Communication Error (Eremin)

Chapter Six • Feelings

"Hey!" Armin raced down the cool cement and across the road. The shadows of buildings covered him until he was on the other side of the road; soft pastel colors bathed him from then on, as well as the other schoolmates of his on this side of the street. "Hey," he tried to greet, but was cut short by gasping breaths. His heart was pounding hard in his chest, and he was almost certain it could be heard if it was a slight bit louder.
"Good morning, sunshine," greeted Mikasa. She almost always seemed amused by Armin's misfortunes, but not in a mocking way. No, it was endearing, as if she was watching a growing child make silly little mistakes.
Armin looked up at Mikasa and smiled. He stood up straight and caught his breath. "Morning to you, too." He looked beside her at Eren, and, upon catching his brilliant eyes, realized his smile grew.
Eren's eyes reflected the early morning sunlight. It almost looked like sunlight shedding itself generously on a summer treetop. What a sight . . . What pretty eyes. His aura of excitement made the colors pop and come to life.
Armin paused from his accidental trance and waved to Eren shyly. He was sure that he was looking at Eren for too long. If he was, Eren didn't seem to mind. No, instead, he smiled back at him, almost proudly, as if he knew was a lovely.
"You don't usually catch up to us," Mikasa chimed in, breaking the moment of awkward staring and untimely romance. "And I'm surprised you'd catch up just to third-wheel me." She grinned, but avoided looking at Armin. She was obviously enjoying her little remark, and the knowledge that she just made things even more awkward for Armin.
As Armin's eyes widened in shock and his face began to heat up, Eren tapped on Mikasa's arm and signed something to her with a quizzical expression.
Mikasa signed back, moving a bit slower than Eren had. After she placed her hands back in her sweater pockets, Eren looked at Armin with an eyebrow raised. By the looks of it, Eren had asked what happened, and Mikasa explained.
She exaggerated, didn't she?! Armin thought with disbelief as Eren grinned. He and Mikasa both looked amused. Eren, however, had something deeper in his expression that Armin couldn't entirely make out. Was he glad that he had distracted Armin? Was he embarrassed? Was he teasing him?
Mikasa rested a hand on Armin's shoulder, surprising him. He didn't realize that he had zoned out again. Eren was no longer looking at him.
"Eren's flattered by your attention," she explained. "You're already spoiling him! What a good boyfriend you are." She giggled quietly.
Armin's heated face became searing with red. "What?! N—no, Mikasa, I . . ."
"I know. I'm just messing with you. You're so precious." Her giggle returned and evolved to a soft laugh. She looked at Armin happily. "He's happy you want to be his friend, though. As much as he refuses to admit it, he talks about you a lot. Er . . . Signs about you."
Armin waved his hand a little. "I know what you meant. And," he paused to scratch his chin. "Yeah. I'm glad to hear that."
"He hasn't been excited to see a single person in a while," Mikasa went on. "He's excited as ever to see you every morning." She peeked at Eren, then hastily looked back at Armin before Eren noticed. "Don't tell him I said anything, though. He'll fuss at me."
"Don't worry. I don't think I'll be able to for a while yet," Armin commented in underlying disappointment.
Mikasa's wide gray eyes locked on Armin. "Nonsense. You'll learn really quick, especially since you have me, Eren, and Carla to help you."
Armin was lifted by her encouragement, though he wasn't entirely convinced she was right. "That's true. Thank you."
"Sure." She opened her mouth to speak further on the subject of Armin's progress when she ended up changing the topic: "Well, I've gotta go drop Eren off now. I'll be right back over here in a few minutes."
"Okay. See you in a few." He waved and watched as Mikasa and Eren walked off. The light of the early morning sun shone beautifully against their hair. Though it specifically turned Eren's brunet hair golden. It was stunning. Armin watched him closely until he and Mikasa vanished behind a large building.

