washcloth to the bloody areas, cleaning them. Armin stared at his lap, blue eyes empty, no longer full of joy like they used to be. Eren supposed his own face looked emotionless, too.
“Hey, uh, sorry about earlier,” Eren mumbled. Armin looked up at him, slightly shocked that Eren had apologized, before he dropped his gaze back to his lap. “I had a plan…to make you two hate me so you wouldn’t get involved…but…I guess I got kinda weak when I saw you look so sad.” Armin didn’t respond. Eren cupped the side of Armin’s cheek and lifted his head up slightly.
“Hey, look at me,” he said softly, but Armin refused. “Armin, I’m sorry. You have every right to be mad at me.”
“What did you do with my friends?” Armin whispered. Eren felt a pang of hurt in his chest when Armin referred to them as his friends instead of their friends, but then again, Eren couldn’t blame him. He hadn’t been acting like much of a friend at all. More like a captor.
“They’ll be coming here tomorrow. Don’t worry, none of them are hurt,” Eren replied as he added a few bandages to Armin’s wounds. When he was finished fixing the boy up, he wrapped his arms around Armin’s small waist and lifted him off of the sink, setting him down on his feet. Armin wobbled a bit, but Eren caught him, his hands resting on Armin’s hips. Armin kept his eyes glued to the floor. “Let’s change and wash up so we can sleep. We can talk more about what’s going to happen tomorrow. I have some clothes you can borrow.” Eren stepped out of the bathroom and fished out some clothes from his bag. Armin took a step back, shaking his head.
“I’m not wearing your clothes.” Eren stared at him.
“You want to sleep in that uncomfortable scout uniform?” Armin stared down at it hesitantly. Eren shoved the clothes into Armin’s arms. “Stop being difficult and just put them on.”
“How many people have you killed wearing this?” Armin shot back. Eren was starting to get pissed off, but he calmed himself reminding himself it was Armin, not a random person.
“None. Now go change,” Eren grumbled as he pulled some clothes out for himself. It was actually a lie, Eren was pretty sure he had commit mass genocide wearing those clothes, but he’d never tell Armin that.
Getting Armin to get in the bed proved to be very difficult for Eren.
“I-I’m not sleeping with you,” Armin’s voice shook as he spoke. Eren sighed, leaning his head back against the headboard to calm himself down for a moment. He was tired and just wanted to go to sleep, but Armin was being extremely difficult. Again, Eren couldn’t exactly blame him, but still.
“Armin, don’t make me pin you to this bed,” Eren warned. Armin’s eyes widened at that, and he backed away a few steps, trembling in place.
“S-Stay away from me!” Eren hopped off of the bed, stalking over to the shorter boy. Armin shrank down when Eren towered over him.
“I’m not going to repeat myself, Armin. Either you get in the bed yourself or I pin you to it,” Eren said firmly. For a second, it almost looked as though Armin was going to pass out, causing Eren to panic inside. His hands flew out to grab Armin’s arms as his legs wobbled, preventing the boy from collapsing. “Come on, it’s late. I don’t want to be rough with you, Armin. Just cooperate with me. That’s all I’m asking.” Eren said, rubbing his hands up and down Armin’s arms. Armin’s gaze fell to the floor and he sniffled. Is he crying? Eren wondered. Shit, I made him cry again.
“Hey, don’t cry,” Eren said, distressed. Only Armin could make Eren feel guilty.
“Th-The others will come looking for me. You won’t get away with keeping me here. Just let me go, Eren! You’ve done enough to me already. I’m not giving you any information and I won’t help you with your plans, either. So let me go!” Armin was crying and Eren was overwhelmed by guilt.
“The others won’t find you here, okay? I’m sorry, Armin. But I need you to be here with me. I know I hurt you pretty bad earlier today, and I told you I was sorry. If you’re still upset with me, I completely understand that. Let me at least try to make you feel better,” Eren said softly. Armin turned away, wiping at the tears streaming down his cheeks with the back of his hand.
“How? By threatening to tie me to the bed?” Eren rolled his eyes and tugged Armin towards the bed.
“No,” he said, pushing Armin back onto the bed until his back was pressed against the mattress. “I have a better idea.” He started to lift Armin’s shirt up (well, technically Eren’s shirt that Armin was drowning in), and Armin’s eyes widened.
“Eren, stop–” Armin started, but Eren just pressed a finger to his lips to shut him up.
“Shhh, relax. It’s not what you think,” Eren soothed him as he leaned down to Armin’s exposed stomach, right where a nasty bruise was, formed by none other than Eren himself. Eren tried to swallow his guilt for a moment as he cautiously and gently pressed his lips against the flesh. Armin gasped, his body tensing up instantly. Eren could sense that the boy was afraid, so he trailed small, sweet kisses up his stomach to attempt to calm him down. Eren paused when Armin let out a small sob, and he looked up to find the boy covering his face with his hands. Eren shifted his body so that he was hovering over the boy, gently tugging Armin’s hands away from his face.
“Hey,” Eren whispered, caressing a side of Armin’s face. Armin shuddered at the touch. “Let me make the pain go away, okay?” Armin didn’t say anything, so Eren decided to continue. He leaned down to Armin’s right cheek, pressing his lips against it before moving to the left cheek to do the same. Armin flinched each time Eren’s lips pressed against his skin. Eren felt small hands on his chest, trying to push him away.
“S-Stop,” Armin cried, his body shaking viciously under Eren. Eren nuzzled his face between Armin’s shoulder and neck.
“Is there any other place that hurts?” He asked softly. Armin didn’t respond but instead continued to softly cry, causing Eren to sigh and pull away. “Okay, listen, babe.” Eren let the pet name slip by accident, but seeing Armin’s cheeks redden made Eren glad he did. Eren cupped Armin’s face and forced the smaller boy to look him in the eye.
“Let’s go to sleep, okay? No more crying,” Eren said firmly as he shifted his body so he was next to Armin, pulling the covers over their bodies. Armin shook his head back and forth rapidly, tears still streaming down his face.
“I don’t want to sleep with a murderer…” Armin sobbed. Eren brushed Armin’s bangs away from his tear-stained eyes.
“Shhh, getting all upset like this is only going to make you feel sick, not help your situation. But sleep will give you more energy so we can talk tomorrow,” Eren said softly. “Don’t think about anything, okay? Just close your eyes and relax.” Eren laid back next to him, turning the bedside lamp off and wrapping an arm around Armin’s smaller body, tugging him close.
“Thought you might want to be the little spoon,” Eren whispered, a small smile on his face. Armin trembled in his grip.
“You make me sick,” Armin whispered, causing Eren’s smile to fade. Ouch. He definitely deserved that, though. He was also already aware of the fact that Armin would feel sick around him knowing how many crimes Eren had committed, but still, the confirmation kind of stung. Eren gently traced patterns with his fingertips onto the bare skin of Armin’s arm.
“I know,” Eren whispered back. “Hang in there for me, okay?” Armin brought his knees to his chest, curling in on himself. Eren wished there was something he could do to make Armin feel less afraid of him. His original plan of getting Armin to hate him had completely succeeded, and he had decided too late that he didn’t want to go with that plan anymore.
“Be honest, Eren. What are you going to do to me?” Armin asked, his voice quieter than a whisper, but Eren still heard. Eren leaned down to gently kiss the exposed skin on Armin’s shoulder, where the t-shirt had slid down. Armin shuddered, a whimper escaping his lips.
“Don’t worry about it, babe. We’ll talk about it tomorrow.” Eren thanked his lucky stars when Armin didn’t reply after that. Maybe he’s finally asleep, Eren thought to himself, hopeful. But a sniffle crushed all of Eren’s hopes. Was there anything he could do to help the boy sleep? Maybe Eren could play with his hair? That might calm him down a bit, but it was a bit of an awkward angle to try that.
“Hey, babe, let’s try something. I want to help you sleep,” Eren said softly, gently patting Armin’s arm. “Turn around for me.” Armin turned to look at him with wide eyes.
“N-No, I don’t want to–” Eren gripped Armin’s body with his hands before the boy could finish, turning his body around by force. Eren knew he was much stronger than Armin, and Armin knew that too, not even bothering to resist but instead letting out a sob. Eren shushed him gently, placing one of his hands on the back of Armin’s head, guiding his head towards Eren’s chest. Armin gasped and tried to pull back, but Eren kept one of his strong arms wrapped firmly around Armin’s waist, holding him in place.
“You’re not going anywhere. We’re going to stay like this and you’re going to try to sleep for me, okay?” Eren said softly, starting to gently stroke Armin’s hair.
“T-Too close…please, Eren. I don’t want to be close to you.” Armin sobbed quietly. Eren shushed him again.
“Shh, I know, babe. Stay strong for me. You’re being a really good boy, Armin. All I need you to do is sleep,” Eren soothed, mentally patting himself on the back when Armin shivered at the nickname ‘good boy’. “I promise that I won’t do anything to you while you’re sleeping. I’m not going to turn into a big scary titan, either.” Eren joked quietly. Armin sniffled.
“P-Promise?” He whimpered. Eren’s eyes widened slightly. He had kind of been joking. Was Armin that afraid of Eren turning into a titan? It did sort of make sense, since Eren had caused a lot of damage, committed tons of crimes, and murdered a lot of people in his titan form. Also, if he remembered correctly, Armin had never really been comfortable around Eren when he was in titan form.
“I promise. Hey, I know you’re scared, but I just want you to know that you have no reason to be, okay? Not anymore. Now go to sleep,” Eren said softly. Armin’s body slightly untensed in Eren’s arms, causing Eren to internally rejoice. Maybe they were making progress already. “Goodnight, Armin.” Armin didn’t respond, but Eren was okay with that. As long as Armin was attempting to sleep.
After a few moments of silence, Eren heard Armin’s breath start to even out, and soon the boy was sound asleep. Eren closed his own eyes, a smile on his face as he drifted to sleep.
Eren woke up the next day realizing that he had made a serious mistake telling the Jaegerists to bring the others to the cottage. Eren had completely missed out on the opportunity to live alone with Armin. Perhaps he could find somewhere close by for them to relocate before they got there…
Eren propped himself on his forearm, gazing down at his sleeping friend. He couldn’t help but reach a hand out to gently stroke Armin’s soft blonde locks, staring fondly down at Armin’s sleeping face. He wanted to get out of bed and hunt for another cottage nearby, but he also didn’t want to leave Armin alone in case he tried to escape.
“Hey, Armin,” Eren murmured, moving his hand from Armin’s hair to his cheek, gently caressing it. There was still a big bruise there from when Eren had punched him. Eren wished that he could go back in time and change what he did.
Armin’s beautiful blue eyes slowly fluttered open, and upon seeing Eren leaning over him, they widened in panic. Armin scrambled out of the bed, backing up until his back hit the wall. He got dizzy from getting up too soon, though, and his legs wobbled, sending him onto his knees. Eren threw the covers off of himself and hopped off the bed, making his way over to the trembling boy. Armin pressed his back into the wall as much as he could, as if he wished the wall would swallow him whole. Eren knelt down in front of Armin, reaching a hand out to cautiously rub Armin’s arm.
“Hey, relax. I was just going to let you know that we need to take a walk in the woods today. I’m looking for something,” Eren said, giving Armin’s arm a gentle squeeze. Armin flinched, wrapping his arms around his legs nervously. “But before that, I still need to get some information out of you, don’t I?” The panicked look from before returned to Armin’s face as Eren wrapped his arms around the boy and lifted him up with ease, carrying him to the bed.
“Now, this doesn’t have to take long. In fact, it’ll be quick if you just answer my questions honestly, okay?” Eren said as he set the trembling boy down on the bed. Eren pushed him back until his back was hitting the mattress, pinning his wrists above his head. Armin squirmed desperately, tears welling up in his pretty eyes.
“G-Get off of me! Stop, Eren! I won’t tell you anything!” Eren tilted his head to the side.
“Remember, every time you lie or refuse to answer a question, I kiss you. So if I were you, I’d be a good boy and tell me everything you know,” Eren said simply. Tears had started to fall down Armin’s cheeks and he let out a small sob. Eren shushed him gently. “Babe, hey, don’t cry. This doesn’t need to be difficult. I don’t think I’m being unfair here.” Armin glared at him hatefully.
“I hate you.” Armin whispered. The words stung Eren more than he wanted them to, but he pushed the feelings away.
“I know,” he said softly. “You don’t have to like me, you just need to answer my questions. Now, where is Zeke?” Armin shook his head rapidly, pressing his lips together stubbornly. Eren sighed.
“So you want to be difficult? Alright then,” Eren said as he leaned down and pressed a firm kiss against Armin’s throat. Armin flinched, his body tensing up. “Where is he, Armin?” When Eren was met by silence again, he leaned down and pressed his lips against Armin’s in a sweet, short kiss. Armin squirmed desperately, but Eren wasn’t planning on letting him get free anytime soon. He lifted his head.
“If you don’t start answering my questions, I’m going to start marking your skin, too,” Eren warned, secretly hoping Armin would keep his lips shut one more time so Eren could leave a juicy hickey on the boy’s neck.
“No! Don’t do this!” Armin wailed. Eren just clicked his tongue at the boy.
“You could cooperate with me, Armin, but you’re choosing not to. This is the consequence of ignoring my questions,” Eren said. He leaned down and pressed a few small kisses onto Armin’s neck, parting his lips so he could start licking the skin, preparing to mark him. Armin’s squirming increased, and he started to blubber out pleas.
“Please, Eren! Don’t! Please stop!” Armin sobbed as Eren sucked as gentle of a love-bite as he could onto Armin’s neck. He made sure to make it high enough where even a turtleneck sweater wouldn’t cover it. Eren lifted his head up.
“Are you going to cooperate now?” Eren asked, watching as Armin silently cried. He had stopped squirming, too, probably realizing that he’d never manage to push Eren’s stronger body off of him. Eren placed a kiss onto Armin’s forehead. “Where’s Zeke?”
“I-I don’t know,” Armin whimpered out, tears cascading down his cheeks like mini waterfalls. Eren sighed.
“Armin, why are you lying? That’s not going to help you right now,” Eren said as he leaned down and sucked another love-bite onto the other side of Armin’s neck. Armin continued to cry, his body tense. Eren lifted his head up and pressed their foreheads together. “Just tell me, Armin. It’ll be okay.” Eren soothed, trying to coax the answer out of the boy.
“H-He’s with C-Captain L-Levi…” Armin hiccuped out, sobbing afterwards. “P-Please…n-no more…” Eren shushed him, nuzzling their noses together.
“Okay, baby. Where is Levi keeping him?” Eren asked softly. Armin shuddered under him, letting out a small hiccup. “Shh, you can tell me.”
“I-In the w-woods…” Armin cried. Eren shushed him gently.
“Good boy. See? That wasn’t so bad,” Eren murmured. Armin looked like a miserable mess under him, so Eren figured he’d stop for now. He released the boy’s wrists, sitting back on his heels and gazing down at the sobbing boy in front of him. Eren gently lifted Armin up, placing him on his lap and holding him close. Armin had definitely grown a lot since the last time Eren had seen him, but he still remained small and holdable. Eren rubbed his hand up and down Armin’s back to soothe him, whispering sweet nothings into the boy’s ear to get him to calm down.
“Shh, you did so well, baby. You were such a good boy for me. It wasn’t that bad,” Eren murmured. Armin wouldn’t stop sobbing and shaking, no matter how hard Eren tried to get him to relax.
