Work Text:
Connie bites his lip, holding his breath as he watches the bottle spin. This was a bad idea, especially considering half of his friend group were seeing each other or were exes.
But here they were, drunk in Eren’s basement with Mikasa’s emo playlist echoing around them. As a group they usually had a party at least once a month, which Eren usually hosted. It was getting pretty late, so the only people left were Eren’s closest friends. Most of them would probably end up staying the night, the majority of them too drunk to drive. Luckily Eren’s parents were away for the weekend, so they had the whole house to themselves.
Jean had suggested they play spin the bottle, and had employed Connie to help him convince everyone to play. It was a clear ploy to kiss Mikasa, which Connie had rolled his eyes at. It was understandable, though. Mikasa and Eren had been on and off since the beginning of high school, and currently, in their junior year of college, they were off. This was probably the only chance Jean would have for a while.
Now, nursing his fifth beer of the night, Connie sat in a circle on the carpet with his friends. As he sat, he had to fend off Ymir from slapping the back of his head, something his friends loved to do. Despite his hairstyle causing people to have the uncontrollable urge to touch it, he loved his hair. Sometimes he’d let Sasha shave designs in it, like she did for Jean’s undercut. Currently, the two of them had matching spiderwebs on the sides of their heads. Connie didn’t have as many piercings as Armin, only having his lobes done. He wore small diamond studs, though he’d occasionally change them out. Today he wore long black jeans with pale splotches all over. He had styled them himself, splattering bleach across the pants. His shirt was a band tee that he had picked up from a show he went to a few weekends ago.
Connie picked at the frayed hem of his jeans, before turning his attention back to his friends. The circle consisted of Jean, Sasha, Marco, Eren, Mikasa, Armin, Reiner, Bertholdt, Annie, and himself. Historia and Ymir sat outside the circle, opting to spectate instead.
He looks around the circle. Marco is sleepily resting his head on Jean’s shoulder, sitting on one side of him while Connie sits on the other. Sasha sits next to them, eating some potato chips that Mikasa had brought. As she snacks, she periodically slaps away any hands attempting to grab a chip. Even drunk, she wasn’t gonna let someone take her food. Reiner and Bertholdt sat so close together, the former showing the latter something on his phone.
Jean claps his hands, startling Marco and capturing everyone’s attention, “Alright, rules are simple. You spin the bottle, and kiss whoever it lands on. Who wants to go first?”
Before anyone else can, Armin speaks up, “We need to have an out, for the sake of us all continuing to be friends.” He pushes his glasses further up his nose. Despite being a light weight and three drinks in, Armin was still the most logical of their friend group, and Connie appreciated the suggestion.
Maybe it was the beer talking, but Armin looked pretty cute tonight. He wore a baggy band tee which hung on his smaller frame. Beneath it were black and white striped arm warmers. He wore black skinny jeans, something you could rarely see him without. A green studded belt sat at his waist. His face is littered with piercings, his most prominent ones being his snake bites. While all of Connie’s friends are alternative, he had always appreciated Armin’s style the most. The blonde tended to lean more emo and scene, whereas Connie himself was far more punk.
“Yeah you’re right,” Eren responds, “I wouldn’t want to kiss Horse Face,” the metalhead laughs, earning a glare from Jean.
Before the two can get into a fight, Connie butts in, putting a hand on Jean’s knee, “How about shots as our opt out method? You take a shot if you don’t wanna kiss the person.” He holds up a mini bottle of smirnoff from a bowl beside him that Reiner had brought.
Everyone around him nods, and with that, the game begins. Sasha goes first, and they decide to go clockwise in a circle from her.
Connie watches as the bottle spins on the plate they laid down, and is unable to hold back his laughter when the bottle stops and points at Jean. The look on Sasha’s face is one of pure disgust. Connie tosses her a shot before she even has to ask. Sasha Jean and Connie had been best friends for so long that they were almost closer to siblings. The three have been inseparable since elementary school.
Between, “Ew, ew, ew,”s and disgusted faces, Sasha takes her shot. Jean looks equally disturbed, clearly not having expected this possibility when he suggested the game.
Connie takes a sip from his beer as the person to Sasha’s left begins her turn. Mikasa spins the bottle, and even in his inebriated state, Connie notices Jean tense beside him. He looks over to see him crossing his fingers, and he does the same out of solidarity. On the other side of Jean, Marco is also watching intently.
Unfortunately for Jean, as the bottle skitters to a stop, it points to Annie. An audible gasp can be heard, along with a few whispers. Mikasa turns bright red, and Connie moves to grab a shot just in case.
Mikasa stops him with a look, “No, it’s okay. As long as, you know…” She looks across the circle to Annie and everyone goes silent. The only sound audible is “Dead on Arrival” by Fall Out Boy playing over the speakers.
With all eyes on her, Annie nods. Her expression is unreadable. To be fair, she was always unreadable to Connie.
