geek | armin arlert

the riddler

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fire was burning on your skin while maneuvering through the mass group of dancing teenagers who didnt care to fix their b.o. issues. regardless, it was a feeling unlike before, each step felt closer to the fear of the unknown yet an insane craving.

you turned the corner and he was standing right where sasha said he'd be, like a light shining down from the heavens above. how cliche, a little cheesy, but it felt like fate.

there was no delinquent guitar player, no football-playing apes, no gossip-crazy lunatics, nobody. for the first time, nobody to ruin a moment. it was almost too good to be true, but after doing a double take the coast looked clear enough. there was still a worry about someone popping out to teach another tacky lesson on morals. nonetheless inching closer by the second, even with the reoccurring thought to turn away in hopes it'd keep your mind at peace. feet apparently had a mind of their own and yours were destined to get to that guy.

before you could even process, before he could even turn, "the riddler?"

there was only one individual dweeby enough to show up as a comic book character as inconsequential as the riddler. and for whatever reason, you knew who the riddler was, and was kind of into it. apparently he was just as surprised, "you know who i am?"

armins eyes were widened to a degree, but nowhere as close to how widened yours had been without even realizing it. you wanted to come over as casually as possible, feinting a i just happened to walk past attitude, but your facial expression was undeniably stunned.

there he was, the boy whom you'd mentally said your farewells to days ago in hopes of forgetting he existed — serious farewells, like the man was gone and buried underground, screaming profanities as it happened in your room — the one who's been purposely playing the ghosting game to go run off into the sunset horseback with your new arch-nemesis.

you'd been mad as hell these past few days, through the weekend, even up till this god forsaken very moment. yet for whatever reason when sasha mentioned armin waiting in the kitchen, it felt like some sickeningly sweet destiny. that was the only explanation for this intense face-to-face confrontation, both faces equally as what now?

had he came with annie? what would annie have been? did the riddler have a girlfriend? you didn't ease-drop on your brothers comic book talk enough to know that, and the uncertainty was pissing you off. even more so how those questions were only scrapping the top of the barrel, there were so many more to be asked.

it began to taste bittersweet, chatting like old times but knowing that's as far as things could go from now on. there were no more trips to the aquarium or spontaneous shoulder laying at the movie theater, no more check ups and random facts about yourself that you didn't even know. there was someone else to look out for, and it was definitely jumping the gun, but it would be selfish to doubt their relationship. those two were practically manufactured in the same dork factory!