“I-I betrayed them…m-my friends! M-My family!” Armin wailed. Eren shushed him.
“Hey, stop. That’s not true. You didn’t do anything wrong, Armin,” Eren tried. But Armin would not calm down. Eren struggled to think of something that might get him to relax. “Hey, we’re going to go for a walk in a little bit, okay? Some fresh air will make you feel better.” Eren gently pulled back to examine the boy’s tear-stained face. He reached a hand up to brush Armin’s bangs away from his eyes.
“First, let’s get you changed and then you need to eat something,” Eren said as he gently set the boy down on the bed. Eren hopped off of the bed and grabbed another set of clothes from one of the bags he brought. He tossed them to Armin. “I’ll give you some privacy, just change into these for me.”
Eren grabbed his own clothes and made his way into the bathroom. He quickly changed and splashed his face with cold water before tying his hair up into a bun. He poked his head out of the bathroom when he was done, expecting to find Armin on the bed, but the little shit was gone.
Eren internally groaned and stormed out of the bathroom, then out of the room and into the hallway. He heard the desperate jingling of a handle, mentally thanking himself for locking the doors from the inside and hiding the key the previous day. Eren followed the noise until he was at the front door, watching a trembling Armin struggle to open the door. As soon as he heard the footsteps, Armin spun around, a look of terror on his face. Eren had his arms crossed, staring the boy down, unaware of how intimidating Armin found him.
“P-Please don’t kill me! I-I just want to be free! P-Plea—“ Armin was sobbing uncontrollably so Eren knelt down in front of him and scooped him up, hoping he’d shut up. Armin did stop talking abruptly, his skin pale as Eren carried him into the kitchen and set him down on one of the tall stools at the counter.
“First of all, the doors are locked with a key you’ll never find. Second, I would never kill you,” Eren informed him as he went to the room to grab the food bag and carry it into the kitchen. He pulled out a jug of water and two loaves of bread. Eren sat down in a stool next to him and handed him a loaf of bread. “Eat up.” Armin just stared at it, making no effort to eat it. Eren sighed.
“Armin, you need to eat that. You already look like you’ve lost a lot of weight. Don’t make me worry about you any more than I need to,” Eren said, pushing the bread towards him. Armin continued to just stare at it, refusing to eat it. Eren’s fists clenched under the counter.
“I’m starting to lose patience, Armin. If you don’t eat that bread, I’m not going to feed the others when they get here. Don’t make me act mean. I don’t want to be mean to you, babe,” Eren said firmly, instantly regretting it when Armin started to cry again. The boy reached a trembling hand out to grab the bread, shakily bringing it to his trembling lips. Armin forced himself to bite into it, chewing forcefully before swallowing. Eren reached a hand out to gently rest on the small of Armin’s back, causing Armin to flinch violently. “I’m sorry, Armin. I’m going to feed them, okay? Don’t worry. I’m just…I’m worried about you. I don’t want you to starve yourself. None of this is your fault. It’s not fair for you to do that to yourself.” Armin let out a small hiccup as he forced himself to take another bite of bread. Eren kissed the top of his head, causing Armin to let out a small sob.
“Don’t be sad. It’ll get better, okay? Hey, I’ll make a promise to you. As soon as I finish carrying out my plan, I’ll take you to see the ocean again. How about that?” Eren said, hopeful. Armin didn’t respond, making Eren realize just how badly he’d fucked up. “Let’s plan for that. It’ll give you something to look forward to, I hope.”
After a few moments of suffocating silence, Eren decided he’d better inform Armin of his plans for him before they went on their walk. Eren took a deep breath, attracting Armin’s attention.
“I guess I should probably tell you why you’re here. In addition to needing information about Paradis’ plans, I also need you to help me think of a way to get Zeke back,” Eren explained. “After that, if my plan succeeds, we can finally spend time together.” Armin stared down at the table, a look of pure hatred in his eyes.
“I’ll never help you. I hate you,” Armin whispered. Eren frowned.
“You will help me, because there will be consequences if you don’t. No, I won’t hurt you, but I won’t hesitate to hurt others,” Eren threatened. He knew he was being an absolute ass, but he just really needed Armin to cooperate with him or his plan would fail. Armin didn’t respond after that. Instead, he released the half-eaten bread on the table, his shoulders slumping as he caved in on himself. Eren wrapped an arm around the boy’s waist, causing him to flinch.
“As long as you cooperate, you don’t have anything to worry about, okay? So stop filling this pretty head of yours with useless thoughts,” Eren said, gently poking Armin’s head. Armin flinched again, but still remained silent. “How about that walk, yeah? Some fresh air might cheer you up.” Eren decided as he stood up.
“Thank you for eating,” he added. He extended a hand for Armin to take, but Armin didn’t and instead hopped down from the stool himself. “Come on, let’s go.” Eren grabbed Armin’s trembling hand and tugged him towards the door, pulling him outside. He didn’t want to tell Armin what he was looking for, mainly because he was worried the smaller boy would freak out if he found out Eren was trying to make it so that they’d be alone together in the cottage.
Eren looked down at their hands as they walked, his cheeks turning slightly pink. Despite all the shit that happened to him in his life, one thing remained constant: his deep, immensely terrifying crush on Armin. Ever since they were kids and Eren found Armin crying in an alleyway, Eren had sworn to protect him. Lately, he hadn’t been doing a good job at all, considering the fact that Eren had become the person Armin needed protecting from. But Eren couldn’t help himself. Armin was his guilty pleasure.
When Eren spotted another cottage not far from theirs, he made note of it mentally. He’d let the Jaegerists know when they arrived at Armin and his cottage to relocate. First, he wanted Armin to be able to see their friends so he wouldn’t be as upset anymore (hopefully).
“Hey, look over there. There’s a pond,” Eren said as he tugged Armin towards it. Armin stumbled after him, wearing the same sad expression on his face that he had been wearing since Eren first saw him after they separated. Eren sat down in front of the pond, tugging Armin down with him. He wrapped his arm around the boy and tugged him close. “Well, it’s not the ocean, but it’ll do for now. Isn’t it pretty?” Eren looked at Armin, but Armin didn’t respond. He looked so, so sad. Eren bit his lip, careful not to draw blood or he’d be able to easily turn into a titan and end up scaring Armin away even more.
“Not as pretty as you, though,” Eren found himself saying, and the comment took Armin by surprise. For a second, a look of embarrassment and shock flashed across Armin’s face, but then the sad expression returned. Eren reached up to tuck a few strands of Armin’s beautiful hair behind his ear. “So pretty.” Armin dropped his gaze to his lap, shivering as a breeze wafted by.
“It’s getting cold out, let’s head back,” Eren decided, standing up and tugging Armin up as well. They made their way back to the cottage in silence, and not even twenty minutes later, there was a knock at the door.
“L-Levi?” Armin blurted out, and Eren felt guilty for crushing his hopes. He gently ran a hand through Armin’s hair.
“No, baby. The others are here,” Eren said gently as he made his way over to the door. He opened it up and found about five Jaegerists standing there with Mikasa, Jean, and Connie. Armin started to run towards them, eyes wide and tears streaming down his cheeks, but Eren was quick to wrap his arms around him and tug his back against Eren’s chest. “Not so fast.” Armin struggled in Eren’s grip, reaching out for them.
“Armin!” Mikasa cried out. “What did you do to him?”
“Nothing,” Eren lied. He didn’t need to mention to his old friends how he had kissed and marked up his long-term crush. “I’m going to relocate you to a cottage not far from here.” Armin’s eyes widened and he turned to stare at Eren in disbelief.
“W-What?” Eren smoothed Armin’s bangs away from his face from behind, trying to calm him down.
“What about Armin? What are you going to do to him?” Connie asked, glaring hatefully at Eren. Eren stared at him with his cold gaze.
“He’s staying here with me.”
“Why?” Mikasa whispered, tears slipping down her cheeks. Armin had stopped struggling, his body limp in Eren’s arms. Eren hoisted him up in his arms.
“That’s none of your business,” Eren answered coldly.
“Armin, what has he done to you?” Jean asked, his voice shaking slightly, which Eren actually found quite amusing. There was something about Jean being afraid of him that really made Eren feel good.
“H-He—“ Armin started, but Eren clamped a hand over his mouth, leaning down to whisper into Armin’s ear,
“Let’s keep everything between you and me, yeah?” Armin let out a whimper.
“What are you saying to him? Are you threatening him?” Connie cried out.
“Take them to the other cottage. It’s up north, but in a clearing and by a small pond. It’s easy to find,” Eren ordered the Jaegerists. They nodded their heads, grabbing the three and dragging them out of the cottage. Armin had started to sob, but Eren shushed him gently. “Shh, there’s no use getting all upset. I’m just relocating them so we can be alone, that’s all. Nothing bad is going to happen to them.” Eren soothed the trembling boy.
“I can’t do this!” Armin wailed, and Eren carried him to the bedroom, setting him down on the bed. Eren sat down next to him, tugging Armin onto his lap and holding him close, rocking him back and forth.
“Shh, I know it seems really bad right now, but it’ll get better. Trust me,” Eren whispered.
“I’ll never trust you again!”
“Shh, yes you will. You’ll see,” Eren murmured. “Everything is going to be okay, Armin. You’re safe with me, even if you don’t want to believe it. We’re going to be together forever now. Nothing and no one can get in our way.” Eren nuzzled his face against Armin’s neck. He felt Armin’s body slump and sighed, pulling back to find the boy unconscious in his arms. There was a lot of work that needed to be done to get Armin to trust him again, that was for sure.
“Hey, how are you feeling? You fainted earlier,” Eren murmured as he leaned over Armin’s body, the boy’s blue eyes having just fluttered open. Eren had put a cold washcloth on the boy’s forehead and tucked him in under the covers of the bed. Armin didn’t respond at first, so Eren gently cupped his cheek with his hand. “Are you okay?”
When Armin’s vision cleared, his eyes widened and he clamped a hand over his mouth. Eren knew what that meant and quickly stepped back, allowing Armin to run to the bathroom and throw up in the toilet, the washcloth falling onto the floor. Eren cautiously walked in, kneeling down behind him and gently wrapping his arms around him.
“Shh, it’s okay,” Eren murmured. Armin was crying really badly. He had always been afraid of throwing up. Eren gently rubbed Armin’s stomach. “Breathe, baby. In and out, come on. Deep breaths.” Armin tried to take deep breaths, but it only resulted in him hyperventilating.
“Hey, hey, relax,” Eren soothed, pressing their foreheads together and cupping Armin’s cheek. “It’s okay, Armin. It’s just me. It’s Eren, okay? You know me. You’re safe.” Armin was shaking uncontrollably, and Eren feared the poor thing was having a panic attack.
“Baby, was it something I said earlier? Talk to me. If I said something to upset you, please let me know,” Eren pleaded.
“I don’t want to be with you f-forever!” Armin wailed. A look of realization dawned on Eren’s face.
“Ah, so that’s what it was. Armin, don’t worry about it. I’m not that bad. You spent almost nineteen years with me already. Was it so terrible?” Armin sniffled and looked up at him with watery eyes. Eren gave him a comforting smile. Only Armin would ever be able to get Eren to smile. “Come on, let’s get you cleaned up and then we can talk.”
After washing up, Armin followed Eren to the bed. Eren plopped down on the bed, patting the spot next to him. Armin hesitantly sat down, bringing his knees to his chest and hugging them. Eren wrapped an arm around the boy.
“First of all, I don’t ever want to see you so upset like that, okay? If you’re stressed out about something, tell me. We’ll figure it out,” Eren said softly. Armin avoided Eren’s gaze, slowly nodding his head. “Second, when I said that, I didn’t mean that it was going to stay like this. I hope by then that this mess will be over. I promise it won’t be unbearable to be around me. Alright? No need to be so upset.”
Eren tugged the smaller boy onto his lap, hugging him close. Armin’s trembling calmed down as Eren continued to rub his back.
“Geez, Armin. You really scared me earlier. I thought you were going to have a panic attack,” Eren said softly, running his fingers through Armin’s hair with his other hand. “We’re going to work on getting you to calm down around me, okay? I know you don’t believe me, but I really do care about you. I hate to see you so upset.” Armin didn’t reply, but he didn’t try to pull away either. Eren considered that to be progress.
They stayed like that for a little while, but soon a knock at the front door of the cottage ruined everything. Eren internally groaned, letting out a small sigh. He patted Armin’s back before lifting him up and gently setting him down on the bed. Armin sniffled and wiped his eyes with his fists, looking absolutely adorable and making Eren wish he could just kill whoever interrupted their time together.
Eren made his way out of the bedroom and to the front door, opening it with a very irritated look on his face. Two Jaegerists stood before him, looking slightly nervous and confused. Eren crossed his arms, trying not to show his annoyance too much.
“What is it?” Eren asked, his voice returning to the cold tone he used for everyone but Armin.
“Uh, sir, what’s our next move? The hostages have been secured,” one of them said. Eren stared at them.
“Huh?”
“The plan, sir. What’s the next step in the plan?” The other asked. Eren blinked. Oh. The plan. He realized just how distracted he’d been when he’d taken Armin.
“Uh, right. Send four guards out to search the woods for Zeke. Armin said that’s where he’s being held captive by Captain Levi,” Eren replied. The two’s eyes widened.
“C-Captain Levi?” Eren raised a brow at them.
“Yeah?”
“Well shouldn’t you come along with them then? We aren’t sure if even our entire group would stand a chance against Captain Levi unless you were there, sir…” Eren resisted the urge to punch them both. Why did they have to bring up points Eren didn’t want to hear? Eren couldn’t bear the thought of having to part from Armin. The more Eren thought about leaving Armin with one of the Jaegerists, who were male, the more sour of a feeling Eren got in his stomach. Armin wouldn’t be alone with any man but Eren.
“Fine, but I’m bringing Armin with us,” Eren found himself saying. Their eyes widened.
“But sir! What if he tries to trick us by leading us off-path?”
“He won’t. I’ll make sure of it,” Eren said firmly. The two Jaegerists gulped. “Round up a group of guards. We’ll leave tonight.” The two nodded their heads and hurried off to the other cottage where the rest were. Eren let out a frustrated sigh and made his way back into the room. His facial expression instantly softened when his eyes landed on Armin, who was curled up on the bed in a little ball, rocking back and forth and looking adorable as ever. Eren sat down on the bed and reached out to pat Armin on the head. “Hey, there.” Armin slowly looked up at him, obviously very nervous by the way he immediately looked away upon making eye contact with Eren.
“Tonight we’re going to look for Zeke.” Armin’s eyes widened and he stared at Eren in disbelief.
“ W-We ?” Armin squeaked out. Eren nodded his head.
“I’m not leaving you alone with any of the guards. You’re not allowed to be alone with any man but me,” Eren said firmly, reaching a hand out to gently caress Armin’s cheek. Armin flinched, his eyes watering.
“B-But then…b-but then…” Armin stuttered. Eren dropped his hand from Armin’s cheek to his thigh, rubbing it gently. Armin started to tremble at that, but Eren didn’t remove his hand.
“What’s wrong? You can tell me, remember?” Eren said softly, using his other hand to cup Armin’s chin and tilt his head up so he would look him in the eye.
