Chapter Text
Armin chickened out.
He was already bad at talking to people, but texting Eren sent a wave of anxiety through him that he would put off for as long as he could tonight.
So he sat down and did his math homework, looking to view it as a distraction. Unfortunately, it wasn’t a difficult lesson, and Armin found himself triple checking it and consistently fixing little mistakes until it was flawless and he still had an hour of free time.
He eventually sighed, giving in as he leaned back in his desk chair and opened his phone. It wouldn’t be that difficult. Eren seemed like a nice guy and it was just over text, anyway.
And so he entered in the number and inhaled deeply, fingers beginning to move across the keyboard.
Armin
Hey, it’s Armin!
For some odd reason, the reply was practically instantaneous.
Eren
hi!!!! what’re u up to? :)
Armin
Nothing much, just finished my math
homework. It wasn’t too bad, though. Hbu?
Eren
yeah i didn’t think it was all that difficult.
and im js hanging out. was debating baking
Armin
I didn’t know you liked to bake!
Eren
its js a hobby really. keeps my hands moving
and it produces scrumptiliomptious
meals so win-win all around if u ask me
Armin
You speak the truth.
Eren
as always 😝
Armin
Harhar
Eren
ik u can laugh im js too funny
Armin
At least he’s confident.
Eren
talking abt me like im not even here 😭🙏
Armin
Grow up, you know I’m kidding 😂
Alright, for the Final I’m gonna find some
basic sources tonight on heroes and Odysseus, k?
Eren
oki! js remember that we haven’t laid
out a direct research question yet
so we can’t be all that specific w/ sources
Armin
Got it!
Armin released a deep breath, slumping back in his chair in relief. It hadn’t been that bad. It hadn’t been bad at all! Eren really was just a chill guy who liked to bake (apparently) and type in all lowercase.
Then, just as he opened his computer to find some sources, his phone lit up again.
Eren
oh and pic now
Armin
??? Of?
Eren
like so
He proceeded to send a horribly steep angle of his turquoise eyes, nose elongated and forehead looking wide enough to land a plane.
Eren
now hit me up
it’s for a pfp bro
Armin
Yeah no I’ll pass on the
horrendous 0.5 photos, thanks.
Eren
absolutely no fun 😭😒😔
And that was that, apparently. Armin shook himself before opening his laptop.
He didn’t even notice the smile curling at the edge of his mouth.
Armin walked to school with Historia and their other friend Marco the next day. They were quietly cracking jokes and talking about the stresses of last night’s homework when Historia gasped like something horrible had happened.
“Oh yeah!” She exclaimed, mindlessly adjusting her backpack. “I heard you two started working on your final papers of AP English. How’s it going?”
Armin released a huff of air, hand on his heart. “You had us there for a second. And it’s going pretty well! Eren’s actually pretty easy to talk to.”
“That’s go—“ Historia paused, earning her a look of confusion before she mischievously grinned. “You and Eren are partners?”
“Uh, yes.”
“And you have each other’s number for the project?”
“That would be correct.”
“And he’s not that difficult to talk to?”
“So far, no. What are you— okay.” He grumbled to himself.
Historia just smiled, turning her focus to Marco. “How’s your final going, Marco?”
The dark-haired boy shrugged, his backpack jumbling the books inside with the motion. “It’s… going, I guess. My partner’s not bad, just a little difficult for me and my introvertedness.”
With a hum, Historia tapped a finger against her chin. Armin cleared his throat and fell back in step with them. “Who’s your partner?”
“You two know Jean Kirschtein?”
Armin gave Marco a hesitant look, while Historia nodded with a smile, “Yeah! Ymir knows him!”
They both turned toward Armin, and the blonde shrugged. “I mean, I don’t know him all that well. He was friends with some people I don’t particularly like, but I think they split off.”
He could feel sympathetic stares on him, and he fought back a sigh. Both of his friends knew how harshly he had been bullied when accidentally outed at the beginning of high school, and he had already been going through parental issues and overall anxiety and mental health problems. He wasn’t nearly as bullied now, but it still wasn’t his favorite topic.
“Yeah,” Historia nodded. “He was in a bad crowd, but he fell out of it. Ymir said he’s actually changing a lot. Lucky Marco — he’s getting the nice Jean.”