Mikasa moves closer to Annie, who sits across the circle from her with Reiner and Bertholdt.
A growing chorus of “Ooooh!” rises from the group as Mikasa kneels in front of Annie.
Connie can hear Eren whisper to Armin, “She’s not gonna do it. She’s just trying to make me jealous.” Eren being seven drinks deep affects his ability to be discreet, and Connie can hear him clear as day.
Looking at Mikasa, Connie’s not sure if she’s thinking about anyone but Annie right now. He watches as she cups both her hands around Annie’s face, pulling her in gently.
Gasps fill the room as their lips touch, and Annie immediately deepens the kiss. They all watch in shock as Annie pulls Mikasa into her lap, arms wrapped around her waist. The room is a cacophony of noise.
“Ohhh oh shit, oh my god,” Connie feels himself say, though Eren’s voice drowns him out.
“Are you kidding me? You’re fucking joking,” the only thing that stops Eren from standing up is Armin’s hand on his wrist. Through the chaos and his drunken mind fog, Connie smiles. The way that Armin calms Eren down reminds Connie of him and Jean. Despite their best friend’s tempers, they’re always there for them.
By the time his attention is back on the girls, Ymir’s got them apart. Despite this, she’s giving them both a giant grin. Annie’s blonde hair is a mess, while Mikasa’s black lipstick is smeared all over her mouth.
“Save it for another time,” Ymir laughs, giving Annie a pat on the shoulder. She goes back to sit with her girlfriend. Historia, for her part, is blushing profusely.
Mikasa and Annie look shocked, almost in disbelief over what just happened. After a bit the circle shifts so Mikasa can sit next to Annie, and the game continues.
Eren is fuming and insists on going next. Jean cuts him off, “It’s Armin’s turn, let him go.” The pain is evident in his voice as he speaks.
Connie looks at Jean for the first time in a while, his head swimming as his eyes focus on his friend. He’s clearly upset, which should be no surprise. Of course he is, he’s been in love with Mikasa since he met her freshman year of high school. Between the alcohol and the chaos, Connie had almost forgotten about how watching that could affect his best friend.
He’s about to call it off and say that they should all go to bed when he catches movement in his peripheral vision.
It’s the bottle, Armin having started his turn. He watches as it skitters to a stop, the neck of the bottle pointing directly at him.
His initial shock gives way to embarrassment as he hears the roar of his friends’ excitement. Connie looks up at Armin, bracing for rejection. He could count on one hand the amount of times they had hung out just them two. Armin and Connie had gotten closer in the past year, but they were still just friends.
He’s just about to toss Armin a shot to save himself anymore embarrassment when the blonde offers him a smile.
All thoughts in Connie’s head immediately melt and ooze out of his ears. Armin begins to crawl over to him, and though there are several people speaking, Connie can’t make out any of the words.
Armin stops in front of him, sitting on his knees. Despite the confidence he displayed moments before, he’s blushing. “Is this okay?” he asks, bringing one of his hands to the side of Connie’s face.
He nods slowly, Armin’s touch almost as disorienting as the alcohol. Connie’s rewarded with a small smile as he inches ever closer.
Their lips meet slowly and cautiously. The kiss is not as frantic and desperate as Mikasa and Annie’s was. Rather, it was soft. Connie did not know what he would have imagined kissing Armin to be like, but this exceeded all of his expectations. He could feel the metal of Armin’s piercings against his lips, a sensation he’s never experienced. Despite all eyes on them, Armin was remarkably calm. This helped Connie relax, as Armin stroked the side of his face with his thumb. Connie felt himself shiver as he allowed his lips to part for Armin’s wandering tongue. His hands found purchase on Armin’s waist, his fingers curling to keep him close.
Armin gasps, a soft noise that makes Connie himself groan. He can feel himself getting more desperate, and pulls away slowly. As much as he’d like to continue, it just wasn’t possible. For one, all of their friends were watching them, mouths agape. Secondly, they were both extremely drunk. That fact was apparent by the blush spreading across Armin’s face, and the glazed look in his eyes.
Connie is shaken out of his Armin induced stupor by cheering and laughter, and he can’t help but grin. Despite how embarrassing it is, he can’t help but admit he enjoyed that. Armin is still kneeling next to him, saying nothing.
“Hey, are you okay?” Connie asks, checking on him.
Armin nods, “Yeah, I’m just… tired.” Armin leans in close so that only Connie can hear, “I’m gonna go to bed in a bit, will you take the couch with me?”
Connie flushes, not expecting that, “I- yeah. Yeah! That sounds good…”
The chaos around him swells but he doesn’t care. As the next round of the game starts, Armin sits next to him. Armin lays his head on Connie’s shoulder, and he can’t help but grin. As bad as an idea spin the bottle was, he couldn’t complain if it ended with him being cuddled up with Armin Arlert.