“L-Levi will see. He’ll know I betrayed them. I betrayed humankind…” Armin’s voice cracked at the end, and he covered his face with his hands, letting out a small sob. Eren was quick to wrap his arms around the boy and pull him close.
“Shh, no he won’t. I’ll make sure to tell him that I gave you no choice. You didn’t betray anyone, Armin,” Eren said, his voice gentle. “Don’t cry, baby.” Eren gently removed Armin’s hands from his face.
“We leave tonight, okay? Don’t worry about anything. None of the guards will hurt you, and neither will Zeke. I’m going to need you to stay by my side the entire time, do you understand?” Eren gave Armin’s thigh a squeeze, causing the boy to flinch.
“Y-Yes,” he whispered, staring down at his lap. Eren knew he was only saying it so that Eren wouldn’t hurt him. Eren hoped that Armin would realize soon that Eren had absolutely no plans of hurting him ever again.
Eren stood up from the bed and made his way over to his belongings, deciding to pack a bag for the journey. They would be returning to the cottage once they got ahold of Zeke, which would hopefully happen in under two days. If they were pushing it past the two-day mark, they would have to return to the cottage to rest and then try again the next day, on a different route.
Eren stole a quick glance at Armin on the bed, who still looked incredibly sad. Don’t worry, Armin, Eren thought to himself. Once this whole mess is over, I’ll take you to see the sea again, just like I promised. You won’t ever have to be afraid again.
Eren would make sure of it.
Armin stared down at his wrists as Eren gently tied them together with thick rope. Armin knew it was to prevent him from trying to escape. He definitely would’ve tried again if he wasn’t so afraid of Eren turning into a titan and eating him. It may have seemed like a stupid fear, but Eren had done a lot of messed up shit lately and eating his best friend would be small in comparison.
“There we go. I tried not to make them too tight so they don’t hurt you,” Eren said softly as he stood up. The ropes did hurt, digging into the flesh of Armin’s small, delicate wrists, but Armin didn’t tell him that. It wouldn’t make a difference. Eren grabbed a long cape with a hood on it out of his bag, draping it over Armin’s shoulders and tugging the hood over his head. “Keep this on, okay? It’s cold at night.” Armin wondered how he’d even try to take it off with his wrists bound.
Eren swung his bag over his shoulder, resting a hand on Armin’s back and leading him towards the door. In front of the cottage was a wagon and two horses connected to it, as well as a few horses around it. About eight guards stood there, which seemed to take Eren by slight surprise, but he didn’t comment on it. Armin wondered how they had gotten the horses and wagon. Probably stole them from the scouts, Armin thought to himself, bitterly. Armin was snapped out of his thoughts when he felt a gentle pat on his head. Armin looked up at Eren, who was practically a head taller than him. All the more reason to be afraid of him.
“Let me help you get in,” Eren said, motioning to the wagon with his chin. He crouched down and lifted Armin up – even though Armin was very capable of doing it himself – and set him down in the wagon. He hopped on himself, settling next to Armin. The guards climbed on top of their horses, surrounding the wagon from all angles. Armin gulped, realizing that he truly was trapped. Even if he wasn’t a coward and actually had the guts to try to escape again, he’d never make it. Eren must have noticed Armin’s heightened nerves, because he wrapped an arm around him.
“I can tell you’re freaking out. Relax, okay? You’re safe with me. Just stay by my side the entire time and I’ll protect you,” Eren whispered in Armin’s ear, his breath hot on Armin’s skin and giving him goosebumps. Armin swallowed thickly, staring down at his tied wrists. “Everything’s going to be okay, I promise. I’m sorry that I had to tie your wrists like that. It’s only temporary though. I’ll untie them as soon as we return with Zeke.” Armin felt his eyes watering again when he was reminded of their destination. Would Levi think Armin had joined Eren’s side? He had always been the emotionally-weak type. Maybe they would think that Armin gave in to Eren’s wishes because they were best friends.
Were best friends. Best friends didn’t force the other to kiss them or tie their wrists together or pin them to the bed or–
“Armin? You’re shaking really bad,” Eren noted, concern on his face. Armin let out a shaky breath he hadn’t realized he’d been holding and stared down at his trembling hands. Eren gently placed a hand on top of Armin’s’ hands. “Are you okay?”
“I-I’m fine,” Armin whispered, clearly lying. Eren could clearly see that, too, since they had known each other for so long and could read each other like a book (well, Armin couldn’t really read Eren as well anymore, but still). Eren didn’t push on the matter further, though, and instead asked,
“Are you cold?” Armin shook his head even though he was freezing, planning to remain stubborn until the end. Eren let out a huff and wrapped both of his arms around Armin’s trembling body, tugging him inside his own cape he wore, so that Armin’s back was pressed against his chest. He wrapped his cape around Armin, trapping him inside. “There. Much better.” Eren said, satisfied. Armin felt his face heat up and he shuddered at the close proximity. Being close to Eren made Armin feel absolutely terrified, but Eren wasn’t going to release him any time soon.
“It’s late, and we still have a long way to go. Why don’t you try resting for a little while? I promise I’ll stay right here the whole time. You’ll be completely safe,” Eren said softly. Armin considered it, and figured that maybe it was his best option in the end. After all, staying awake meant being afraid and Armin desperately wanted to feel nothing for once in his life.
Armin allowed his eyes to close, and Eren hugged him closer, if that was even possible. Armin hated to admit it, but he felt warm in the monster’s arms, and it was making him feel really sleepy. Before he knew it, he had drifted into a deep sleep, wrapped up in Eren’s arms, his head falling unconsciously onto Eren’s warm chest.
Eren was relieved that Armin was asleep so he wouldn’t see how red Eren’s face had gotten when Armin’s head fell on his chest. Eren was a little surprised at first until he realized that the boy had already fallen asleep. Poor thing, he must have been exhausted, Eren thought to himself.
Eren couldn’t help but stare fondly down at his best friend, ignoring the strange looks he received from the guards that rode on their horses beside the wagon. He gently cupped the side of Armin’s face and stroked it gently. Armin’s skin was so soft, it was like touching silk. Eren hated himself for marking up such delicate skin. He should have never created that plan in the first place. He was weak when it came to Armin, especially when the boy got upset, so shouldn’t he have known better?
“I’m so sorry, Armin,” Eren whispered, even though he knew Armin wouldn’t hear. “I hope you can forgive me one day.”
“Excuse me, sir?” one of the Jaegerists called to him. Eren was again reminded that he was in the middle of carrying out a plan. What could he do? Armin was very distracting.
“Yeah?” Eren called back, trying not to sound annoyed that they were taking his attention away from his precious human.
“Where exactly in the woods did your friend say Zeke was being held?” Eren’s brows furrowed.
“He didn’t specify. He probably doesn’t know.”
“Probably? Well, can you make sure? I can’t help but feel like we’re just wandering aimlessly. Can we even trust that brat? What if he’s lying to us to buy his side some time?” Eren felt a surge of anger bubble up inside of him.
“What the fuck did you just call him?” Eren asked through clenched teeth. He was seething at the guard, and Eren wasn’t oblivious to how terrifying he could be. The guard looked scared shitless.
“U-Um…n-nothing, sir. I-I was just wondering if you could double check with him…h-he wasn’t very specific…” the guard stuttered. Eren narrowed his eyes at him.
“Call him names again and I’ll kill you,” he threatened. But he knew part of what the guard said was true. They were wandering aimlessly through the woods. Perhaps Armin had a more specific description of where Zeke was being held. Eren stared down at his sleeping princess, feeling extremely guilty at the thought of waking him. Eren had stressed him out a lot, the poor thing deserved a break. It won’t take long, Eren told himself. He gently shook the boy. “Hey, baby, I need to talk to you for a minute.” Armin shifted and soon his eyelids fluttered open, revealing his gorgeous ocean eyes.
As soon as Armin spotted Eren’s face so close to his, he flinched and his body started to tremble again. Eren knew it would take time before he could get Armin comfortable around him again. He tried to give the boy a comforting smile so he wouldn’t get nervous.
“I’m sorry I woke you up, I promise you can sleep more soon. I was just wondering if you have any specifics on where exactly in the woods we can find Zeke.” Armin’s eyes widened slightly, and then he whispered,
“I don’t.” Eren studied the boy carefully. He knew Armin was lying, but he wasn’t sure how he was going to get the truth out of him.
“Are you sure?” Eren asked, eyeing him suspiciously. Armin gulped.
“Y-Yes,” he squeaked out. Eren sighed, pulling his cape tighter around Armin’s trembling body.
“Please be honest with me, Armin. I don’t want this to be harder than it needs to be,” Eren said softly.
“W-What are you going to do once you find him, Eren? K-Kill more innocent people together?” Armin asked, his voice shaky and tears welling up in his eyes. Eren opened his mouth to speak, but Armin wasn’t finished. “Y-You can still change. Y-You can stop this entire thing! You don’t need to b-be the b-bad guy anymore, Eren.” Armin was crying, tears running fast down his cheeks. Eren stared down at his best friend with a sad look on his face.
“Armin, baby, you and I both know there’s no turning back at this point. I’ve already done so much, even if I wanted to stop now, no one would ever forgive me. I’ve caused too much damage,” Eren said softly. Armin shook his head back and forth rapidly.
“J-Just take responsibility for your actions! If you truly cared about me like you said you did, you’d stop this nonsense!” Armin sobbed. At that point, their conversation had attracted the attention of the surrounding Jaegerist guards.
“Don’t listen to him, sir!” The one on the right side of Eren cried. “He’s trying to manipulate you!”
“Shut up!” Armin wailed. “I want the old Eren back!” The old Eren is dead. He’s never coming back, Eren thought to himself, bitterly.
“Calm down, Armin. You’re working yourself up for nothing,” Eren said softly. Armin seemed desperate at that point.
“Please, Eren. Let me go and put an end to this mess! W-We can figure something out! W-We can–” Eren cut the boy off before he ran his mouth even more, pressing his lips to Armin’s. Armin froze, his body stiffening instantly. Eren pulled back, a small but sad smile on his face.
“Sorry, you were starting to sound hysterical. I wasn’t sure how else to get you to stop for a minute.” Armin let his body sink against Eren’s chest, his bottom lip trembling.
“You’re not even listening to me,” Armin whispered. Eren tightened his hold on him, frowning.
“Armin, I heard you. But I’m sorry. This is the way things need to be. I won’t give up until I’ve carried out my plan.”
“Which is what?” Armin cried out. “How can you expect me to answer all of your questions when you won’t even tell me what your plan is?” Eren sighed. He had a point.
“Alright, if you really want to know, I’ll tell you. But you’re not going to like it.” Eren saw Armin swallow harshly.
“Just tell me,” he whispered. Eren took a deep breath.
“I’m going to kill every single person on the other side of the ocean, and I need Zeke’s help to do it. I want to gain control of the Jaw Titan and the Armored Titan,” Eren said, avoiding Armin’s gaze. In the corner of his eye, Eren could see how horrified Armin looked.
“But there’s so many innocent people there that didn’t do anything,” Armin whispered. “Why do you want to kill them?” Eren stared straight ahead at the path before them.
“So our people can finally live in peace. I don’t want a single one of those filthy Marleyans alive.” Armin’s skin paled.
“But they didn’t do anything! Some of those people are children! They’re not involved in this war!” Armin protested. Eren was starting to get immensely frustrated.
“I’m not changing my mind, Armin. You wanted to know my plan, so I told you. Now tell me where in this forest I can find Zeke, dammit!” Eren snapped through clenched teeth. Armin flinched and leaned back, staring at Eren with wide, fearful eyes. Armin dropped his gaze to his lap, a sad expression on his face.
“I won’t tell you.” Eren heard the cock of a rifle and turned to find a guard aiming his gun at Armin.
“He’s the enemy, sir! He’s made it clear that he won’t say another word! We can either torture it out of him or just get rid of him. Riding like this the whole night won’t do us any good! That guy is a waste of our time!” The guard snapped. Armin looked up at Eren with wide, terrified eyes, before he looked at the guard. His eyes slowly dropped to the gun aimed at him, and his whole body shuddered in fear, a panicked look appearing on his face.
“W-Wait, p-please don’t torture me! Just kill me! I’d rather die! Please!” Armin wailed. “I don’t even want to live in this world anymore!” The words shattered Eren’s cold heart into millions of pieces. Armin, fuck, don’t say that…
Before Eren even knew what he was doing, he was releasing Armin and hopping off of the wagon, biting down on his hand to transform into a titan. Armin and the guards’ eyes widened in horror as Eren reached down and plucked the guard who’d spoken and made Armin say those words, right off his horse. Without a second thought, Eren ripped his body into two, blood splattering everywhere. The guards instantly stopped, getting their horses to halt. The wagon stopped moving, too.
“Sir! Don’t do this! Please! Can’t you see what this boy is doing to you? He’s distracting you! He’s a waste of our time! He needs to go or the plan will be in jeopardy!” one of the other guards cried out to him. Eren knew it was true. Armin was a distraction for Eren, and he was going to be the downfall of Eren’s plan. But after hearing Armin’s words…
Just kill me!
I won’t even want to live in this world anymore!
Eren let out an animalistic growl, snatching the guard off of his horse and ripping his body apart, limb by limb, anger surging through him. How dare these bastards speak about his human in such a way! He’d make them pay for it.
Eren turned to stare down at the others, challenging them to see if they’d want to piss him off like the other two did. But the guards looked absolutely terrified, ordering their horses to run as they tried to get away. Eren knew he was making everything he planned turn to shit, but he couldn’t help it. When those guards made Armin beg them to kill him, it had made Eren see red. All he could see was red.
Forget Zeke. Forget the plan. Forget everything. Eren would fucking kill them all. None of them would lay a hand on his precious Armin.
One-by-one, Eren murdered each guard ruthlessly. He was unaware of the fact that Armin was becoming absolutely traumatized by the sight, sobbing and begging Eren to stop. Once all of his so-called “followers” who had come with him were dead, Eren peeled himself out of his titan body and landed on the ground with a thud. Armin was attempting to climb out of the wagon and make a break for it, but Eren wouldn’t have any of it.
Eren jumped onto the wagon with ease, wrapping his arms around Armin’s trembling body and tugging him against his chest, wrapping him in his cape again to prevent him from escaping. Armin struggled in his grip, thrashing against him to try and free himself.
“Let me go! You killed them! All of them!” Armin sobbed, his body still shaking uncontrollably. Armin suddenly clamped a hand over his mouth, his face turning green. Eren quickly brought Armin to the side of the wagon so he could get sick over the edge of it. Eren gently brushed Armin’s bangs away from his face as he got sick.
“I had to. They were trying to kill you,” Eren mumbled. Armin panted over the edge of the wagon, his lips white.
“You should’ve let them! I’d rather have a quick death than suffer!” Eren turned Armin around to face him once he was sure the boy wouldn’t throw up anymore.
“Stop saying shit like that! You don’t deserve to die! You haven’t done anything wrong!” Armin’s body slumped to the floor, and Eren quickly lifted him up and placed him on his lap.
“I don’t want to suffer anymore,” Armin whispered. “I have to watch my friends suffer while the boy I thought was my best friend goes around and murders innocent people. That’s not a life I want to live. I’m sick of war, sick of death. I miss my best friend.” Armin was crying again, and Eren felt as though someone had shot a hole through his heart. Tenderly, Eren reached his hand out to gently caress the side of Armin’s face.