That evening, after Armin had gotten home, he had taken a shower and sat down on his bed afterwards. He pulled his laptop off his desk and set it on his lap. After having been scrolling through a friend's blog for some time and picking his way through comment sections, his mind started to wander off in multiple directions. He blinked slowly and hesitated flicking his fingers across the mousepad. Out of nowhere, he started to feel tired. He wanted to continue on his laptop for a while, since he wasn't yet bored, but he was having a hard time concentrating. Okay, this is ridiculous, he thought. At that, he closed his computer and shoved it back under his bed. He decided he'd pick up where he left off on his friend's blog when he woke up. Or when he got back home from the library the next day. And after I finish my homework. He grumbled and laid down, pulling his blanket around him snugly. He closed his eyes and breathed calmly until he fell asleep. Well . . . Until he almost fell asleep.
    "Armin, dinner." His grandfather had knocked on his bedroom door and roused him.
    When Armin didn't say anything, his grandfather spoke up again, "Dinner's ready. Come on."
    Armin stirred and rolled over to lay on his back. "Yes sir. Coming," he stated clearly. Though, he hadn't gotten up yet. He laid still for a few minutes before actually pulling his blanket off and slipping out of bed. He took his time getting downstairs to the kitchen.
    "There you are." Mr. Arlert smiled before sitting down at the table.
    "Sorry, I fell asleep." Armin stood in front of the counter and dried and washed his hands before pulling his chair out and sitting down beside his grandfather.
    His grandfather picked up his napkin and held it while he blew softly on a steaming spoonful of soup. "O'course. No shame in a little nap. I'm sorry to rouse you."
    Armin stirred his soup around to cool it off a bit. "No, I was hungry. And I'll fall asleep again at some point in my life, I'm sure."
    "Well I'd hope so!" Mr. Arlert exclaimed. "I don't want to find that you've become an insomniac!" He blinked and looked at Armin with wide eyes.
    Armin met his grandfather's eyes for a moment. "As if."
    After a few minutes of chatting between eating, Mr. Arlert and Armin excused themselves from the table and cleaned up. Following that, Armin headed up to his room. Sleep having been forgotten, he pulled his laptop back out and set it on his lap. He checked his emails and then returned to his friend's blog. It was the same-old, same-old thing that his friend wrote about, but Armin didn't care. The extensive posts covering drama and multiple links throughout distracted him and intrigued him for extended periods of time. Though he never cared to get involved in the drama himself, he found the deep contemplating in a text format and the underlying feeling of solving a mystery—despite there being no apparent mystery—very exciting.
    A post was scrolled past that mentioned the romance sparking in another blogger. Interested in how his friend would react, given that they're not a romantic type, he scrolled back up and eyed the post.
    "I have a friend that I've only known for a few months. We like each other in a platonic sense very much, even though we can't really talk much," the random blogger began. "But I've lately been thinking about them a lot more. I'm starting to feel like I'm in love with them. What do I do?"
    Armin scrolled down some and read over his friend's response.
"I don't really know a lot about this love stuff, which leaves me wondering why you came to me for advice, but I'd suggest you tell them how you feel. Honestly though, feelings are sometimes just feelings. It's not always smart to run with them.
"Anyways, if you really can't get them out of your mind and want to be with them, all I'll advise you do is tell them. If they don't return your feelings, don't worry about it. People come and go."
    Armin blinked. He was surprised at the response his friend had given. They're no Romeo—anyone and everyone that knows them would recognize that much. Underneath his surprise, he resonated with the exchange, triggering memories and feelings of that morning. Those are just feelings, he told himself, repeating what his friend had told the blogger. Just feelings.
"What a good boyfriend you are!" echoed Mikasa's statement in Armin's mind.
We barely know each other. We can't even talk to each other! he exclaimed in his mind. Disappointment and embarrassment washed over him. But that didn't stop him from seeming . . . Into it?
He recalled Eren's grin after Mikasa explained what had happened.
Maybe he likes me? He sat back. No, stop getting ahead of yourself. He laid back and pressed his hands into his face. You're just feeling normal feelings. Stop taking it so far. He was just messing with me.
    His hands slipped off his face and fell beside him. He sighed and closed his eyes. But . . . the idea is really nice, he silently admitted to himself.

___________________Author's Note____________________

I want to sincerely thank you all for the comments and votes.
The attention the first handful of chapters has gotten is uplifting, and it makes me very happy for sure.
I'm glad I'm able to write something that others enjoy reading.
Thank you so, so much! 💕

P.S. Happy Halloween!