Lucky | Reader x Armin

Chapter 9.

"So since we currently have five of the nine titans on Marley, that means here on Paradis you have the Founding Titan, the Attack Titan, the Female Titan, and the Colossal Titan." You said, counting them off on your fingers.

You looked up from your cross-legged perch in your chosen armchair today. As usual, there were about twenty books and papers piled around you.

Armin nodded slowly. "That's right." He didn't look at you. He was sitting on the ottoman that was paired with the armchair, his elbows on his knees and his chin resting on locked fingers as he scanned the notes. Sunlight from the tall library windows bathed both of you, making it incredibly hard to focus. Not only was it making you sleepy, but it was also making Armin look radiant. He was haloed in a thin line of golden light and It was hard to keep your eyes off of him.

You marked your page and closed the book you were holding. It looked like he didn't want to talk about this but you didn't think there would ever be a better time to bring it up. "Can you tell me about them?" You asked quietly.

Armin straightened and smiled at you. "Sure. But only if you tell me about the ones in Marley first."

You nodded and shifted in your seat. "Okay."

You told him everything you knew, which was a lot frankly.

After you were done answering all of his questions, he told you about his close friend Eren, who held the Attack and Founding Titan. You listened quietly but you were waiting to hear about Annie and Bertholt. You got the feeling that Armin knew that even though you had never mentioned that you knew them.

"The Female Titan, Annie, is currently encased underground. We had a pretty nasty fight with her and it ended with her encasing herself in crystal. She's been there for a long time and we still don't know how to get her out."

You hesitated, sitting on information that Armin didn't know about the Jaw Titan. "What will you do if you get her out?"

Armin sighed. "We can't afford to let her go back to Marley, so we'd probably find a way to imprison her and interrogate her until we figured out what to do next."

"Oh." You said quietly. You decided to hold onto your information for now. At least they weren't planning on outright killing her or giving her powers to someone else.

"And Bertholt?" You asked.

Armin sighed. "Bertholt... He was defeated in battle. It wasn't easy. He was clearly the most conflicted of those three, but he had to be stopped."

You stared at him. Not sure how to respond. You didn't know Bertholt very well but he was always sweet to you. You gaped at him. "How- how did..." you didn't know how to ask your question. "Wait-" your eyes snapped up to him. "If Bertholt was killed then what happened to-"

Just then the phone rang. While he may have been hiding it, you saw the relief on his face behind the friendly smile. "Sorry, Y/N. Just a minute." He stood up and walked out of the room towards the kitchen where the phone was.

You hugged your knees to your chest and waited. You couldn't hear what he was saying but after a moment his voice started to sound stressed. When you heard the phone click and the sounds of hurried footsteps and rummaging you decided to get up.

You found Armin in the entryway, halfway through hooking up his ODM gear.

"Y/N." He said as he continued to pull on straps and do up clips. His voice sounded almost panicked. "I have to go, there's been a breach." Your eyes widened. "I shouldn't be gone too long."

"Armin-" you didn't know what to say.

Once he tightened the last strap he stood up straight. Fuck he looked cool like this.

"Don't go anywhere. You'll be safe here." He said, his voice steady now. He seemed to do what he did next without thinking. He stepped forward and put one hand on the back of your head, threading his fingers through your hair and gently pulling you forward. He pressed his lips to your forehead.

Your face burned hot. "What about you? Will you be okay?" You asked, he seemed to have no transferred all of his panic to you.

He had already started to open the front door, he turned one more time. "I'll be fine Y/N. I promise." He reached out and tugged at a lock of your hair. "I'll be back before you know it and I'll make you dinner when I get home."

You nodded, and he gave you one last heartbreaking smile as he turned to go.