Communication Error (Eremin)

Chapter Five • Lesson

Armin buzzed with excitement. Today was the first day he was to meet up with Carla and Eren to learn sign language, and he wasn't sure what to expect yet. What would he learn first? Should he bring something to them to say 'thank you'? Would he need anything to help him? What if he got there too early? What if he got there too late? All this questioning started to really stress Armin out, though he knew it wasn't worth stressing over. Everything will be just fine when you get there, he'd tell himself. But it didn't help much to repeat such things.
He massaged his temple slowly as he strode to Eren's house. He was careful with where he went to get there, despite knowing how to get halfway, and being otherwise familiar with the area. He didn't want to show up at some stranger's house. That'd just be awkward and it would stress him even more. It took longer than it could've to get to Eren's home, but he made it, and that much relieved him. He walked up onto the porch and rung the doorbell, stepping back a moment afterwards.
The door swung open a minute later, and Mikasa stood in the doorway, smiling invitingly. "Hey, you made it." She pulled the door open more and scooted herself aside to let Armin in. "Come on in." When Armin walked inside, she closed the door and locked it. "Carla isn't home yet. She will be in a few minutes, though."
"The traffic out there is really backed up," Armin stated as he slipped his backpack off and sat down in the same brown chair he was seated in before. "Which isn't a surprise at this time of day."
"That's what she told me. Well, anyways, I'm glad you're here." She sat on the couch near him. "We don't get a lot of company, especially company our age, so it's nice to have you over."
    As Mikasa finished her sentence, Eren walked into the room with two pieces of string cheese; one unopened in his left hand, and another that he was biting into. He bit back a thread of it and pulled it off. Only when he went to lay down did he notice another person in the corner of his eye. He looked up and saw Armin.
    Mikasa waved at him, catching his attention, then crossed her arms. By her expression, she wasn't very happy about his homely presence. She frowned at Eren, who looked unsure as to why she was so upset.
    He looked down at the unopened package of string cheese and then at Armin. He held it out a little, offering it to him.
    When Armin shook his head, Eren sat down on the floor and leaned against the couch, then continued to indulge in the cheese carelessly.
    "He needs a lot of help," Mikasa told Armin while still looking down at Eren with disapproval. When Eren caught her eyes, she rolled them and faced Armin. Eren sat up and scowled at her in challenge for a moment, but he relaxed again when she kept ignoring him.
    Armin was entertained by the exchange, though he was quite surprised at Eren's wild expressions. "He's something else, I'll give him that much."
    Mikasa smiled. "If by 'something else' you mean 'too competitive for his own good' or 'a drama queen,' then, yes, I agree." She sat back comfortably. "One day he's going to piss someone off that he can't beat, and then he'll be in trouble. Until then, he's just got his mother to worry about," she added, giggling quietly.
    As if on queue, clicking sounded from the front door, followed by the door opening and Carla stepping inside. "Mikasa, groceries!" she yelled, obviously assuming she was upstairs. She began to head into the kitchen to put down a couple full plastic bags away, but stopped upon seeing Mikasa. "Oh, you're in here." She blinked. "So are you. Hello, Armin. Sorry for yelling," she apologized to Armin and Mikasa, who was leaving the room to help bring groceries in. Before Carla left the room, she waved to Eren.
She didn't catch his attention, so Armin tapped him and pointed to Carla.
After setting down the two plastic bags, Carla pointedly signed to Eren and watched him get up and go out the front door. She picked up the bags and headed to the kitchen.
Armin sat back down in silence and waited for someone to come back into the room. He looked around to become more familiar with the surroundings. He shrugged his shoulders back to straighten his spine and kept his hands in his lap.
A few minutes later, Carla walked back into the room. "Sorry about making you wait." She sat down on the couch where Mikasa had been sitting and looked at Armin with a smile. "That aside, are you still up for learning sign language?"
Armin nodded. "Yes ma'am." He tensed up a little in excitement.
Carla seemed amused. "You must not be a quitter. That's good.
"Now, I'm going to start you off with the alphabet." She signed A, B, and C. "Okay?"
Armin looked at her. "Okay."
    "Look. I'm going to sign the alphabet while going through it out loud. I want you to go through it with me."
    "Okay."
    She started by putting her fingers against her palm and sticking her thumb up. "A," she stuck her fingers out and curled her thumb in, "B," her fingertips curled in a little as her thumb did the same, "C, D, E, F, G . . ."
    She went on through the alphabet while signing appropriately and making sure Armin was going along. The first time around, she didn't want him copying her. However, on the second round, she went a bit slower and had Armin signing back. After doing so a few times, she had Armin signing the alphabet on his own.
    "Incorporate every sign with the letter," she suggested when she kept having to correct Armin. "Especially if you're having a hard time with a sign. I had a tough time with N and R, so I made myself think of napping when I saw the sign for N." She quickly signed the letter N, then the letter R. "And the word 'rascal' for R. Find something that stands out to you about the sign."
    "O-okay. Sorry."
    "Nothing to be sorry about." She smiled. "Now, let's start over."