“I’m sorry, Armin. I don’t want to lose you. I’ve made up my mind about that for sure. And I don’t want to lose Mikasa, Connie, or even Jean. I care about you all so fucking much that it hurts. But how can I go on knowing that the very reason for our kind’s centuries of suffering is alive and thriving? Every Marleyan deserves to die.” Armin shook his head.
“You’re wrong. Those people aren’t the cause of our suffering. The causes of our suffering are long dead by now. Those people are innocent. And there’s Eldians there too. Please don’t kill them, Eren. I’m begging you,” Armin whispered. Eren stared down at the wood flooring of the wagon.
“I can’t turn back now, Armin. It’s too late. I’ve already caused too much damage.” A look of hope flashed across Armin’s face.
“We can work something out. If we just return to Mikasa and the others, I’m sure we can find a solution to this.” Eren stared into Armin’s beautiful blue eyes.
“How can you be so sure?” He asked. Armin sniffled.
“Because we miss our best friend,” Armin replied, his voice cracking at the end. Eren pulled him into a tight hug, holding his human close.
“Okay, baby. Let’s go back,” Eren whispered, deciding to put his trust into the one person he cared about the most in his miserable, shitty life. “But you have to promise me something, okay?” Armin pulled back to stare at Eren.
“What?”
“That you won’t leave my side. That you’ll stay with me until the end,” Eren whispered. Armin seemed stunned for a moment, and Eren’s heart beat rapidly in his chest. “ Please , Armin. I need you by my side.” Armin’s ocean eyes watered with fresh tears.
“I promise.”
Since the horses had run off after Eren killed all the guards, Eren decided the quickest way to return back to the two cottages was if he turned into a titan and carried Armin. Of course, Armin was not pleased with that idea whatsoever.
The one problem Eren wasn’t looking forward to dealing with were the other Jaegerists he’d left at the second cottage with his friends. How was he going to get rid of them without scaring Armin? They were all armed too, which would be a huge issue. Not against Eren of course, because he would just regenerate, but definitely against his friends.
But that was a problem for when they returned to the cottage. The current problem was getting Armin to agree to let Eren take him back as a titan.
“Come on, Armin. I already told you that I’m not going to hurt you. I have my titan form completely under control, remember?” Eren said gently. Armin shook his head back and forth rapidly.
“No way! It’s too scary!” Eren sighed.
“Baby…” Eren pulled the trembling boy against his chest again. “Don’t be afraid…”
“Can you really blame me, Eren?” Armin asked, his voice a whisper. “All the things you’ve done…” Eren frowned.
“I know, but I’ve never hurt you as a titan,” Eren pointed out, inwardly cringing when he almost said ‘I’ve never hurt you’ but remembered that he beat the shit out of the poor boy the day prior. Armin stared down at the wagon floor.
“It doesn’t matter. I’ve witnessed…a lot,” Armin said quietly. Eren pulled back slightly so he could kiss Armin’s forehead. That made the boy turn all red and he took a step back. “Eren…you know you’ve done a lot of bad things. You can’t just kiss me like that.” Eren tilted his head to the side.
“Why not?” He asked. Armin just stared at him like he wasn’t getting the hint, and Eren really wasn’t. In his eyes, Armin was his which meant he could kiss the boy whenever he wanted to.
“B-Because…” Armin trailed off, his face redder than a tomato. “U-Um, can you untie my wrists?” he asked instead of finishing. Eren blinked and stared down at Armin’s tied wrists. He hesitated.
“You promise you won’t try to run away?” Eren asked, cupping Armin’s cheeks with his hands.
“Yes,” Armin said quietly. “I-It’s not like I can outrun you, anyway. I can’t even beat you in a fight.” Eren groaned at the reminder of what he’d done to his best friend.
“Fuck, Armin, I’m so sorry about that. I know I apologize for it a lot, but I really am sorry,” Eren said as he untied Armin’s wrists.
“I threw the first punch even though I’m not nearly as strong as you. I guess I had it coming,” Armin said, and Eren shook his head quickly, his already broken heart breaking even more at the words. “I’m used to it anyway. Remember the bullies when we were kids?” Armin let out a weak laugh with no humor in it, rubbing his sore wrists where the ropes had left marks when his hands were finally free. Armin was true to his word, he didn’t even try to run, so Eren threw the rope off the side of the wagon so Armin would know he had no intentions of tying the boy up again. Eren cupped Armin’s cheeks again and turned his head so they were eye-to-eye.
“Listen to me, baby. Nothing I did yesterday was acceptable. I deserved that punch. I was being a total asshole,” Eren said firmly. “I wanted to make you guys hate me so you wouldn’t get involved in the mess I’d made, but I couldn’t bear to see you so upset. After I hurt you like that…I knew I’d fucked up bad. I know you won’t ever forgive me for that, and I understand.” Armin swallowed thickly, and Eren watched the bob of his Adam’s apple.
“Can we please just get out of here? I don’t like the woods…especially at night,” Armin whispered, wrapping his arms around himself.
“All the more reason to let me transform. I can get us back much faster as a titan,” Eren pointed out. Armin frowned, staring down at his feet. Eren reached out to pat the boy on the head. “Come on, it won’t be long. You can close your eyes if it’ll make you feel better.” Eren hopped off of the wagon and bit into his hand, transforming into the Attack Titan. Armin stared up at him with wide, fearful eyes, his legs trembling. Eren knelt down, extending his titan’s hand out for Armin to crawl onto. Armin gulped and slowly walked forward, hesitantly stepping onto the hand. When Eren lifted the hand up, Armin let out an adorable squeak and fell back onto his bum. Eren carefully placed Armin up on his shoulder, and Armin hesitantly reached out to take a bunch of Eren’s hair in his hands, gripping it so he wouldn’t fall off. Once Eren had made sure the boy was secure, he started to jog through the woods, careful not to go too fast so Armin wouldn’t fly off.
Trees whizzed by them as Eren ran, Armin clinging to his hair for dear life. Eren could see the boy in the corner of his eye, and it made him smile. Maybe Armin didn’t trust him fully yet, but he trusted him at least a little bit to climb onto Eren’s titan. That was progress in Eren’s mind.
The wind blew Armin’s hood off his head, whipping his shorter hair all over the place. Armin hated to admit that it felt kind of liberating, running through the forest with Eren like that. Of course Armin would never say that out loud, because it was embarrassing and Eren was also a highly wanted criminal.
After about only ten minutes of running, Eren came to a stop in front of the second cottage, where Mikasa, Jean, and Connie were being held. There were a few Jaegerist guards lingering outside of the cottage, and their eyes widened in shock when they spotted Eren in his titan form. Eren carefully plucked Armin off of his shoulder and placed him onto the ground. He peeled himself out of the nape of the titan and hopped down to the ground, walking around to wrap an arm around Armin’s shoulders. The guards stepped forward, gripping their guns tightly and staring at the two with bewildered looks on their faces.
“Sir? Where’s the wagons? The horses? The other Jaegerists?” one guard asked, nervously. Eren shrugged.
“They disobeyed orders, so I killed them,” Eren said simply. The guards’ eyes widened. “There’s been a change of plans…I’m not going to find Zeke. Well, not yet. I need to see the hostages.” The guards cleared a path for them, nervous looks on their faces. Armin felt kind of satisfied by it. Look who was nervous now!
“Um, Eren? Let me go in first,” Armin said, biting his lip after. Armin wasn’t sure how his friends would react to Eren. Eren ruffled Armin’s hair.
“Okay, baby. Let me just ask the guards if there are any other guards in the cottage. I don’t trust them around you,” Eren said as he walked off to ask a random guard. Upon finding out that there weren’t any guards in there, he gave Armin a thumbs up to tell him it was good to go in. Armin slowly walked up to the door, knocking on it before opening it and stepping inside. When he saw his three best friends sitting on the couch of the living room, wrists cuffed together and faces so sad, Armin immediately felt a rush of tears stream down his cheeks like waterfalls.
“Guys!” Armin wailed. The three’s heads turned to stare at Armin in disbelief as he ran to them.
“Armin! You’re okay!” Mikasa cried out in relief.
“What happened to you, man? What did shitty Jaeger do to you?” Jean asked, and Armin sniffled, wiping at his tears with little fists.
“H-He…u-um…” Armin hadn’t really planned on what he was going to say, and that turned out to be a very bad thing because soon his friends were standing up and examining him.
“You have so many bruises from when he beat you,” Mikasa whispered, tears glistening in her eyes. “Jean’s right, he’s not the Eren we grew up with. The Eren I knew would have never hurt his friends. Especially not you, Armin.” Armin swallowed thickly.
“I-I know, he isn’t the same, bu–”
“Dude! What’re these big bruises on your neck?” Connie asked, concern on his face. Armin instantly flushed a deep red, remembering the two very big hickeys Eren had given him earlier that day.
“U-Um…”
“Are those hickeys ?” Jean cried out. “For the love of god, Armin! He made a move on you, didn’t he? I didn’t even know the dumbass swung that way! I was pretty sure he had it out for you , Mikasa.” Armin was mortified, and the worst part was, when he looked at Mikasa, she was as still as a statue with her eyes glued to Armin’s neck.
“Explain, dude. We need some answers,” Connie said, a serious look on his face. “Like, to start, how the hell you’re standing here in front of us without Eren or a Jaegerist breathing down your neck?” Armin nodded his head quickly.
“R-Right…well, you see…it’s actually a pretty long story, but–”
“Spit it out.” Jean snapped. Armin jumped slightly.
“I convinced Eren to stop his plans. At least, I think I did. But he’s hard to read so I’m not sure what he’s planning. Actually, come to think of it, I only remember him agreeing to come back here with me. I don’t know if–” Armin rambled, until Jean cut him off,
“Slow down, Armin. You said you convinced him to end his plans?” Jean asked, in disbelief. Armin nodded his head hesitantly.
“I-I think so.” Connie frowned.
“You think?” He asked, looking confused. Armin let out a frustrated sigh and covered his face with his hands.
“Long story short, Eren apologized for hurting me and said he feels really bad about it. He said his plan was to get us all to hate him so we wouldn’t follow him and end up in his mess. He then tried to get information out of me, like where Zeke was being kept, and he had…um…interesting ways of getting me to talk. I did a really bad thing and gave in, told him where Zeke was and then he wanted us to leave and find him tonight. But on the way there I tried to get him to change his mind and then his guards tried to kill me because they said I was manipulating him, so he turned into a titan and killed them. I told him we could all figure out a way to fix this mess if we just returned here and he agreed.”
Three pairs of eyes stared at him. Armin gulped, taking a step back, nervously.
“Um…guys?”
“So what I’m hearing is, he beat you up, then tried to get you to forgive him for it, then forced himself on you to get you to talk, then dragged you along on the journey to find Zeke, killed multiple people in front of you, and then agreed to come back here like some guy who made a few mistakes and feels a little bad about it?” Jean asked, practically seething. Armin cringed. Okay, it sounded pretty bad when Jean said it.
“Dude…that’s really messed up. Why would you even try to save him after all he’s done? Don’t you remember what he did when he found out Sasha died? The bastard laughed. He fucking laughed!” Connie exclaimed. Armin shifted on his feet nervously.
“I’m sure that’s not why he was lau—“
“How far did he go?” Mikasa cut him off, her voice low. Armin cringed.
“H-He k-kissed me a few times…and um…gave me two hickeys…th-that’s all,” Armin stuttered out, not telling them it was more than a few kisses that Eren had given him. “H-He didn’t try to undress me or touch me inappropriately…” Well, besides touching my thigh a few times. But they don’t need to know that, Armin thought to himself.
“Armin, he’s a fucking monster. He’s manipulating you into thinking he feels bad for what he did by agreeing to come back here. But I bet he’s planning something with those sons of bitches out there right as we speak,” Jean said. Connie nodded his head.
“He’s right, Armin. The Eren you knew is gone for good, okay? He’s never coming back. Just let him go,” Connie said softly, and Mikasa looked away, a sad look on her face. Armin swallowed the lump forming in his throat.
“B-But…he t-told me as long as I stayed by his side, that he wouldn’t do anything!” Armin tried. Jean just shook his head at him.
“Do you realize how fucked up that is? He said that because he wants you, Armin. He wants to keep you all to himself and so he’ll convince you that he’s changing so that you won’t try to run away.” Armin stumbled back a few steps, a horrified look on his face.
“Guys, it's Eren ! I know he’s messed up really bad, but we can figure something out! He can take responsibility for his actions and who gives a damn if the people choose not to forgive him. He’ll have us. Don’t you want to save him?” Armin’s voice cracked at the end.
“That’s not the same Eren,” was all Jean said. Armin opened his mouth to speak again, but Mikasa beat him to it.
“They’re right, Armin. Eren’s gone. It’s time we just accept the monster in his place and the fact that we’re just prisoners to him now,” Mikasa whispered. Armin felt fresh tears trickling down his cheeks.
“You won’t even hear him out?”
“No. I don’t want to hear the bullshit lies he’s been feeding you,” Jean snapped.
“Armin, we don’t want to lose you. Please don’t listen to Eren. He’s lying to you,” Connie said softly.
Just then, at the worst possible time, there was a soft knock at the door. Armin whipped around and watched in horror as the door opened and Eren stepped inside, cautiously. He paused at the door when he saw the look on Armin’s face, not daring to step closer.
“Uh…hey guys…” Eren said awkwardly. He received death glares from Jean and Connie and not even a glance from Mikasa.
“What the fuck do you want, you damn freak? Leave Armin the fuck alone! He did nothing wrong and you’re here forcing yourself on him and manipulating him!” Jean growled. Eren’s fists clenched at his sides, and Armin did not like where the situation was heading.
“Since when did you care about him so much?” Eren snapped.
“He’s my friend, dammit!”
Eren ignored him and looked at Armin, a pleading look on his face. He took a few slow steps towards him.
“Don’t listen to them, Armin. I’m not manipulating you, okay? I’m telling you the truth,” Eren said softly. Armin gulped, always hating to be caught in the middle of conflict. “Mikasa, come on, you believe me, don’t you?” Mikasa turned away, remaining silent. A look of hurt flashed across Eren’s face, but it was only brief.
“Don’t come any closer to Armin,” Jean growled, stepping in front of Armin. Eren practically growled at Jean, storming forward until they were only a few feet away.
“Why so protective? Do you have a thing for him or something?” Armin’s eyes widened at Eren’s words.
“Come on, Eren. Now you’re just being ridicu–”
“What if I do? What are you going to do about it? Turn into a giant titan and eat me so you can traumatize Armin more? And then maybe afterward you’ll apologize, ‘oh Armin! I didn’t mean to, I swear’ so you can keep him glued to you like the fucking pyscho you are!” Jean yelled, his face red with anger. Armin turned to stare at him with a look of shock on his face.
“Jean? You…?” Armin choked out. “You like me?” Jean looked away, his face red.
“Yeah? So? You’re…cuter and sweeter than the average person, okay?” He forced out. Armin was frozen in place, unsure what to do. He caught movement in the corner of his eye and flinched when he saw Eren closing the distance between him and Jean.
“That’s fucking it, you get the fuck away from Armin! He’s mine!” Eren brought his hand up to bite it but Armin threw himself at him immediately, crashing into him and sending them both toppling to the floor.
“Armin!” Jean yelled, panicked.
