the shoulder trick

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"it's kind of like a double date, wouldn't you agree?"

mikasa gushed, willy-nilly about the friend's outing. she stood on your right, marco on the opposite, as eren and armin trailed behind at a distance.

"is it?"

truth be told, you hadn't exactly ever been on a genuine date. never any romantic moments, never any sparks, but it came with the fact that there had never been any special someone in your romantic life anyway. besides the few link-ups with random boys, but those were nowhere near real dates.

"and marco."

marco added, a bit ticked off that he'd been fifth wheeling. not like anybody was necessarily excluding the boy, in fact, he'd been awfully more incorporated than eren and armin who'd been having their own conversation behind.

while the three of you in front bickered about this event being a date or not, armin was frantic to get himself put together. needless to say, the blonde was incredibly nervous. after suddenly gaining enough balls to hold your hand today, he figured he needed to go the extra mile.

the shoulder trick.

the perfect classic flirty move almost every playboy teen would use on a girl during a movie.

having eren smell his breath, which was prepped to smell minty by the help of a little friend named gum, there might've been a little mouth-to-mouth action too if the gods were on his side today.

on the other hand, you had been dreading agreeing to tag along on this little rendezvous. it was true the company of armins friends was enjoyable, but this idea of being included in a self-proclaimed 'double date' was not necessarily ideal. it was actually demeaning to be grouped into such a thing.

plus what would historia think of this? going on a double date with her crush and some other girl? that was totally against some form of the girl code.

it was definitely a crime, if the shoe was on the other foot you'd be furious. not that this was actually a double date or anything, you were definitely not planning on swooning over breath-boy over there anytime soon.

you had clearly noticed armins eager attempt of freshening up — admittedly you found it oddly cute which went against your previous statement of not faltering to swoon for him (not that this had been swooning but it was definitely crossing a line) — most likely to pull some moves later. well, more like try to pull moves, if he had any...

"do you want to share popcorn?"
"sure."

you'd originally planned on buying sour patch kids, but who would pass up popcorn? not to mention armin paid, which was very kind and silly at the same time.

once mikasa viewed the scene she audibly gasped before turning to the brunette and asking if he'd like to share popcorn as well. eren replied as boringly as ever (how does he pull) but took out his wallet once being called forth by the worker. you could see the sparkles in the black-haired girl's eyes. marco sighed, noting never to fifth wheel ever again while swiping his own card for his own popcorn.

the popcorn was served, handed to armin, and then handed to you gently.

"do you like anything on your popcorn?"
"not necessarily."
"cool."

your responses were as bland as ever, yet armin still noticeably cherished the shared conversations nonetheless, even if they were about popcorn preferences. it was easy to tell this when he'd grin ear to ear.

the boy wouldn't have minded running off to a different movie where you two could be alone. now that would be romantic, but the actual balls to make that transpire were nonexistent.

weirdly enough, talking to armin was somewhat refreshing. you didn't have to flutter eyelashes or baby-talk cutely in order to keep his attention, it sort of all just played out. you could respond as boringly as possible and he'd still be interested to keep the conversation going.

you began to think maybe that's what historia saw in someone as bland as eren jaeger. he may not be prominent, popular, or attractive but the feeling around him is much more natural. it was like breaking free from social norms and being able to breathe.

armin may not be prominent, popular, or attractive but he's easy to let loose around. he's not an asshole who'd slut-shame you in front of a party. he's not a loser who's in love with your best friend.

he's not some 'athlete' or some 'mature older guy' like the group's usual boy toys, he was just normal. but normal was good. normal bought you popcorn and held your purse and took punches for you and lent you sweaters in the bitterly cold weather.

and perhaps if you really squinted, normal could become attractive. perhaps.

"(y/n), sit on my other side!"

mikasa whispered cheerfully once entering the cinema, pushing eren into the row before grabbing your own hand to bring you along. armin followed suit, marco eventually popped up with additional m&m's and a slurpy.

you smiled at mikasa who plopped down carrying a large popcorn bucket, much like you. it was sort of adorable, matching popcorn buckets-

and that's where you had to stop, this was getting way too sappy. this whole 'double date' thing was becoming more realistic by the second, much to your own dismay.

"what's this movie about anyway?"
"it's a romance film, isn't it?"

you and mikasa looked over at eren slightly confused. as much as romance films ruled, there was no way the boys had willingly chosen to sit through one.

"it's a rerun."

the blonde hesitantly said.

"21 jump street."

marco managed to mumble while sipping the berry-flavored slurpy.

"again? armin do you pay them or something?"
"21 jump street's just good!"
"so that's why this cinema is dead."

getting to the point, it wasn't until halfway through the film that armin had accumulated enough might to casually throw his arm around your shoulders, but as he pretended to yawn to make the process more natural, it turned out he wasn't ready. not now, not within the next ten minutes, maybe not all night. in utter defeat, his arm went right back down to where it'd been.

you witnessed it all from the corner of your eye with a pained look, taking into consideration the great effort he had put into this 'casual' outing. it was cute, in like a younger kid who had a crush on the older girl but knew it was totally out of the question kind of way.

in that case, out of pity, you carefully rested your head on his own shoulder. sure it wasn't exactly what he wanted, but you figured it would suffice.

and it positively did do just that. armins excitement at that exact moment was quite literally out the roof. it was bouncing on the walls, bouncing through his brain, bouncing all throughout everywhere. he couldn't even focus on his absolute favorite film with the head of his biggest crush lying on his side.

your potent perfume filled his nostrils, a mix of lavender and vanilla, needless to say he could pass away in peace now.

his shoulder was comfy compared to the movie seat, especially when he moved his own head so yours could sit pretty with more alleviation. one admirable thing about armin was the respect and amount of care when it came to physical touch, at least when it concerned you. instead of unnerving, it was secure.

the subtle skim of hands while grabbing popcorn, the knee grazing while sitting, the smell of mixed fragrances, it was all perfect.

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