    The lesson for the day—the very first lesson of many—was completed when Carla and Armin were caught off guard by Mikasa heading downstairs.
    "Eren refuses to go down and eat," she stated in annoyance. "He keeps arguing that he's not hungry and that he won't be until tomorrow. Though," she began under her breath, "we know he's going to be up at 3AM pulling grapes from the fridge and stuffing his face."
    Carla turned to look at Mikasa with a matching expression of annoyance. "For crying out . . . Tell him that I'm demanding him to get down here and eat something."
    Mikasa dipped her head ever so slightly and flew back upstairs. Armin couldn't tell how the confrontation went, but by the look on Eren's face as he stomped downstairs with Mikasa sternly on his tail, he could tell that Eren still wanted to refuse. Armin saw Eren and Mikasa head to the kitchen, and a moment later he heard the the fridge being opened.
    Mikasa appeared in the living room again. "He's only taking more string cheese," she told Carla, who was now getting up and leaving the room stiffly.
    "That little shit . . ." Armin heard her whisper to herself as she walked by.
Oh dear. Armin sat up straight and looked towards the kitchen with wide eyes. "Ah . . ."
    "My apologies for the drama," Mikasa sighed as she leaned against the living room doorway. "He's really stubborn, in case you haven't noticed yet." She puffed her cheeks and exhaled.
    "Hah," Armin breathed nervously. "I've noticed." He shifted in his seat. "Should I go now? I think the lesson is over."
    Mikasa looked at Armin. Her relaxed eyes were every so slightly widened. "If you'd like. I can tell Carla and Eren you've gone when they're no longer creating tornadoes with their arms from their violent signing session." She grinned at her little joke.
    Armin picked up his backpack and got up. He blinked and whipped his head around in the direction of the kitchen when he heard Carla growl. "Y . . . Yeah. I'll see you tomorrow, Mikasa." He smiled awkwardly, then looked at Mikasa as his smile became a bit more genuine. "Thanks for keeping me company earlier." He stepped over to the door and pulled it open.
Mikasa held the door for Armin by standing against it. She smiled. "Of course. See you tomorrow."
Armin waved to Mikasa as he walked down the sidewalk until he could no longer see her. After remembering and reciting how he'd get home, he calmed himself and began recalling what he learned.
"A . . ." He gently pressed his fingers to his palm, leaving his thumb sticking up. "B . . ." His thumb was curled in and his other fingers were held up. "C . . ." He held all his fingers out and curled his fingertips in. "D . . ." His index finger stuck out, while his other fingers curled in and the tip of his thumb was pressed against his middle finger. "E . . ."
    He had slow progress getting through the alphabet until he hit K, which halted his progress. What . . . Was it? He made a delicate peace sign, with his pinky held down a bit. No, that's . . . That's V. Uh . . . He paused from his walk home as he thought through the signs for the alphabet. It took him a few minutes, but eventually he got it. His fingers made another delicate peace sign, with his thumb held between his index and middle finger. When he realized he had remembered, a thrill of excitement shone across his face, but only for a moment. He caught that he had stopped walking, and his excitement turned to worry. Not waiting any longer, he quickened his pace from there and headed home.