“You can’t transform, Eren! You’ll break the cottage!” Armin exclaimed. “These are your friends! Jean always eggs you on, you know that! Don’t take it personally!”
“Armin, what are you saying? I’m being serious!” Jean said. Eren pointed a finger at Jean, staring at Armin.
“Do you see what I mean? He’s trying to convince you that I’m manipulating you so he can have you all to himself!” Eren exclaimed. “Who’s the psycho now, you sick bastard!”
“At least I didn’t try to force myself on him!” Jean snapped. Eren’s face turned red with anger and he shrugged Armin off of him, getting up and storming towards Jean. Armin stood up and reached for him, concern on his face. He was feeling immensely overwhelmed at that point, his heart rate picking up and his vision starting to blur. He hated conflict with his friends, especially when he was the cause of it.
“Guys, please stop ,” Armin begged. His legs wobbled, and before he knew it, his knees gave out and he fell back onto the wooden floorboards. Jean and Eren stopped fighting at once, and the four of them turned to stare at Armin with wide eyes. In just seconds, Eren was kneeling down by Armin’s side, caressing the side of his face tenderly with a look of concern on his face.
“Hey, are you okay? What happened?” Eren asked, his voice laced with concern. Jean rushed over to the other side of Armin, peering down at him. Armin felt nauseous, knowing that the problem was never going to be solved if everyone kept arguing. It was like Armin was being tugged on by both sides to the point where his arms broke off.
“Please, stop. All of you,” Armin whispered. “Please don’t fight over me.” He looked at both Jean and Eren. Jean swallowed thickly.
“I’m sorry, Armin…I didn’t mean to upset you,” he mumbled.
“Neither did I,” Eren said softly, gently sliding his arms under Armin’s body so he could lift him up. “Here, baby. Let me carry you.” Armin’s face turned red when Eren used the pet name in front of their friends, and he couldn’t help but notice the way Mikasa’s gaze fell to her shoes.
“Y-You can put me down now,” Armin said when Eren stood up and kept holding him. Eren’s face reddened and he carefully set Armin down on his feet. Armin wrapped his arms around himself, suddenly feeling shy when he realized everyone was looking at him. Well, everyone but Mikasa.
“I came back with Armin because I wanted to talk to you guys, for real this time,” Eren mumbled, grabbing Armin’s hand and absentmindedly playing with his fingers. Armin just let him, knowing that facing their friends after betraying them must be incredibly difficult and awkward. “I really do feel bad about what I did. I just…hate Marleyans so much for what they did to our people. I wanted them all dead, I still do, if I’m being honest. I know what I did was wrong. I’m willing to take responsibility for it…if it means I won’t lose you guys. Armin has made me realize how much I really don’t want to lose you guys. You all mean a lot to me…and I’d rather spend the rest of this shitty life with you guys. I don’t want to waste the little years I have left on the enemy.” Armin’s eyes watered at the words, and he noticed Mikasa and Connie getting emotional too. Jean scoffed and looked away, but Armin knew he was feeling a little emotional too.
“Eren…” Mikasa whispered, stepping forward. “I don’t want to lose you either.” Connie shook his head.
“I don’t get it, dude. If you care about us so much, why’d you laugh when you found out Sasha was killed?” He asked. Eren swallowed thickly.
“I was thinking about that time when she stole a huge piece of meat and told us we’d share it after we were done training,” Eren said quietly, letting out a small, sad laugh at the memory. Mikasa let out a small laugh too, but her gaze was sad.
“She was pretty crazy,” Connie said, a sad smile on his face.
“So what’s with the whole ‘beating Armin up’ crap?” Jean asked. Eren sighed.
“I wanted him to hate me so he wouldn’t try to follow or reason with me. I didn’t want any of you to be involved in what I was doing. Zeke is dangerous, and so are the other titans that Marley has control of. This was my fight, not any of yours. Besides, I’m the one they want dead.”
“But still, I’m finding it hard to believe that a little encouragement from Armin convinced you to drop everything and come here,” Mikasa said. Eren’s face turned red and Armin stared at him with a look of confusion.
“Um, well…he uh, was really mad at me and I realized I was too afraid of losing him, a-and all of you, too. I knew that if I went through with my plan, I would probably never be able to see him— you guys again.” Connie raised a brow at him.
“Wow. I have never seen Mr. Scary Jaeger turn as red as a tomato before. Armin, you have power.” Armin blushed, looking away.
“The bottom line is, he’s here with us now and he’s stopped his plan,” Armin mumbled, embarrassed. It made it ten times worse that Eren was staring at him with this look of admiration on his face.
“Yeah, well, it doesn’t make up for all of the innocent lives he’s taken!” Jean snapped. Armin nodded his head.
“I know. That’s why he needs to take responsibility for his actions,” Armin replied.
“I’ll do anything,” Eren said quickly, his grip on Armin’s hand tightening.
“Should we find Levi? Hange and the others are still being held captive by Floch and the other Jaegerists,” Mikasa said. Armin bit his lip, thinking for a moment.
“Our best option is to find Levi. If we return to the walls, we can imprison Zeke and then send a few scouts out to look for Hange and the others. Levi can decide what Eren’s punishment is,” Armin explained.
“Okay, but can we get out of these handcuffs already? My wrists hurt, dude,” Connie said, and Eren immediately jumped forward, scrambling to unlock them.
“Sorry,” he mumbled, freeing all of their wrists.
“Finally,” Jean huffed, looking away. Armin sighed. Jean and Eren never truly got along to begin with, and the fact that they both had it out for him made things even worse.
“Let’s just go find Levi to start,” Armin suggested.
“Fine, but it’s really dark out and the woods can be dangerous at night. You should probably hold onto me, Armin,” Jean said smugly, reaching an arm out for Armin to take. Eren immediately grabbed Armin’s hand and tugged him to his side.
“Armin should stay by me, since I’m the most powerful one here and can protect him better,” Eren shot back, releasing his hand to wrap an arm around Armin’s waist.
“We really need to hurry, so please don’t fight,” Armin pleaded. Jean grabbed Armin’s other hand.
“Fine, but if he gets to hold onto you, then I should definitely be able to too,” Jean retorted. Armin sighed.
“Fine.”
It was going to be a long night.
A week later, they had managed to find Levi after Eren tied up the Jaegerists at the cottage. They imprisoned Zeke in a secluded area and got Hange and the others back. Floch and the other Jaegerists were kept in the dungeon. In the end, Levi decided that the best way Eren could take responsibility for his actions was by being imprisoned as well. Eren didn’t argue about it though, only because Armin promised to visit him everyday.
Which was, in fact, what Armin was currently doing. Despite being warned by the guards that it was ‘dangerous’ to enter Eren’s cell, Eren was really good at convincing Armin he’d be on his best behavior. Reluctantly, Armin agreed to enter the cell.
He sat criss-cross on Eren’s bed, rambling about the recent book he’d read. Eren listened the entire time, chin resting on the palm of his hand, staring at Armin as if he were the most interesting person in the world. It made Armin squirm.
The current war with Marley hadn’t advanced over the past week. Since Eren was imprisoned, Paradis technically hadn’t made any attacks on Marley. Therefore, it wouldn’t have been in Marley’s best interest to attack Paradis when they could easily release Eren on the soldiers. They definitely wouldn’t want that. After all, Eren held the Founding, Attack, and War Hammer Titans.
Things had been quiet, and Armin really hoped it would stay that way. He just wanted the war to end, so maybe he could go visit the sea again with his friends. Maybe by then, Eren would be released from imprisonment and could come too. Strangely enough, that was the next thing Eren mentioned.
“Hey, I meant it when I said I would take you back to the sea one day,” he said softly. “As soon as I get out of here, I will. I promise.” Armin smiled shyly.
“I believe you,” he replied, staring down at his lap bashfully. Eren slyly reached a hand out to place on Armin’s thigh, rubbing it. Armin felt his face redden and he glanced nervously at the guards on duty, flinching when he realized they were glaring at him.
“You know, I really hate the fact that I’m in here and Jean is free,” Eren huffed, causing Armin to roll his eyes.
“That’s because Jean didn’t commit mass genocide.”
“Yeah, but, now he gets to do whatever he wants to you and I can’t even stop him,” Eren grumbled. Armin glared at him.
“He can’t do whatever he wants to me.” Eren sighed.
“Be honest, has he tried to kiss you yet? Or touch you? Or—“ Armin pressed a hand to Eren’s mouth before he could finish, causing the guards to let out noises of disapproval. Armin ignored them, knowing that Eren’s immense guilt of hurting Armin before would prevent him from hurting him again. Eren reached up and curled his fingers around Armin’s wrist, pulling his hand away and using it as an opportunity to lace their fingers together.
“He hasn’t tried anything, Eren. You need to calm down.” Eren frowned.
“But…I hardly get to see you and he sees you all the time. It infuriates me.” Armin stared down at their laced fingers, feeling a warm feeling bubble up inside of him.
“Then be on your best behavior and maybe you’ll get out of here quickly.” Eren glanced up at Armin, a smirk on his face.
“It’s hard to be on my best behavior when you’re constantly tempting me,” Eren said slyly. Armin’s face heated up and he looked away.
“What do you mean? I-I’m just sitting here…” Armin squeaked out. Eren leaned forward, his face inches from Armin’s.
“Yeah? That’s still enough to turn me o—“
“That’s enough!” The guards barked. Armin scrambled off of the bed, his face red and his body hot all of a sudden. Eren rolled his eyes and leaned back against the wall his bed was up against.
“Out you go,” the guard barked at Armin. Armin scurried out of the cell, giving Eren a quick wave.
“S-See you tomorrow, Eren,” Armin stuttered before hurrying away.
“Can’t wait, baby.”
Dammit, Eren. Stop that.
Eren Jaeger was not a quitter. If Armin wanted to play hard to get, that was fine by him. He’d have the boy to himself eventually, whether Armin liked it or not. All he needed to do was get out of the dingy cell he was in. It was preventing him from seeing Armin for as often and long as he wanted to, and that just wouldn’t do.
The following day, Armin came to visit him again. The guards bickered with him about Armin entering the cell, claiming Eren was getting too ‘touchy’ with him and that was unacceptable. Armin just ignored them and entered the cell anyway. That made Eren feel very happy.
“So…what have you been up to?” Eren asked as he scooted closer to the boy who was perched on his bed. Eren knew that Armin was trying to keep his distance, and he didn’t like that one bit.
“Um, nothing…just reading and stuff,” Armin stuttered, his cheeks reddening as Eren got closer. Eren casually wrapped an arm around the boy, tugging him close to his side.
“Anything new?” He asked. Armin swallowed thickly and stared down at his legs, his hands trembling slightly on his lap.
“N-No. The Marleyans haven’t tried to attack so far,” Armin said quietly. Eren slid his hand over Armin’s trembling ones, rubbing circles into the skin with his thumb. Eren knew the boy was still nervous, not just because of what Eren had done to innocent people, but also because he had it out for him.
“That’s good news, I guess,” Eren replied, leaning down to nuzzle his face in Armin’s hair. Armin smelled too good, it was definitely illegal. He inhaled the smell of vanilla and candy, smiling at the sweet scent.
“A-Are you…sniffing me?” Armin squeaked. Eren pulled back, giving the boy a shameless smile.
“Yeah, you smell really good,” he admitted with ease, causing Armin’s eyes to widen. “What? Don’t look at me like that. I can’t help it.”
“Eren…you know we…can’t be together,” Armin said slowly, an uneasy look on his face. Eren rolled his eyes.
“Who told you that? Levi? Hange? Or was it Jean? I swear, if it was Jean—“
“Eren, stop. No one told me that,” Armin interrupted. Eren frowned at the words. “It’s just that…you’ve killed a lot of innocent people. I can’t be with someone who’s done something like that. Especially someone who doesn’t even feel bad about it.”
“Who said I don’t feel bad about it?” Armin gave him a pointed look, causing Eren to let out a sigh of defeat. “Okay fine, I don’t feel bad about it.”
“See? We can’t be together. Also, that would make me a really bad friend. You know, Mikasa really likes you,” Armin said awkwardly, staring down at Eren’s hand which was still resting on top of Armins’.
“Come on, Armin. What I’ve done is in the past. I’m accepting responsibility now,” Eren replied, a pleading look on his face. “And Mikasa…well…it’s not your fault that I like you. She’d be a pretty bad friend if she told you that you couldn’t be with me because she’d be jealous.” Armin let out a frustrated sigh.
“That’s not the point! I just don’t want to hurt her when she’s already so broken up about it. And even if you’re accepting responsibility, it doesn’t change the fact that you still killed a lot of people. If I start dating you…” Armin trailed off, unable to finish. But Eren could hear the unsaid words. Armin was worried that people would think of him as a bad person too, and Eren honestly couldn’t blame him.
“Hey,” Eren said softly, cupping Armin’s cheek and tilting his head up. “When I get out of here, let’s run away. We can go to those cottages in the woods, just you and me. The others can live in the other cottage, if that would make you happy. It’s not far from the ocean. We’d be able to go whenever we want to. And no one will see us together, so no one will think you’re a bad person.” Armin swallowed thickly.
“Eren…I can’t run away.” Eren wasn’t ready to give up just yet, though.
“Okay, maybe not run away, but at least stay there with me. Even if Levi and the others know about it, who cares? They know you enough to know you’re not a bad person.”
“You’re really persistent, aren’t you?” Armin asked tiredly. Eren smiled.
“Yeah, I really want you.” Armin sighed.
“I just need to think about some things. Can we not talk about it right now?” Eren hummed in response, gently tracing the bags under Armin’s eyes.
“You haven’t been sleeping.” It wasn’t a question, anyone could tell that Armin was exhausted. Armin blushed and looked away.
“I’m fine,” he insisted. Eren frowned.
“No, you’re not. What if you slept with me tonight?” Eren offered, hopefully. Armin’s face was redder than a tomato.
“Eren! You know that’s not allowed!” Eren pretended to pout, pulling Armin against his chest.
“Come on, please?” Armin shook his head stubbornly.
“Not a chance. I don’t trust that you won’t try to kiss me if I’m alone with you,” Armin said firmly. Eren smiled, reaching a hand up to run his fingers through Armin’s hair.
“That’s what you’re worried about? Baby, I could do a whole lot worse if I was alone with you,” Eren said with a wink. Armin flushed and squirmed in his hold.
“E-Eren…th-the guards are watching…” Armin stuttered out. Eren tilted his head to the side.
“So?” He leaned in, his lips brushing over Armin’s ear. “Why don’t we give them a show?” Armin covered his red face with his hands.
“Eren!” He squeaked, mortified. Eren laughed, leaning back a bit to give him some space.
“I’m just teasing,” Eren assured the boy. He suddenly smirked. “But I certainly wouldn’t mind a little exhibi—“
“Gosh, Eren! Stop!” Armin squealed. Eren laughed again, ruffling Armin’s hair.
“Sorry, sorry. I just really like getting you all riled up,” Eren said with a smile on his face. “You’re so red, Armin.” Armin groaned into his palms.
“It’s because of you,” he mumbled into his hands. Eren gently tugged Armin’s hands away from his face.
“Yeah? I make you blush? Well, I’ll take that as a good sign then.” Armin crossed his arms stubbornly and looked away.
“You’re ridiculous.”
