Cosplay Husband

23. Man-to-Man-to-Man Talk

EREN: The bitterness of winter stung me especially. It was the first Christmas and New Year's Eve without my mother. Despite how often she and my father told me how much of a disappointment I was, Mom was always a little better at encouraging me to follow my dreams.

I wish I'd at least had a dream to follow.

February rolled around quickly, which meant Valentine's Day was coming up.

"So Jaegerbomb-bastic, what are ya doing for Valentine's Day?" Connie asked me, not drawing his eyes away from his Call of Duty.

"I don't know...do I have to do something?" I replied reluctantly.

"Well, you're in a relationship so you probably should," Connie said, "Sasha and I are going to dinner. Do you wanna make it a double date?"

"Uhh..." I recalled how Connie and Sasha normally acted around each other and answered accordingly, "I think I'll pass."

"Well you should at least get him something." Connie pointed out.

"I already did," I told him, sliding a book out from under my pillow and waving it front of Connie. "The newest book from one of his favorite authors."

"That's nice," Connie said, still not really paying attention.

I hoped it would be.

I met Marco and Jean for lunch at the cafe around noon.

"Eren~," Marco sang as I walked in, "did you get Armin something for Valentine's Day?"

"Yeah, I got him a book." I replied.

"That's it?" Jean raised an eyebrow.

"What else am I supposed to do?" I took a seat next to them.

Marco and Jean glanced at each other.

"Aren't you two gonna...?" Jean rotated his hand to indicate I should finish his sentence.

"Fuck." Marco said simply.

My face flushed. "I don't think so," I said matter-of-factly. "Armin is uneasy with sexual stuff because he was abused as a kid. I wouldn't cross that boundary with him unless he was ready."

"How do you know he's not ready?" Marco pointed out.

"Well, I don't know if it's changed since then, but, around Christmas Armin and I were making out when I pinned him to the floor. That part scared him a little." I explained.

"I always saw Armin as more of a bottom, but maybe he's more comfortable as the top?" Marco suggested.

"Either way, I don't think we'll be doing it." I said. "Besides...I'm not really sure how guy on guy sex works..."

I assumed it was the same as straight sex (which I had had with Mikasa more than enough times), with the hole just being different.

"You stick it in his ass," Marco said.

"Wouldn't that hurt him?" I cringed slightly.

"Oh, it does hurt if you go in raw. Make sure you use lots of lube. But not too much lube, otherwise you're slipperier than a greased pig on ice." Marco said. "And you have to prepare him by sticking your fingers in there first. It'll relax his butt muscles."

I looked around, making sure no one was listening to Marco.

"Mhmm..." I mumbled.

"I would ask Armin if he thinks he's ready for it," Jean suggested.

"We've only been dating for like...less than two months." I said. "There's no way he would want to."

"There's no harm in trying." Jean shrugged.

Later that day, I watched Armin's nimble fingers sewing his pants for his Roxas cosplay.

"Hey Armin, I have a question for you," I began reluctantly.

"Yeah?" He didn't turn to face me.

"H-how would you...do you think you're...um..." I faltered.

"What?" Armin stopped sewing.

"Jean and Marco want me to ask you if you're ready to have sex." I closed my eyes.

"No," Armin interjected, "I'm sorry, but no."

"I know, I didn't want to ask because I knew you would say no," I agreed.

There was a pause in which Armin took to seeing again, then he inquired, "Have you had sex before?"

"I have with Mikasa," I confessed.

"I see," he murmured.

"Jean and Marco tried to explain gay sex to me," I chuckled lightly to hopefully convey some joking.

"It would hurt," he noted.

"I know," I said.

"I don't know if I could ever be ready..." He murmured.

"Right...I understand. It's not like you need to have sex to be in a relationship." I assured him.

"Mhmm..." He returned to seeing.

"Do you want your Valentine's Day present early?" I asked.

He stopped again. "I haven't gotten you anything!"

"You don't need to get me anything," I assured him. I sprinted down the hall, retrieved the book, and returned. "Sorry...it's not wrapped..."

I handed it to him. Armin's face fell.

"What's wrong, do you not like it?"

"I loved it," Armin replied, "uh, loved being the key word. My grandpa bought it for me for my birthday."

My stomach dropped, not because he didn't like my present, but because I didn't know when Armin's birthday was. "When...is your birthday?"

"November 3rd," he said.

My stomach dropped lower. "I...I forgot your birthday?"

"You didn't know when it was," he assured. "And I don't really like celebrating my birthday, so I didn't bother to tell you. Uh...when's yours?"

"March 30th..." I squeaked.

"Oh, that's the day I have GamaCon tickets for. I'll buy you something there since you bought me that figurine."

"N-no, that's okay. Don't celebrate my birthday, since I didn't celebrate yours." I sat down on his bed again. "How old are you?"

"I'm eighteen now."

"Ah..."

"Are you sad?"

"A little..."

"Don't be. Here, you can have the book as your Valentine's Day present." He offered.

"But it's not really a present if I bought it myself." I said.

"Don't worry about it." He shrugged.

There was a silence. I felt so guilty. "Armin, where's your favorite place to eat?"

"Uh...I don't really go out to eat." He replied.

That gave me a better idea than just taking him out to some random restaurant.

"Okay. Hey, on Valentine's Day, I wanna take you somewhere on a date." I said. My heart throbbed with excitement at how clever my idea was.

"I'm fine with any place," he said, "and it sounds good. Should I dress up?"

"If you want. I guess I will, but I need some style advice from Marco." I said. "I'm gonna take you out on the best date to make up for missing your birthday."

Later that night, I made the reservations to eat. This was going to work.

AN: Sorry I kept changing the date for GamaCon, but I wanted it to progress a little faster.