Birdie (Levi x OC)

forty-six

The Headquarters was sprawling and sparsely populated now, making it easy to track Armin.

I found the young boy in the stables, alone. He was whispering to one of the few horses we had left, his hands steady as he brushed its coat. He was soothing it, but the quiet concentration showed he was trying to soothe himself too.

"Armin?" I asked, hobbling over to him.

"Birdie," he looked up, his expression immediately shifting to concern. "Should you be out here alone?"

"I've got this now," I said, tapping my brace with my knuckle. "The crutches too. Stop worrying."

"Sorry," Armin said, pulling up an empty crate for me to sit on as he continued working on the horse.

"Eren told me today," I stated, sharper than I had intended. "About the lifespan of Titan Shifters."

Armin looked at me, wide-eyed. I continued speaking quickly before he could form a defense. "I am so sorry I didn't know until now. I wish I could have talked to you about it sooner."

I grimaced. "Levi, albeit with good intentions, has kept me thoroughly in the dark these past couple of months."

"Birdie, you almost died," Armin replied, matter-of-fact. "You had to focus on healing, on surviving."

"I know," I smiled softly. "I just wanted to check in on you. Are you holding up okay with... everything?"

Armin processed my question, running a soft-bristled brush over the horse's back. "I keep thinking that it should have been Erwin Levi chose. I think lots of people think that."

"I don't," I said simply. "I respected Erwin and cared about him. And yeah, he was a pretty good strategizer, and handsome too," I gave Armin a humored look, causing him to offer a faint, weary laugh.

"But I do mean it," I said, serious now. "Erwin was a wonderful man, but he can rest now. He passed that torch onto you and the rest of us."

"Besides," I said, leaning forward slightly. "It wasn't your choice to take that power. Levi lives with the consequences of that decision, not you. Let him shoulder that burden."

Armin nodded slowly, the dam breaking as unshed tears finally brimmed in his eyes. The quiet permission to release his guilt was all he needed.

He wiped his eyes quickly with the back of his hand, managing a wobbly smile. "Thank you, Birdie. You know, you and I... we're alike."

"How so?" I asked, touched by the sudden, intimate observation.

"We feel the emotions, but we lead with logic," Armin explained, his voice gaining its thoughtful clarity once more. "You're smart enough to advise a commander, yet gentle enough to argue for peace. You use that emotion to solve the problem, not to fuel the rage. I realized today, you're the only one who can handle the big decisions and still worry if the rest of us have eaten."

"That's high praise coming from you, Armin," I said softly. "I sometimes think my emotions, my sensitivities make me a liability; obstruct my thinking. But hearing that makes me...happy."

I paused, thinking.

"I guess we'll just have to solve the world's problems together," I said, my own chest tight with warmth.

"I think we will," he agreed, the distant hope returning to his eyes.

"Eren came to talk to me regarding my thoughts on this war," I raised my eyebrows to Armin. "Did he ask the same of you?"

"More or less," Armin grimaced. "Now that I have this awful ability, it does give us a fighting chance if it came to a battle. But I'd rather try diplomacy first."