Just then, Levi came marching into the dungeon, standing right outside of Eren’s cell. He raised a challenging brow at Armin upon seeing the boy in the cell with Eren. Eren smiled smugly, leaning down to give the boy a quick kiss to the cheek.
“Looks like my dad has come to lecture me,” Eren joked, causing Armin to smile. Eren really loved Armin’s smile more than anything in the world. Armin pried himself out of Eren’s grip, standing up to stretch a bit.
“That’s my cue. I’ll see you tomorrow, Eren,” Armin said, waving like he did every night. Eren felt incredibly disappointed, but he tried not to make it show. Stupid Levi. Always has to ruin everything, Eren thought to himself bitterly.
“Okay, see you then, baby.”
Armin hurried out of the dungeon, and Levi strolled up to the bars, gripping them and peering inside.
“You’re getting awfully hands-y with him,” Levi noted, and Eren shrugged.
“Yeah? And?” Levi glared at him.
“You’re a criminal, Eren. Back off and let Armin live a normal life.” Eren let out a dry laugh.
“Normal life? What ‘normal life’? In this world, no one can live a normal life.” Levi sighed.
“Do you care about Armin? Then let him go.” Eren clenched his fists.
“I’ll do whatever the fuck I want.”
“Not while you’re in that cell.” Eren hopped off of the bed and stormed up to the bars, getting close and personal with the annoying asshole.
“Are you out for him? He’s mine ,” Eren practically growled. Levi scoffed.
“He’s a kid.” Eren didn’t let his guard down.
“And? I’m not stupid. That won’t stop a man from trying to pursue someone. Seems pretty sick to me.” Levi didn’t look phased.
“Want to know what’s sick, shithead? Killing a bunch of people who didn’t do shit to you. That’s sick.” Eren was seething at that point.
“You didn’t deny it. You have a thing for my Armin.” Levi rolled his eyes.
“I don’t have a thing for your precious Armin, dumbass. But if you’re asking if I care about the brat, then yes, I do. I don’t want to see him getting involved in whatever messed up shit you’re planning.” Eren relaxed a bit, crossing his arms.
“I’m not planning anything.” Levi scoffed again.
“Yeah sure, no one’s believing that.” Eren shrugged.
“You’re right, I am planning something,” he replied, causing Levi to stare at him with interest. “As soon as I’m done here, I’m going to live somewhere secluded with Armin.” Levi raised an eyebrow.
“Bold of you to assume you’re getting out any time soon. Is Armin on board with this little plan of yours?” Eren swallowed thickly.
“Not yet. But he’s thinking about it,” Eren said, adding the last part a little defensively. Levi rolled his eyes.
“What a moron,” he muttered before turning around and walking out of the dungeon. Eren just stared at him as he left, unsure if he had just silently gotten his blessing to run away with Armin.
Several weeks passed by with Eren in the dungeon, getting visits from Armin often. He started to get a few from Mikasa, which was nice. Thankfully, he was able to talk to Mikasa about how he felt, and she insisted that Armin be with him if he really wanted to. That was comforting.
Several weeks had turned into months, and soon the townspeople were arguing that Eren was a hero again, insisting he have his sentence shortened ‘or else’. Of course, the scouts instantly thought Eren was behind the sudden uproar.
“Did you set the people up to this?” Hange had asked suspiciously one day. Eren had just stared at her blankly and said,
“How the hell could I have communicated with them when I’ve been trapped in this shithole for months?”
Eventually, with the uproar turning violent, the scouts had no choice but to shorten Eren’s sentence. They had probably hoped to keep him there forever, which made Eren feel really smug when he heard the news from Mikasa.
Eren had one last week before he was let go, and he couldn’t help but fantasize about all the things he could do to Armin when they were alone and not under the watchful gazes of guards. Maybe Armin would even let Eren take his virginity. Seemed highly unlikely, but Eren could always dream.
Of course, Armin hadn’t said anything about whether he would be Eren’s or not. In fact, since that day that they had talked about it, Armin avoided the topic like it was the plague.
Currently, Armin was cuddling with Eren, courtesy of Eren begging him to. Armin had been reluctant to agree, but he did in the end when Eren promised him he’d behave. But keeping his hands to himself proved to be very difficult, and he found himself slipping up often.
“Eren…” Armin said uneasily when Eren’s hand had slid down to grip his inner thigh. Eren blinked out of his trance and stared down at where his hand was.
“Oh, sorry,” he said, but didn’t even try to move it. Armin turned to glare at him.
“Hey, you said you’d behave.” Eren sighed.
“You make it really difficult for me to do that.” Armin blushed and turned back around abruptly.
“I’m not even doing anything. I’m just sitting here…” he mumbled, embarrassed. Eren smiled.
“I know, but you still drive me crazy.” Armin frowned.
“I don’t get it. What is it that you like so much about me, Eren?” Eren was taken back by the question. Didn’t Armin know? He was literally amazing.
“How could you not know? To start, you’re a fucking genius. You’re the smartest person I know. Second, you’re such a kind, warm person. You always think of others before yourself. Third, you’re the most beautiful person I’ve ever laid eyes on,” Eren whispered, causing Armin’s face to turn even redder.
“E-Eren…” he stuttered out.
“When I get out of here, I’m kidnapping you and taking you to the cottage with me,” Eren said firmly. Armin covered his red face with his hands.
“You can’t kidnap me, Eren. You’ll get put in jail again.”
“Not with the townspeople having an uproar about my imprisonment,” Eren pointed out smugly. “I only have six days left in this shithole, and then I’m stealing you forever.” Armin dropped his hands from his face.
“You really are persistent.” Eren grinned.
“Told you.”
The final week of Eren’s imprisonment flew by. Armin would’ve been lying if he said he wasn’t nervous. After all, Eren was pretty serious about kidnapping Armin and taking him to the cottage. Armin was really happy that Eren wanted to change for him, but it didn’t mean Armin felt any less nervous around the boy.
“Freedom feels so fucking nice,” Eren said as he stretched, stepping out of his cell. Levi glared at him.
“We would’ve kept you in here much longer if we could’ve.” Eren smirked.
“Isn’t that sad for you,” he said mockingly. He glanced around, and Armin quickly hid behind Levi. He didn’t want Eren to see him and go crazy, but Levi was also abnormally short so he didn’t make for a good hiding pole. “There you are, baby. If I didn’t know any better, I’d say you were trying to hide from me.” Eren grabbed Armin’s wrist, dragging him out from behind Levi. Armin flinched.
“H-Haha,” Armin laughed nervously. “W-Why would I be hiding?”
“If you’re going to fuck, don’t do it in the scouts building. Go in the woods, you animals,” Levi grumbled, storming past them and out of the dungeon. Armin’s face turned as red as a tomato.
“We’re not doing that!” He cried out, horrified. Eren laughed, wrapping his arms around the boy from behind, leaning down to whisper seductively in Armin’s ear,
“Who said that?” Armin shivered, his knees wobbling.
“M-Me.”
“Oh come on, Armin. I’ve been trapped in a cell for months. Let’s have some fun.” Armin shook his head rapidly.
“N-No! I’m not having sex with you, Eren!” Eren pouted.
“That comfy bed at the cottage is waiting for me to tie you to it and make you mine.” Armin squirmed in his grip.
“No.”
“Please?”
“No way.”
“Okay then, how about this,” Eren started, attracting Armin’s attention. “We race to the cottage and if I make it there first, you have sex with me.” Armin rolled his eyes.
“Really Eren? Do I look dumb? I’m not falling for that. We all know you’re much faster than me,” Armin said bluntly. Eren groaned.
“You came into my cell everyday turning me on and I couldn’t even do anything to satisfy the craving. Now I’m free and you won’t even let me have you. This sucks,” Eren complained. Armin sighed.
“Eren, I didn’t even tell you I would be yours. You know, I’ve never done anything like that before. I want my first time to be with the person I’m with…” Armin mumbled, feeling slightly uneasy.
“Be with me , Armin. I can protect you,” Eren pleaded. “Just give me a chance, okay?” Armin bit his lip.
“I can’t stop thinking about everything you’ve done…” Armin said uneasily. Eren turned the boy around so Armin was facing him.
“Then let me make you forget.” Armin felt hot all over.
“H-How?” he choked out, even though he already knew the answer.
“Just trust me, Armin. Give me one last chance,” Eren begged. Armin was always weak when it came to Eren, which was a very bad thing.
“Did you not hear me? I’ve never—“
“I know,” Eren cut him off. He cupped Armin’s cheeks tenderly. “I’ll take care of you, I promise.” Armin felt his body weaken, and Eren quickly released his face so he could wrap his arms around Armin’s sagging body.
“Hey, easy there,” Eren said softly. “You don’t have to if you don’t want to. I’m sorry if I’m pressuring you. I don’t want your first time to be forced.” Armin swallowed thickly. That self restraint alone showed Armin that Eren had changed a lot over the past couple of months.
“I-I’m doing my best to trust you again, Eren,” Armin whispered. Eren smiled a small smile, staring down at Armin with fondness in his eyes.
“I know. I really appreciate that.”
“I…I-I’ll trust you with this. B-But not today. I’m not ready yet.” Eren nodded his head, his smile widening.
“Okay, baby. Whenever you’re ready.” Armin thought about it for a minute.
“Maybe…soon…” Armin mumbled, embarrassed. He felt awkward and weird saying it out loud, but to Armin, losing his virginity was a big deal. He was nineteen and had never even seen a naked person other than himself. Eren let out a light laugh, ruffling Armin’s blonde hair.
“Okay, baby.”
Armin realized after he’d said it that Eren would most definitely hold Armin to that. Fuck. Armin was going to lose his virginity to the world’s most wanted criminal. What had he done with his life?
The weekend came very quickly, and Armin found himself in bed with Eren, in the cottage. Mikasa, Connie, and Jean had taken the other cottage that wasn’t too far from theirs. Of course, Jean had protested and begged Armin to stay with them, saying that it wasn’t safe for Armin to live with Eren. Armin knew he wasn’t entirely safe with Eren, but Eren had been very convincing, promising Armin that he would behave. Yet, currently, Eren wasn’t behaving very well.
“E-Eren…” Armin stuttered out, his face red when Eren’s hand slipped onto his thigh. Eren looked at him innocently.
“Yeah?”
“U-Um…y-you’re touching me…” Eren tilted his head to the side.
“Am I not allowed to touch you anymore? Geez, what lies has Jean been feeding you this time?” Armin scowled at him.
“Jean didn’t say anything, don’t automatically assume that. Yes, you can touch me, just not…” Armin trailed off, too embarrassed to finish.
“Not…?” Eren questioned, but then a look of realization crossed his face. “Not here?” Eren gave Armin’s thigh a light squeeze, causing Armin to let out a small squeak.
“Y-Yeah…I-I’m just not ready for that type of contact yet…” Armin said nervously. Eren removed his hand from Armin’s thigh and caressed his cheek instead.
“Armin, don’t be embarrassed. I get it, okay? I’ll be patient,” Eren murmured, leaning down to nuzzle his face between Armin’s neck and shoulder. Armin shivered when Eren’s lips brushed over his skin. “You know, those hickeys I gave you months ago are long gone.” Armin felt his face heat up.
“Eren, I have to see Levi and Hange tomorrow to discuss some things. You absolutely cannot give me a hickey before I go.” Eren pulled back, raising an eyebrow at him. Oh no, he found a loophole.
“Maybe not before but I don’t see why I can’t after.” Armin swallowed thickly.
“U-Um…what if the others see? L-Like C-Connie…M-Mikasa…” Armin trailed off, purposely not mentioning Jean for Eren’s sake. It didn’t matter, though, because Eren still said,
“And Jean? Well in that case, I think I should give you a hickey or two. I don’t want him thinking he can have what’s mine.” Armin squinted his eyes at him.
“I’m not anyone’s.”
“Wrong. You’re mine,” Eren said, shifting his body so he could push Armin back until his head hit the pillow. “All mine. My cute little human.” Eren’s lips were right by Armin’s ear, sending chills down Armin’s spine with his hot voice. Armin squeezed his eyes shut, squirming slightly.
“E-Eren…l-let go…”
“You know what? Fuck Levi and Hange. I don’t care if they see the hickeys. I want them to know you’re mine. I want the whole world to know Armin Arlert belongs to Eren Jaeger,” Eren whispered into Armin’s ear. Armin froze in place, his body feeling hot all over at the words. Eren didn’t waste time grabbing Armin’s wrists and pinning them above his head, burying his face in Armin’s neck. Armin shuddered when Eren’s lips attached to his neck, parted slightly, so he could suck the flesh. Armin squirmed when he felt Eren start to suck the love bite, but Eren was much stronger and kept Armin’s wrists above his head. Armin felt Eren’s knee slide between his legs, making him feel even hotter, if that was possible.
“E-Eren…s-stop…please,” Armin panted, Eren having trailed little kisses to the other side of Armin’s neck so he could suck a hickey on that side. “Th-They’re going to see…”
Eren pulled back when he had successfully left two marks on Armin’s neck. He smiled, seeming to be satisfied with his work. He released Armin’s wrists, bringing his hand down to brush Armin’s bangs away from his blushing face.
“Let them see,’’ Eren said softly. “Armin, there’s nothing to be ashamed of.” Armin bit his lip, diverting his gaze elsewhere.
Armin had known Eren almost his entire life and had never even thought for once that Eren had a crush on him. The previous night, Eren had told Armin the truth: ever since they were little, he was in love with Armin. Armin still couldn’t understand how Eren had stayed in love with him, even when they took different stances in the war against Marley. So many years had gone by, how could someone’s love last that long? Armin still wasn’t very sure of his own feelings. He cared about Eren so much, and okay, maybe Eren was really hot. But dating him would go against all of Armin’s morals. Eren was a criminal, for fucks sake.
“Babe, I can tell you’re thinking too hard. Wanna talk about it?” Eren asked softly. He had moved to lay next to Armin again, but he was propped up on his forearm, his hand caressing Armin’s cheek. Armin felt his face heat up again.
“N-No, it’s nothing really…” Armin stuttered out. There was no way in hell Armin was going to tell Eren that he was thinking about his feelings for him.
“Hmm, alright,” Eren said reluctantly. He paused, looking like he was debating about saying something. A blush rose to his cheeks, bringing a sense of awe to Armin. This would be the second time Armin saw Eren blush. It looked really beautiful on him. “Back when I first found out I was a titan…I never got the chance to fully thank you for standing up for me and trusting me. Everyone thought I was a monster, but you and Mikasa stood by my side. I could tell you were terrified out of your mind too, because your legs were shaking and you looked like you were gonna throw up.” Eren laughed lightly, and Armin flushed red. Oh. So he had noticed that. Armin tried to look away, embarrassed, but Eren gently turned Armin’s head back so that he would look him in the eye.
“Even though you were so afraid of me, you still trusted me. You trusted that I wouldn’t hurt you. I’m sorry I broke your trust,” Eren said quietly. Armin stared up at Eren with wide eyes. He swallowed thickly, feeling a lump forming in his throat.
“Eren…” Armin whispered, and Eren gazed into Armin’s eyes with his beautiful green ones. Armin wanted to kiss him, to show that he appreciated Eren trying so hard to get better, but he was too shy and cowardly to do it. Eren must’ve noticed Armin’s hesitation, because he whispered,
“Can I kiss you?” It was the first time he had asked before kissing him, so Armin really appreciated it. He wordlessly nodded his head, pink dusting his cheeks. Eren cupped Armin’s face with his warm hands, leaning close until their noses were touching. “Armin, part your lips.” Armin didn’t know why Eren wanted him to do that, but he did it anyway. It was hard not to do everything Eren wanted with him so close to him.
