Communication Error (Eremin)

Chapter Four • Stunned

Armin blinked in pure shock, unable to move for a moment. No wonder he didn't respond! Catching himself frozen in confusion, he fixed himself and paid attention to the boy that was still signing to him. He couldn't make out what was trying to be communicated to him, but he watched anyway, hoping to catch on to something. The only thing he caught was the expression of nervousness on the brunet's face. Lost as the day is long, he felt a weight lifted off his shoulders as a woman resembling the boy before him walked up and looked at Armin with sympathy.
    "I'm awfully sorry," she said as she stopped behind the teenaged boy that he assumed was her son. They sure looked alike enough. "He refuses to acknowledge that not everyone understands sign language." She pat her son on the back of his head.
    "I-it's fine. I'm sorry if I was being rude," Armin commented, addressing his obvious state of shock from a moment ago.
    "It's fine." The woman smiled. She turned to her son and signed something to him with a slightly annoyed expression. She watched him sign back in response, then she turned to Armin again. "He apologizes," she explained. "What's your name?"
    "Armin." He looked at the woman and her son, slightly amazed now at the fluent communication between them.
    "Armin?" she repeated. When Armin nodded, she turned to her son and signed to him what Armin assumed was an explanation on his name. She paused from signing and looked at her son as he signed while facing Armin.
    Armin looked at him steadily and with full interest.
    "He says, 'My name is Eren.'" She smiled and looked back at Armin. "And my name is Carla. It's nice to meet you, Armin. I assume you two don't know each other?"
    Armin shook his head. "No ma'am. I've just seen him when he heads to school with a friend of his," he answered
    "Mikasa?"
    "Yes ma'am."
    Carla's eyes grew round in interest. "You know Mikasa?"
    "I just met her this afternoon. She seems very nice," he put in.
    Carla nodded in agreement. "She helps Eren around town a lot. She's a big helper, for sure."
    There was a tiny pause between words. Armin looked at Eren and saw his expression had changed. He seems friendly, he thought happily. His happiness faded, though, as he realized he wouldn't be able to be friends with him, since they lacked a way to communicate with each other—save they had someone around at all times. But what a drag that would be!
    A second later, Carla spoke up. "We have to go now. I'm sorry to hold you up. Enjoy your day, Armin." She smiled.
    Armin smiled back at Carla, somewhat awkwardly. "Goodbye. Thank you for the chat." He waved to them, and watched Eren as they parted their ways.
    Eren met Armin's eyes and smiled warmly, with the same energetic spark that Armin loved, then waved a little bit before turning to look ahead of him.
    Armin was sad that the conversation didn't go as well as he had planned, but he was glad he finally got to meet Eren. The situation replayed in his mind as he walked home.

    Armin and Mr. Arlert sat at the dinner table together once Armin got home and dinner was ready. He apologized for having been late, and following up he explained why he had been held back.
    "It didn't even occur to me that he'd be deaf," he stated. "I mean, I've never met a deaf person before, and he didn't seem like he'd be deaf at all."
    Mr. Arlert raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean, 'he didn't seem like he'd be deaf?' Do deaf people have a certain look about them or something?"
    "No," Armin answered quietly. "I just assumed, I guess, that deaf people seemed calm and reserved in general."
    "Mmmhm."
    "Anyways, that being said, I'm kinda stumped because I want to get to know him, but I can't talk to him unless his mom is around." He sighed. And sunk in his seat a little bit. "And I don't know if I can learn sign language."
    Mr. Arlert shrugged. "His mother knows it, right? And she's a hearing person?"
    Armin nodded.
    "Then you can ask her to teach you. We can squeeze in some time at the end of the day to get you together for that, I'm sure." Mr. Arlert picked up his mug of tea and sipped it.
    Armin's blue eyes lit up, and he sat back up in his chair. "Really?!" he gasped.
    "Why not?"
    Armin smiled wide. "Oh, that'd be amazing!" Immediately he began making plans in his mind to meet up with Mikasa and find Carla again. Before he got too far into the details, his grandfather snapped him out of his thoughts and ordered him to finish his dinner. Armin obliged, but was too excited to enjoy it anymore. He unconsciously scarfed it down, despite being told multiple times to slow down. Once he was finished, he took care of his plate and headed up to the second floor to get a shower and then to get into bed. Tomorrow, he decided, was going to be even more exciting than today was.

    Immediately after school the next day, he pulled Mikasa aside and asked her if she could take him over to Eren's house. She agreed, and the two left the school grounds. On the way there, though it was out of the way, they picked Eren up, and from there they all went to Eren's house together.
    Armin felt amazed at watching Mikasa and Eren communicate back and forth, despite his assumptions that Mikasa knew sign language. He couldn't help but feel a bit discouraged and defeated already, though he knew it was ridiculous of him to feel so. Mikasa had obviously been signing for a while in her life, so of course she'd be better than Armin was.
    "Eren says he ran into you yesterday on the way to the library," Mikasa said to Armin. "He says you looked like you were leaving it."
    "I was." Armin looked at Mikasa, then at Eren, and back again at Mikasa.
    "You like it? The library?" She seemed genuinely curious.
    "I do. I volunteer there." He smiled.
    She smiled in return. "Really? How long have you been volunteering?"
    Armin looked up as he calculated his time at the library for a moment. "Uh . . . A year or so, I think."
    As Mikasa and Armin indulged in their smalltalk, Eren seemed distracted in looking between the two of them. Armin wondered if he was trying to guess what they were saying, but he wasn't certain. Eventually, the three of them walked up onto a brick house's porch and headed inside.
    "We're back," Mikasa called out.
    Eren stood still in front of the door beside Armin.
    Armin caught Eren looking at him a couple times, but he didn't let it bother him. He waited at the door for a moment, until Mikasa told him he could sit down if he wanted to. Likewise, he took a seat in a brown chair in the living room and set his backpack on the floor beside it.
    Carla appeared in the room with a smile. "Good evening, hello! It's nice to see you again." She sat down on the couch close by. "Mikasa told me you wanted to see me, but she wouldn't tell me why. Is there something wrong?"
    "No, no, no, not at all." He smiled awkwardly. "I just wanted to ask you if you'd be . . . Willing to teach me how to sign. I told my grandfather about yesterday evening, and he suggested I ask you."
    Carla smiled warmly. "Of course. I'd just have to find when a good time to get together would be, assuming you want to meet somewhere?" She paused, then added, "We can even meet here if you'd like."
    "That'd be nice, actually," Armin commented thoughtfully. "I can come here after school, if that's okay."
    Carla nodded. "That's fine with me." She sat back and looked concentrated on something. "I can't be here every night, though. So, maybe once a week? Wednesdays, maybe?"
    "I think that works. There's not usually anything going on then, except for volunteer work at the library," Armin pointed out, half to himself. "But I can always go afterwards."
    "So we're settled here?" Carla tilted her head a little.
    "Yes ma'am. Thank you so much!" Armin's spirits lifted. Excitement buzzed inside of him. He checked a nearby clock, and realized he had to leave very soon. "I have to go now. I'll see you on Wednesday, then, if not sooner." He got up and picked up his backpack. "Mikasa," he called as he saw her passing into another room, "I can take you home if you want. I'm leaving now."
    Mikasa smiled with laughter in her eyes. "Thank you, but I live here." She gave Armin a tight side hug. "I'll see you tomorrow."
    Armin nodded, then brushed some of his bangs out of his face, in part to hide his embarrassment. "See you tomorrow." He headed back to the door, and, as he left, caught Eren's sparkling green eyes. He smiled and waved, then stepped out the door. It closed behind him, and from there he went home.