Maneater (Armin x Reader)

Chapter 1

It was 3 am. You were awake, unfortunately, your body dragging you from sleep as it always did moments before something would happen. Every one knew it, how good your intuition was. And from the feverish knocking on your door and the muffled cries, you knew exactly who it was and why.

You dragged yourself out of the bed and towards your bedroom door, prying it open and walking across the apartment floor to your front door. You took a deep breath, then attempted to exhale the tiredness from your body. You knew you wouldn't be sleeping the rest of the night.

-

"I don't wanna say I told you so but..." you trailed off. You knew it was mean and something she probably didn't want to hear, but that didn't stop you from saying it. You were right, you always were, and you were brutally honest about it.

"I know," she sniffled, looking up at you through her puffy eyes, "but I thought he was nice. We all did-"

"Not me" you interjected immediately.

She laughed softly, "Yes, not you. But still. He was so sweet to me. No boy is ever sweet to me like that."

"It's called lovebombing sweetheart. He reels you in with that whole little game he plays. Makes you think he's all over you. Then the moment you let him in, he'll take what he wants and leave you in the dust. Been through it a million times, they're all the fucking same."

She burst out in another sob, and you rolled your eyes. It wasn't a mean eye-rolling, more endearing. You pulled her into a hug, letting her shake against your chest and let out all her frustration and sadness into your loose night shirt. You didn't mind, not really. No matter how you acted, you really loved your friends. And you would do anything for them.

After a few long moments of sobbing and ranting into your arms, she finally pulled away.

"Fuck Armin Arlert" she laughed, and you let out a big ferocious one in response.

"Fuck Armin Arlert!" you repeated, louder than her.

"Fuck Armin Arlert! Fuck his mom! FUCK HIS STUPID BLONDE HAIR AND STUPID EYES AND STUPID EVERYTHING FUCK HIM!!" she was screaming at this point, both of you keeled over in infectious laughter. You were a good friend, she thought. And you were a maneater too. That's when the idea struck her, almost as quickly as it struck you. You both looked up, made eye contact, and knew exactly what you were going to do.

-

You were a maneater. Figuratively- and literally, if you counted sex as some kind of hunger to be satiated. When you were younger, you had been a type of hopeless romantic, easily fooled and swayed by any act of kindness. But you'd been betrayed, had your heart shattered, and cried over dumb boys so many times that you eventually stopped caring about them. Now, you could only see them as tools for validation. Little opportunities to have fun, to get back at the general male species for all the harm they'd done to you. You knew how to reel them in, make them think you were the perfect one for them, then break their stupid fucking hearts. You loved seeing the hurt in their eyes, and you loved dominating them even more. You rarely ever fucked the same guy twice, always moving on from them quickly. The ones you did fuck multiple times, though, were submissive little fucktoys that would heed to your ever beck and call, desperate to be put in their place by you. That's how you liked them, pathetic and whipped.

Now your friend, was a different story. She had her fair share of heartbreak, sure, but she was never broken by it. She cried, sobbed, was suicidal, all the usual, but only for a couple days. She'd move on to the next one, just like you, but instead she was the one who'd willingly get into relationships with men knowing they were using her. She didn't care, as long as she felt wanted and loved, even if only for a moment. Then they would leave, and she would go back to square one. You always told her when a guy would break her heart, she'd never listen, end up in your apartment at 3 am, cry, and meet a new one the next day. In a way, she was a maneater too.

But Armin Arlet had fucked her over in a way she had never experienced before. She genuinely, really thought he was a nice guy. He had treated her with so much respect, played the long game, made her feel loved and appreciated and cared for in an not overwhelming way that had captured her completely. He took her time with her, refusing to have sex until she was "comfortable", seeing how long he could drag it out until she was begging for him to fuck her dumb. He'd tease her every time they were together, light touches, quick glances, little smiles. And then he finally did it. Fucked her so stupid that she couldn't walk the next morning, the same morning she would wake up to an empty bed.
She texted him, asking him where he had gone. No response. A couple days later, a quick "Hey, I'm free rn if u wanted to come over?" No response. "Hey, I'm sorry if I got the wrong message, but I really thought u liked me? Could we talk abt this?" No response. "Hello?" and then finally, she saw him typing.

Her heart skipped a million beats and she waited, all hopeful and ignorant as she always was. Then his message delivered.

"We fucked once, get over it. Stop texting me, shit's annoying."

What? Did someone take his phone? This wasn't the Armin she had known, the one that showered her with compliments and pretty smiles and longing glances. Who was this? She tried to type out a response but it wouldn't deliver, and she quickly figured he had blocked her. The realization fully settled in and a hot angry red began to spread on her face as the familiar tears started falling. She had been played, played so fucking hard her heart felt heavier than it had in years. She needed to talk to someone, and she knew who it had to be.

-

"So can you?"

"Uh... Let me see a picture of him again? I've only seen him twice- that one time at Connie's party and then that time at the bar when you introduced us."

A couple moments later a photo of him was shoved in your face, and you grabbed the phone for further inspection.

"He's cute I guess. A little too white for me. I can work with this though. Looks satisfying to do, especially after what you just told me. Have you told him anything about me? How I run things?"

"So you'll do it?" She grinned enthusiastically, all signs of her previous meltdown almost completely wiped from her face.

"I didn't say that- now answer the questions first dumbass."

"No, no, he only knows you've had bad experiences with them and you've kind of lost hope in men. Not the whole..."

"-Maneating thing" you finished, laughing. "That's good. Perfect actually. He'll think all I'm looking for is the man to treat me right, and play right into it. Fine. Okay. I'll do this. You owe me a years worth of late night snacks, you know that right?"

"Sure, sure, I'll do whatever the fuck you want, just break that pathetic fucking boy. Be sure to take a picture of his face when he starts crying or something. I need something to jerk off to."

"God, sometimes you're even worse than me" you snorted, playfully hitting her shoulder.

Okay, you thought, now I need to get everything in order. Your friend watched you, chuckling at your dark eyes, knowing that familiar look of your gears turning in your mind to plot away some nefarious fucking plan. Oh, the both of you thought, this would be so satisfying.