Armin’s eyes widened when he felt Eren’s warm lips press against his, and something hot and wet slip through his parted lips. Armin tensed up slightly at the foreign feeling, but then relaxed when he felt Eren move one of his hands to soothingly stroke Armin’s hair. Armin felt Eren’s tongue rub against his, causing him to let out a soft sigh. The feeling was strange, but Armin really liked it.
Eren pulled back so that they could both catch their breath. Armin felt bad because he could tell Eren wanted to go further. But the more he thought about sex, the more nervous he got. Especially sex with a freakishly powerful criminal who also turned out to be a titan. Eren saw the hesitant look on Armin's face, and he smiled, pressing a kiss to Armin’s nose.
“Hey, we don’t have to go any further tonight, okay? I’m just really happy you let me kiss you,” Eren said softly. “Did you…uh…like it?” Eren’s cheeks reddened again, and Armin was left to admire the rare sight once again.
“Y-Yeah, I really liked it,” Armin breathed out. Eren smiled again, pulling Armin against his chest in a warm hug.
“Good, I’m glad,” Eren whispered. “Do you want to try to get some sleep?” Armin nodded his head, shyly bringing his arm to wrap around Eren’s warm body. Armin nuzzled his face against Eren’s chest, feeling safe and secure despite knowing how dangerous Eren was. Armin just wanted to feel at peace, and in that moment, he most certainly did. He allowed the gentle rhythm of Eren’s heartbeat to lure him into a deep sleep.
Armin slowly opened his eyes the next morning, instantly blinded by the sunlight shining in through the window. He had to see Levi and Hange that morning, mainly because there was suspicion that Marley was planning a surprise attack. Armin really hoped that wasn’t true, since he had found out recently that Paradis had no plans of using Eren in the war anymore. It was probably so that Eren wouldn’t go crazy and kill a ton of civilians again. Still, Marley must have figured that much out by then.
Armin needed to discuss the next plan, and he was seriously dreading it. He wanted the war to be over, and part of the reason why he chose to stay in the cottage with Eren was to avoid being involved with violence anymore. But he couldn’t help that he was the brains of the scouts, and everyone was depending on him to come up with a good plan.
“Good morning.” Armin was snapped from his thoughts when a groggy, sexy voice spoke. Armin blushed, pulling back slightly to see Eren gazing down at him fondly.
“You’re leaving me this morning, aren’t you?” Armin smiled.
“Don’t worry, it won’t be long.”
“I don’t want you walking in the woods alone.” Armin cringed.
“Well, actually, Jean offered to take me…” Eren gawked at him.
“No way! No way in hell am I letting Jean take you. He’s just going to try to flirt with you!” Armin sighed, reaching a hand up to place on Eren’s cheek. He blushed, still feeling really embarrassed about it.
“Eren, I didn’t let you kiss me last night so I could run off with Jean. Jean is just taking me to the wall, that’s all. If he tries anything, I’ll stop him. You should spend some time with Mikasa and Connie since you haven’t seen them in awhile,” Armin said gently. Eren’s face heated up.
“Fine,” he mumbled. Armin smiled.
“Thank you.”
It didn’t take long for Jean to get there, after all, the cottages were actually pretty close to each other. Eren made sure to give Jean a warning look and Armin a quick peck on the lips before they left. As Armin expected, Jean had a lot to say.
“I get he apologized and all, but I still think he’s too dangerous for you to be around.” Armin tugged the hood of his cape up higher when a chilly breeze wafted by.
“Jean, is this why you offered to take me? So you could convince me to stay away from Eren?” Jean shook his head quickly.
“No! Not at all! I’m just worried about you, Armin. That’s all.” Armin smiled when Jean looked away, face red.
“Don’t worry about me, Eren’s been treating me really well.” Jean let out a huff.
“Yeah, I bet he has.” Armin’s smile faded.
“Jean, we should talk about it.” Jean cleared his throat.
“About what?” Armin gave him a pointed look.
“You know what. About us .” Jean sighed.
“I know you don’t feel the same way about me, Armin. It’s really obvious. But do you really have a thing for Jaeger?” Armin dropped his gaze to his shoes.
“I don’t know. My feelings are all jumbled up…I’ve been trying to sort them out lately.”
“Well, friends don’t kiss.” Armin blushed.
“What are you talking about?” Jean rolled his eyes.
“Please, Armin. We all know he’s kissing the hell out of you now that you two are alone.” Armin buried his face in his hands.
“That’s…really embarrassing,” he mumbled.
“Also, nice hickeys.” Armin gasped, pulling his hands away and staring at him in shock.
“Are they that noticeable?” he asked, panicked. Jean snorted.
“Of course they are. Jaeger did that on purpose.” Armin let out a sigh of defeat.
“I’m sorry, Jean…” Jean scoffed.
“Why are you apologizing? You can’t help who you have feelings for.” Armin bit his lip.
“I know…but I still feel really bad. I hope you find someone,” Armin said softly. Jean stared up at the blue sky, a few birds seen flying overhead.
“I think I’m going to marry Mikasa when the war is over, given that we’re both alive.” Armin’s eyes widened in shock.
“Really? Good for you, Jean,” he said. He paused. “Does Mikasa know about those marriage plans?” he joked. Jean blushed.
“Sort of…we haven’t talked too much about it. It’s hard to do when Connie is there and always sticks his nose in our business.” Armin giggled.
“He does that a lot, doesn’t he?”
“Yeah, definitely.”
Armin felt a sense of relief wash over him. Jean’s feelings for him felt like a heavy weight on his back. Armin just didn’t feel the same way back, but he didn’t want to break his friend’s heart. He was really glad that they had sorted things out and could put the whole thing behind them.
“Armin, you know it’s still going to take me a little bit to get over you. Don’t get pissed about it,” Jean said quietly. Armin nodded his head.
“I know. Just try not to make Eren mad. I prefer to be around him when he’s not a scary titan.” Jean snorted.
“Got it. I’ll try my best.”
The rest of the walk was silent, but it was comfortable silence. They had said all that they needed to. Things would get better from then on. Armin was sure of it.
The meeting with Levi and Hange went by smoothly, but it was rather exhausting for Armin and took a lot longer than he would have liked it to. He felt better knowing he wouldn’t have to walk back in the dark, though, since Jean had stayed back and waited for Armin to finish. Armin greatly appreciated it.
By the time they had finished, Armin felt immensely relieved since he had caught Levi eyeing the marks on his neck on multiple occasions and was extremely embarrassed. Levi knew about Eren’s massive crush on Armin, so there was no doubt in Armin’s mind that he had put two and two together.
The walk back only took about twenty minutes, and when Armin finally reached the cottage, he thanked Jean for walking with him and waiting to take him back. Jean didn’t get the chance to respond, because the door immediately flew open and Eren grabbed Armin’s wrist, tugging him inside before slamming the door in Jean’s face.
“Real classy, Jaeger. Goodnight, Armin,” Jean called from behind the door.
“Goodnight, Jean!” Armin called back as Eren dragged him to their bedroom. “Eren, you don’t have to be so rude to him, you know. We worked it out. He understands that I don’t feel the same way, okay? He won’t try anything.” Eren plopped down on the bed, tugging Armin down with him.
“Are you sure?” Eren mumbled into Armin’s hair, his arms wrapped tightly around Armin’s small body.
“I’m sure…” Armin mumbled, his eyes fluttering closed. The day had exhausted him. Creating war plans was really tiring.
“Get some sleep, okay? I have some bread and meat in the kitchen that you can eat when you wake up,” Eren said softly. Armin smiled sleepily.
“Thank you…” he murmured, already half asleep. When Eren shifted their bodies so that they were both lying down on the bed, Armin drifted into a deep sleep.
A few weeks had passed since Armin had talked to Jean, and Eren had gotten even bolder since then. He still avoided touching Armin where he didn’t want him to, and only kissed Armin when he said he could. But Armin could tell that restraining himself was driving Eren crazy. Armin was too embarrassed to admit it, but it had started to drive him a little crazy too. Armin really wanted to go all the way with Eren, but he was terrified. He had started to trust Eren a little bit more, and he told himself he would just have to trust him some more. So far, Eren had been really good to him. Armin knew Eren would take good care of him.
Armin wasn’t sure when to bring it up to Eren. He was really embarrassed, but he knew he needed to swallow the embarrassment and talk to him. It was night time, and the two were cuddling in bed like how they usually spent the nights. Armin was reading a book to distract himself, but it had become very difficult to focus on the story when Eren shifted closer to him and started to press kisses to the back of Armin’s neck. Armin felt his face heat up, and he bookmarked the page he was on, closing the book and placing it on the nightstand.
“Eren…” he started, but Eren shook his head.
“I won’t try anything, okay? Only when you’re ready,” Eren murmured, pressing their foreheads together. Armin bit his lip. Over the past few weeks, he had finally come to terms with his feelings for Eren. He definitely felt romantic feelings for him, and it was time he started to accept that. He hadn’t explicitly told Eren that yet, but he could tell Eren was starting to figure it out when Armin let him get away with more touching and let him kiss him often.
“I…I’m ready…but I’m really scared,” Armin whispered. Eren’s eyes widened slightly, but he quickly composed himself.
“Hey, don’t be afraid. I’ll take care of you, okay?” Eren soothed, bringing his hands to Armin’s cheeks and tracing soft patterns onto his skin with his thumbs. Armin swallowed thickly.
“I-I know. I-I'm just…” Armin trailed off, not sure how to put it without embarrassing himself further. It was bad enough that Armin had to admit to Eren that he was afraid of sex. “I-Is it going to hurt?” Armin’s face heated up as he asked it. Eren leaned down and gently kissed the top of Armin’s head.
“It’ll hurt a little, but I’ll be very gentle. You have nothing to be afraid of,” Eren murmured. “We’ll take it slow, and if at any moment you want to stop, just tell me and we’ll stop.” Armin nodded his head, taking a deep, shaky breath.
“Y-Yeah…okay,” he whispered. “I trust you.” That beautiful blush that Armin admired so much blossomed across Eren’s cheeks.
“H-How about we start with a simple kiss?” Eren stuttered out, seeming to be flustered. Armin smiled bashfully, in disbelief that he had managed to make the Eren Jaeger flustered.
“Okay.”
Eren shifted their position so that he was in front of Armin. He placed a hand onto Armin’s chest and gently pushed him back onto the bed. Armin’s heart rate had started to pick up, his breathing quickening when Eren hovered over him, leaning down to close the distance between them. But instead of kissing him right away, he stopped with their lips only centimeters apart.
“Breathe, Armin. Your heart rate is way too fast,” Eren murmured. Armin’s face turned bright red.
“You can hear that?” he squeaked out, mortified. Eren smiled.
“Yeah, baby. Just relax for me, okay? Everything’s going to be fine. We’re just kissing.” Armin nodded his head.
“R-Right.”
“Why don’t you close your eyes for me? I want you to enjoy this, not stress about it,” Eren suggested gently. Armin gulped.
“O-Oh. Okay.” Armin closed his eyes and his body tensed up when he felt Eren’s lips press against his, but then he relaxed when he reminded himself that Eren had no intentions of hurting him again. The kiss was sweet and innocent, with no tongue involved. Not yet, at least. Armin wasn’t sure what Eren had in store for him, and the thought made him both nervous and excited.
Eren pulled back so they could both catch their breath. He nuzzled his nose against Armin’s, giving Armin a moment to calm down a bit. Armin was completely oblivious to the fact that his body was trembling viciously, until Eren said something.
“Armin, you’re shaking. You need to relax, baby. It’s just me, remember?” Eren said softly. Armin’s face turned even redder, if that was possible.
“I-I’m sorry…I must be really turning you off. I’m so lame,” Armin mumbled. Eren let out a light laugh, nuzzling his face between Armin’s neck and shoulder. He pressed his body against Armin’s and Armin gasped when he felt something hard rub up against his cock through his pants. Eren trailed kisses up Armin’s neck until he reached his ear, whispering,
“Does it seem like I’m turned off to you?” Armin gulped.
“N-No…” Eren hummed and trailed kisses along Armin’s throat and jawline, nibbling and sucking at the skin until Armin was covered in hickeys there.
“Can’t wait for Jean to see this.” Armin groaned.
“S-Stop talking about Jean.” Eren pulled back, a smile on his face.
“Fine,” he said. “But I want another kiss. Can I kiss you again?” Armin’s heart warmed when he asked, showing how much he cared for Armin. Armin nodded his head, letting his eyes close again. He could feel Eren’s breath fan on his face, and even though they had just kissed, Armin became nervous all over again at the close proximity.
“Can you part your lips for me?” Eren asked softly. Armin nodded his head quickly, parting his lips. Eren finally closed the distance between them, his warm tongue slipping easily into Armin’s mouth. Armin shook viciously when Eren’s hand that wasn’t pinning his wrists up moved to cup the side of Armin’s face. The fact that Eren could snap him in two quite easily but was choosing to be so gentle with him made Armin feel hot all over.
Eren’s lips moved with expertise, his tongue exploring Armin’s mouth and curling around Armin’s own tongue. He smelled so good, and Armin couldn’t really pinpoint an exact scent other than the fact that he smelled like a man fresh out of the shower. Eren’s hair was tied into a messy bun but a few strands fell in front of his face. The hair tickled Armin’s cheek, causing him to squirm a little. But Eren held him down firmly, preventing him from going anywhere. That was really scary…but also hot.
Eren eventually pulled back so they could breathe again, the both of them panting from the heat of the kiss. Eren pressed their foreheads together, giving Armin a moment to reset like he did before. Armin’s eyes were still closed and his breathing was kind of ragged, causing Eren to instantly become concerned.
“How are you doing? Is this okay? Talk to me.” Armin opened his eyes, shrinking a little when he looked directly into Eren’s green ones. Armin cared about Eren so much, but the boy was still intimidating.
“I-I’m okay,” Armin stuttered out. Eren placed a gentle kiss on Armin's nose.
“Good. Would you feel comfortable if we started to undress?” he asked gently, caressing the side of Armin’s face. Armin gulped, the trembling of his body intensifying.
“U-Um…y-yeah…” Eren pulled back slightly to examine Armin’s pale face.
“Armin, you look like you’re going to pass out. Is this about the whole titan thing? I’m not going to turn into a titan. I would literally destroy the cottage.” Armin blushed.
“N-No! Of course not! I know that…” Armin said quickly. Eren moved his hand up to gently run his fingers through Armin’s hair.
“Are you shy?” he asked, his voice soft. Armin bit his lip.
“Y-Yeah…” he admitted quietly. Eren smiled fondly down at him.
“You don’t have to feel shy around me. We’ve known each other for so long. It’s just me, okay? No one else is going to see you like that. Only me.” Armin’s heart fluttered at the words. Armin was Eren’s. No one would see Armin’s body except for Eren.
“Okay,” he whispered. Eren’s smile widened, and he gently released Armin’s wrists. He slipped his own t-shirt off with ease, and Armin was left to drool over Eren’s hard muscles and defined eight-pack. Armin didn’t have a muscular body. He was more on the thin side, which was kind of embarrassing. But Armin trusted Eren not to judge him. Eren wasn’t that type of person.