Marco gave a nervous chuckle. “We’ll see.”
After a small stretch of silence, Historia gave a slightly knowing grin, straightening her shoulders as they rounded the corner in front of Shiganshina High.
“Good luck with your finals, you two,” she said. “I know you two will figure it out. And who knows — last project of the year for that class. There could be big things coming your way.”
“Good afternoon, Min!”
“Hi, Eren!” He replied. “Go— wait, huh?!”
Armin froze as his backpack was halfway to the floor, and he stood slightly hunched beside his chair. He settled down slowly as Eren erupted in a fit of giggles, similar to yesterday’s.
Finally, he caught his breath. “Do you mind if I call you that, Min?”
Heat flushed through Armin’s face, and he opened his laptop and did his best to casually hide behind it. “Uh— sure,” he mumbled.
Eren leaned forward, eyes bright. “Hm? I didn’t quite catch that?”
“Sure,” Armin repeated, voice almost cracking.
The boy across from him smiled brightly, leaning back in his chair and pulling his hair back. He quickly tied it into a little bun, which Armin couldn’t help but briefly admire.
That looks cute on him, he thought to himself, wishing he had the courage to say it out loud. If only I was more like Ymir.
Fortunately (or maybe unfortunately), Eren caught his eyes and smirked, resting his chin in his palms and looking intently at his partner. “Like the hair?”
Armin, almost speechless, nodded. “Y—yeah. I do.”
Eren looked at him for a moment longer, and then grabbed his laptop case. “Thanks.”
While they were both opening their laptops and pulling out the Doc, Armin mentally slapped himself. The guy was completely normal around him, so why couldn’t he return the favor?
Crushes were so extremely shitty. And lame, if he was being entirely honest.
“Oh!” Eren said, snapping him out of his thoughts. “I was thinking about our research question last night! How about we do something along the lines of: Would the Greek figure Odysseus be considered a hero by Greco-Roman standards, and how would that compare to today’s idea of a hero?”
Collecting his thoughts with a deep breath in, Armin nodded. It really was a good question, and in all honesty, they both knew what it was gonna be. They just had to actually lay it out before really jumping into source finding.
“Yeah,” Armin replied. “Yeah, that sounds great! Last night I found four or five sources that I put on the Doc, so if you want to start going through them feel free.”
Eren nodded, and the table fell into a comfortable silence for a little while. Armin was scrolling around, trying to find articles and essays defining heroes of now, deciding they would work on the ancient ideals tomorrow. His partner was reading through the four sources Armin had found on Odysseus and his adventures — in the Trojan War and on his journey home. His eyes quizzically scanned over the documents, and Armin found himself occasionally glancing up to see how they flitted back and forth across the screen, bright and focused.
Then Eren spoke up while Armin was looking up, and the blonde cleared his throat awkwardly.
“Oh, and by the way,” Eren began, “what’s with abandoning 0.5 profile pictures, man?”
“I—I’m sorry?”
Eren rolled his eyes, giggling at Armin’s confusion. “Remember — yesterday? I sent you a fucking lovely picture and you just declined.”
Oh. Yeah. Armin smacked himself for forgetting that.
“Just make my picture, like, a cat or something,” he said, looking back at the article he was scanning for credibility. Eren seemed intent on keeping him sidetracked, though.
“Come on! It’s just one picture,” he whined, leaned across his desk. While most of the groups were talking, his voice pitched up a little louder, and Armin glanced around anxiously. Luckily, nobody noticed. Just his paranoia, then.
Still, he glared at Eren — though, it held no real anger. “No, find some random picture.”
A soft click of Eren’s tongue as he sighed. “Fine, but you’re hair would look really pretty in a sunset lighting. You’d be so friggin photogenic.”
Oh.
Armin resisted the urge to bury his face in his hands to hide how red he was surely getting, instead simply ducking subtly behind his laptop once again.
“… Fine. I’ll consider a picture.”
“Hell yeah!”
“But not a 0.5,” Armin hurriedly added.
With a little chuckle, Eren nodded. “Don’t care. I just can’t believe I scored a picture.”
He then decided his time to focus back in had arrived, leaving Armin with racing thoughts and absolutely no way of locking in for at least the next hour.
Okay, yeah, he concluded. I lied. It’s still hard to talk to him.