“Like what you see? You can touch if you want,” Eren said, a smirk finding its way to his face. Armin felt hot all over, reaching his shaky hands up to press against and feel Eren’s muscles. Eren was so muscular and strong, it turned Armin on more than he wanted to admit. Eren let out a soft sigh as Armin glided his fingers along his abs, and then up to his pecs. One of Armin’s fingers accidentally brushed across one of Eren’s hardened nipples, and Eren let out a low moan. Armin quickly pulled his hands away, extremely embarrassed.
“S-Sorry!” he squeaked out. Eren let out a low chuckle.
“Why are you apologizing? It felt good.” Armin almost choked on air, he was so embarrassed. Eren truly was shameless. But Armin really did want to be a good boy for Eren, so he brought his hands back up to his chest and rolled Eren’s nipples between his shaky fingers. Eren let out another low moan, his eyes fluttering closed.
“Fuck, baby. You’re so good,” he whispered, causing Armin’s cock to twitch. He really liked to be praised, especially by Eren. He had admired Eren since they were kids. “It’s your turn now.” Armin flushed red as Eren gently tugged Armin’s hands away from his chest, reaching for the end of Armin’s shirt. Armin stiffened when Eren gently removed his shirt.
“Hey, relax, baby. No need to tense up like this. You’re so fucking beautiful. There’s nothing to be embarrassed about,” Eren soothed, trailing kisses along Armin’s stomach. Armin forced his body to relax, reminding himself again that it was just Eren. Eren would take care of him. As Eren pressed gentle kisses to distract him, his hands dipped lower until they gripped the waistline of Armin’s pants. Armin jolted, fear shooting through him and a whimper escaping his lips, but Eren shushed him gently. “It’s okay, baby. I’m not going to hurt you. You’re fine. You’re safe.” Eren’s sweet words brought a sense of ease to Armin, and he relaxed. Eren pulled back so he could slowly remove Armin’s pants, giving him time to tell Eren if he wanted to stop. Once Armin’s pants were gone, he became very aware of a wet spot forming on his briefs. So embarrassing.
Eren easily slipped out of his pants, staying in his briefs. He reached into the drawer of the nightstand, pulling out a few things Armin didn’t recognize. One was a bottle labeled “lubricant” and the other was a thick strip of cloth. In addition to those two items, Eren reached back in and pulled out what looked to be a blindfold. Armin’s breathing quickened at the sight of it, attracting Eren’s attention. He cupped Armin’s cheeks, gently shushing him.
“Hey, hey, relax baby. We don’t have to use the blindfold or the bondage if you’re uncomfortable with it. It’s just used to add to the experience,” he soothed. Armin swallowed thickly.
“A-Add to the experience…?” Eren smiled comfortingly.
“Yes, baby. Do you want to use it?” Armin thought about it for a moment. The idea that Armin would be tied up while Eren did whatever he wanted to him sounded really hot…but he was also really nervous. In the end though, he knew he could trust Eren.
“W-We can use it. I trust you,” Armin heard himself say. Eren’s smile widened.
“Okay, then let me tie you up,” Eren said, grabbing the thick cloth. Armin squirmed with anticipation. Eren gently pulled Armin’s wrists above his head, using the cloth to tie them to the headboard of the bed. He then grabbed the blindfold and gently tied it around Armin’s head, over his eyes. Eren pulled back when he was done, and Armin was surrounded by darkness. He felt Eren smooth his hand down his chest, causing him to shudder. “Let’s take our briefs off. Is that okay?” Armin gulped.
“Y-Yeah.” He jumped when he felt Eren’s hands on the waistband of his briefs, and Eren paused, giving Armin a moment to relax before he gently tugged them off. Armin was mortified when he felt his cock spring free, precum leaking from the tip and splashing onto his thighs. He heard the shuffle of fabric and gasped when he felt Eren’s thick, bare cock rub against this. He felt so big that Armin was worried he might not be able to handle it. How did sex between two guys work anyway?
“I need to prep you first, okay? This is going to hurt a little at first, but I promise it’ll get better. Just try to sit still like a good little boy, okay?” Eren murmured, his lips suddenly right by Armin’s ear. Armin shivered, nodding his head nervously. “Can you respond verbally so I know you’re still with me?”
“Y-Yes, Eren.” Eren laughed breathlessly.
“So obedient.” Armin squirmed at the praise. He heard a bottle opening and the sound of liquid being squeezed out. Something cold was suddenly pressed against the rim of his hole, and Armin gasped.
“O-Oh,” he choked out. Eren shushed him gently.
“Relax, you’re doing fine. Just going to add one finger,” he said, slowly pushing his finger inside Armin’s virgin hole. Armin whimpered, the feeling extremely uncomfortable and rather painful. His walls clenched around Eren’s finger, and Eren moaned. “So tight, baby.” He waited for Armin to adjust before slowly moving his finger in and out. He wrapped his hand around Armin’s cock, rubbing it to distract Armin from the pain. Armin’s back arched when Eren pressed his thumb against the wet slit, swirling the precum around.
“Gonna add a second finger,” Eren warned before slowly inserting a second. Armin gasped, Eren starting to pick up the pace with the thrusts of his fingers. Eren didn’t wait long before adding a third one, until he was fucking Armin with all three fingers. Armin started to pant, the pain fading into a delicious feeling. His toes curled and he moaned embarrassingly loud when Eren’s fingers brushed against a particular spot that brought him immense pleasure. He wanted to cover his mouth to prevent any more embarrassing noises from leaving him, but he couldn’t because his wrists were tied above his head. He tried to squeeze his lips together tightly, but Eren caught him and stopped thrusting abruptly, pulling his fingers out. “Not so fast, baby. I want to hear you, okay? Want to hear your pretty voice moaning my name.” Armin gasped when he felt the tip of Eren’s cock brush against his entrance. Eren gripped Armin’s hips and slowly eased himself into Armin.
Eren was large. Really large. Any woman would be dying to have their ass stuffed with Eren’s cock, but Eren wanted to fuck Armin . Not anyone else. Eren started at a slow pace, getting Armin used to feeling so full, before he eventually started to pick up the pace. He rolled his hips with expertise, his hand rubbing Armin’s cock in time with his thrusts. Armin was moaning more than he wanted to, but he couldn’t help it. Eren felt so good.
“Fuck, baby, you feel so good,” Eren moaned quickening his pace even more, until he was ramming into Armin. His tip brushed Armin’s sweet spot and Armin’s eyes rolled back, pleasure shooting through him. He couldn’t see anything, which made the experience all the more thrilling. He was fully submissive to Eren, and Eren was taking full advantage of that.
Eren started to hit Armin’s prostate perfectly each time, until Armin wasn’t sure he would last much longer. With one final thrust against his prostate and one more stroke of his cock, Armin was moaning,
“Eren!” as he came heavily up his stomach. Eren panted, pulling out as Armin came down from his high. He moved upwards, and Armin had no idea what was going on. When he felt something poke against his lips, he immediately got the hint and parted his lips. Eren groaned as he eased his cock into Armin’s mouth, reaching a hand down to grip a fistful of Armin’s blonde hair.
“Fuck, baby. Such a good boy. Feels so fucking good,” he moaned, rolling his hips slowly and sliding his cock in and out of Armin’s mouth to create friction. Armin knew he was inexperienced, but he really wanted to make Eren feel good, so he thought he’d experiment a bit. He trailed his tongue up the underside, swirling it around the tip and pressing it against the moist slit, lapping at the precum there. Eren moaned loudly. “That’s right, use your tongue, baby. So good for me. Making me feel so good.” The praise only fuelled Armin, who started to suck harder, trying to take all of Eren in. Eren got the hint and sank balls-deep into Armin’s mouth, shuddering when his tip brushed the back of Armin’s throat. Armin choked, since Eren’s cock was so large, but he composed himself and began to bob his head, sucking.
“Gonna fuck your mouth, baby,” Eren said, and Armin hummed. The vibrations caused Eren’s cock to twitch in his mouth. He started a slow rhythm, just to make sure Armin didn’t choke too much, but then he started to pick up the pace, chasing release. “Fuck fuck fuck!” Eren chanted, groaning as he thrusted his cock in and out of Armin’s mouth. Armin stayed as still as he could, wanting to please Eren and make him feel good. “Gonna cum,” Eren warned, and Armin swirled his tongue along the tip again to help him reach his release. With one final thrust and swirl of Armin’s tongue, Eren was moaning,
“Fuck, Armin!” as he came heavily down Armin’s throat. Armin’s eyes widened as his mouth felt extremely full, stuffed with both Eren’s cock and his cum. Eren slowly eased his cock out of Armin’s mouth, cum dripping down Armin’s lip. He tugged the blindfold off and untied Armin’s wrists. Armin wasn’t sure what to do with the cum in his mouth, so he did the only thing he could think of: he swallowed. Eren’s face turned red. “Armin, you didn’t need to do that.” Armin stared up at him with big, blue eyes.
“I wanted to,” he said, swiping his tongue out to lick the leftover cum on his lips to prove his point. Eren collapsed next to Armin, burying his face into the pillow with embarrassment.
“Fuck…” he mumbled into the pillow. Armin smiled tiredly, inching closer and snuggling against Eren’s warm body.
“Thank you for this. I’m so happy my first time was with you,” Armin said softly. Eren pulled his face away from the pillow, smiling.
“Did you like it?” he asked, causing Armin to blush.
“Y-Yeah, I liked it a lot.” Eren’s smile widened.
“Good. We should probably get washed up before we go to bed. We’re both sticky,” Eren said, pulling away from Armin so he could hop off the bed. “I’ll start a bath.” He walked into the bathroom, Armin scrambling to follow him. The thought of bathing with Eren made Armin feel warm and fuzzy.
Once the bath was ready, Eren climbed in and extended his arms out for Armin to climb into. Armin sighed once his body sunk into the warm water, and he felt especially warm cuddling Eren. Eren smiled, running his fingers through Armin’s hair.
“You might feel a little sore tomorrow,” Eren warned him and Armin hummed.
“I know. It was worth it, though,” he said without thinking, blushing instantly once he realized what he’d said. He hid his face in Eren’s warm chest, causing Eren to let out a light laugh.
“Don’t be shy, baby. I’m glad you had a good time,” he said, reaching for the shampoo and pouring a generous amount onto his hand.
Armin was then pampered, and by the time he was clean, he insisted on returning the favor. He had to be up on his knees to wash Eren’s hair because Eren was about a head taller than him. Eren made a joke about how short Armin was, causing Armin to splash water in his face with mock offense. It was nice, messing around like that. It was the first time that Armin completely forgot about being afraid. He felt safe with Eren. Maybe that was because Eren had just taken his virginity, or maybe it was just because Eren was trying to change, and Armin could see that. Whatever the reason, Armin was glad he wouldn’t have to live in constant fear anymore.
When they were finished bathing, they dried off and changed into fresh clothes. Even though Armin had brought his own clothes with him when they moved in, Eren still insisted that Armin wear his clothes often. So Armin threw on one of Eren’s t-shirts after he slipped his briefs on, making his way out into the bedroom. Eren was waiting for him on the bed, having already got ready. He cooed when he saw Armin drowning in his t-shirt, causing Armin’s face to heat up.
“You’re so small, Armin,” Eren said as Armin climbed onto his lap. Armin crossed his arms.
“No I’m not! I grew,” he insisted. Eren smiled.
“Hardly,” he replied, causing Armin to let out a huff. Eren ruffled his hair. “It’s cute. You’re cute.”
“I’m going to bed,” Armin mumbled, laying back with his head on Eren’s chest, his face red. Eren laughed and tugged the covers up so it was covering them, laying his head on the pillow.
“Goodnight, Armin.”
“Goodnight, Eren.”
Armin closed his eyes, Eren’s scent surrounding him and calming him down. All he could smell was Eren, all he could feel was Eren’s warmth. Armin felt safe and secure wrapped up in Eren’s arms. His breathing evened out, and he fell into a deep sleep, unaware of the gentle kiss pressed to his forehead.
Armin woke up the next day to see beautiful green eyes gazing into his blue ones. He let out a small squeak and tugged the covers up, covering half of his face, shyly. Armin had just woken up and Eren was already so close to him. Eren smiled.
“Good morning, beautiful. I’m going to attempt to make breakfast look fancy today,” he said, tugging the covers away from Armin’s face and leaning down to press a kiss to his nose. Armin smiled shyly.
“Oh yeah? I have high expectations, Chef Jaeger,” he joked, causing Eren’s smile to widen.
“Wanna watch me cook? I could always use a cute boy to give me motivation.” Armin sat up, wrapping his arms around Eren’s neck and tugging him close.
“I’d love to,” he said softly, closing his eyes as Eren leaned in to give him a sweet morning kiss. He pulled back too soon, causing Armin to pout. Eren laughed, standing up from the bed.
“Don’t pout, baby. I’ll give you plenty of kisses, promise,” he assured him. Armin got up from the bed, wrapping his arms around Eren.
“Fine,” he said with a pout. Eren ran his fingers through Armin’s hair.
“Don’t tempt me so early in the morning. I haven’t even made our breakfast yet. Keep looking at me like that and you’re going to give me a boner,” Eren said, always shameless. Armin flushed red.
“F-Fine…let’s just go to the kitchen…” Eren laughed again, scooping Armin up and carrying him into the kitchen before setting him down on one of the stools.
“Watch and learn,” Eren said smugly, beginning to make eggs and toast.
Eren ended up almost burning the cottage down, which resulted in Armin having to do the cooking for them. Armin didn’t mind, though. If mornings were always going to be so domestic like that, Armin would be perfectly okay with it.
As they sat down to eat, Armin asked the question he had been thinking about a lot lately. They had been kissing and touching each other more intimately than friends for a few months, and they had recently gone all the way. Where did that put them? Were they friends-with-benefits? Lovers? Armin was well aware of Eren’s feelings for him, and he had come to terms with his own not too long ago. They both liked each other a lot so…what did that make them?
“Eren?” Armin asked, causing Eren to glance up at him.
“Yeah?”
“What are we?” Eren looked slightly taken back by the question.
“What do you want us to be?” Armin swallowed thickly, heat rushing to his face. He squirmed in his seat and dropped his gaze to his plate, unable to look Eren in the eye when he answered him.
“B-Boyfriends…l-lovers…you know, that k-kind of thing…” Eren smiled, reaching out to caress the side of Armin’s face.
“Hey, look at me,” he said softly, tilting Armin’s head up so he would look him in the eye. Armin shivered when they made eye contact. Eren’s gaze was no longer cold and emotionless. Now, it was warm and loving. Armin almost melted from it. “I want that too.” Armin’s mouth fell open in slight shock, then he quickly closed it and stood from his seat, walking towards Eren to crawl onto his lap. With as much bravery and confidence Armin could muster, he cupped Eren’s cheeks with his (very shaky) hands, leaned forward, and kissed him. Eren immediately wrapped his arms around Armin’s waist, tugging him closer until their chests were flush against each other. Armin felt heat coil in his belly, and his mind went foggy for a moment. Eren pulled back so they could both catch their breath, but he kept their foreheads pressed together.
“I love you, Armin.”
“I love you too, Eren.”
The world was a cruel place, but as long as they had each other, they would be just fine.