Communication Error (Eremin)

Chapter Eleven • Persistent

Armin was home in no time after speeding up and practically running down the sidewalk. He pulled his keys out of his pocket and unlocked the front door to his home. Rushing inside as soon as he opened it, he hung his keys up and headed to the stairs.
    "You're in a hurry," Mr. Arlert remarked to Armin, who barely caught what was said.
    "Yeah," was all he replied with. He hurried up the stairs and closed his bedroom door behind him. He slung his backpack on the floor beside his bed, pulled his laptop from underneath it, and sat back, opening it up. Once it was on, he opened up his browser and searched up different sites to learn signs. Before he got too involved in searching, he opened Skype and found Mikasa. He told her who he was, and waited for her to reply. After that, while he waited, he continued to search through websites.
    It took him a little while, but he eventually found something that peaked his interest.
A choice of multiple courses for learning was given to him, and he chose the first one available. After looking around the program to learn how to navigate and to grow familiar with how it worked, he began his course. It was equipped with small GIFs that showed him how to sign the appropriate phrase. He copied it, and moved on.
A lot of the course was repeating and reviewing signs he was taught until it decided he had learned it fluently.
He enjoyed the course he took and spent a long time on it.
Minutes became hours, and he still wasn't done yet. He was persistent in learning as much as he could in one sitting.
He only stopped when he saw Mikasa reply to him on Skype. He paused from his review and opened up his chat with her.
She greeted him, then asked him if he had found something to help him.
He told her that he had, and that he was sure he was making progress.
Her response, in which she proved proud of Armin, made him happy.
Following that, he told her has was going to continue what he was doing. Then he said goodbye. He shut Skype off and continued to review his progress.
Immediately, his grandfather called on him.
"What?" he called back.
"I said you need to get down here and eat!"
"Oh," Armin mumbled. "Okay! Be down in a second!" He picked his laptop up and placed it beside him before he scooted off his bed and headed downstairs. He met his grandfather in the kitchen and sat down in his usual chair at the kitchen table.
"Sorry. How long were you waiting?" he asked Mr. Arlert.
His grandfather looked up at Armin. "Long enough. How come you didn't respond to me the first few times I called? Did you have your music too loud again?" His eyes narrowed. "You know how I feel about your music being too loud for you to hear me."
Armin blinked apologetically. "I know. I wasn't listening to music this time. I was just really distracted with something."
"Distracted with what?"
"I started teaching myself sign language."
Mr. Arlert's expression softened. However, he looked confused. "Doesn't Ms. Carla teach you already? Did she stop for some reason?"
Armin shook his head. "No, she's still teaching me. But it's only once a week, and I want to speed up the process. So, I'm teaching myself in the meantime. And Mikasa agreed to help me every few days."
"Ah. I see now." Mr. Arlert sat up. "That's nice of her to agree to that."
Armin smiled. "Yeah."
Silence took over the room as the elder man and his grandson began to eat. The silence was calm and relaxed, and continued to be so for a while.
It was only broken when Mr. Arlert spoke up again.
"I never asked; how was the night at the Jaegers' house?"
Armin blinked and met his grandfather's eyes. "It was fun," he answered. "They taught me a card game that they apparently play a lot. It's called 'BS.'"
Mr. Arlert paused. "Never heard of it."
"I hadn't either, until I spent the night. But it's super fun to play."
"Hm." Mr. Arlert looked down at his plate and continued eating.
Armin followed suit.

After cleaning up from dinner, Armin made his way to his room. He shut the door once more and sat on his bed. Pulling the laptop back into his lap, he picked up where he left off in the course he was taking.
He placed his middle finger on his thumb and held all his other fingers out. "'Like,'" he mumbled to himself. He paused, then repeated the sign. "'Like' . . ."
He changed the sign and practiced another. His fingers were all extended, his thumb placed against his chin, then moved up against his forehead. He repeated this sign multiple times, then moved on again.
His extended fingers pressed together and were gently placed against his lips, then moved down and placed palms up in his other hand. He recognized this sign. Eren had used it towards him before, complimenting him.
He continued the sign again, though, this time, his hand was placed palms down in his other hand. He mumbled the words the signs translated to every time he did them. He continued on and on and on for a while longer, learning new phrases and vocabulary, and running right through the different levels of the course. He was enjoying himself and taking pride in his progress. Being able to communicate with Eren was a closer goal now than it had been earlier that afternoon.
Armin was excited again.
He went to write to Mikasa, and tell her of his progress, but he stopped upon seeing how late it had gotten. I'll see her tomorrow. I can show her then, he decided. For now . . . I should probably sleep. He circled his finger on the mousepad. He didn't want to sleep yet. But, he knew he should.
He shut down his laptop, closed it up, and put it back under his bed before laying down and closing his eyes.
He started to breathe calmly and began to relax before he realized that he hadn't gotten ready for bed. Groaning, he got up.

"Hey!" Armin called to Mikasa as soon as he saw her the next morning. He was thrilled to see her and report his progress.
"Morning," Mikasa greeted. "How'd it go?"
"Amazingly well," he reported with a smile. "I learned quite a lot."
Mikasa's eyes widened. "Really? Show me, would you?"
"Of course." He made a fist and held it to the side of his head, then brought it down, extending his index finger, and placed it against his other hand, which was a fist with the index finger extended as well. "Brother."
Mikasa nodded in approval.
He made the same sign, except this time, his fist was held against the side of his neck instead of his head. "Sister."
"Mhm."
He extended his fingers and pressed his thumb against his chin. "Mother." He moved it to his forehead. "Father." He moved it back down to his chin, then placed it back on his forehead. "Parents." He curled his fingers in, his index finger pressed against his thumb, and his right hand circled his left palm. "Write." He placed his palms together, then unfolded them. "Book." He pointed upwards and tilted his hand out a couple times. "Where." He made a fist and held it by his head, then extended his index finger. "'I understand.'" His fingertips touched his lips gently before his hand was moved down and placed palm down in his left hand. "Bad." He repeated the same sign, save for his hand being placed palm up in his left hand. "Good." His left hand held his right elbow, then his right arm, with his index finger pressed to his thumb, made an arch motion until it rested on his left elbow. "Day." His right palm rested over his left wrist. "Night." He placed his hand against his chest and pulled it outwards, pressing his middle finger to his thumb as he does so. "Like."
There were a few more following that he reviewed, which took a few minutes. When he finally finished, he smiled and crossed his arms loosely.
"Color me impressed," Mikasa commented. She signed 'good' to Armin and placed her hands on her hips.
Armin signed back a hesitant 'thank you'. "I was up a lot later than I intended to be. I almost messaged you to update you on my progress, but I realized how late it was and decided against it."
"Hm."
Armin turned and looked at Eren. He smiled and greeted him, then asked him how he was. When Eren replied with something that he didn't understand, he pressed his hand to his chest, then held a fist up to his head. He extended his index finger and shook his head.
Eren understood what Armin was getting at, so, after hesitating, he simply replaced his response with a mere 'good.'
Armin smiled, then turned his attention back to Mikasa. He was sure the light in his blue eyes told Mikasa exactly what he felt.
She smiled with her eyes. "Good for you. You're getting somewhere. I'm happy for you."
"Thank you!" He tugged the straps to his backpack. "I'm hoping I can hold up a longer conversation in a month or so at most."
"A month? That may be quite a challenge." Mikasa's eyes widened. "You think you can do it?"
Armin nodded and straightened up. "I'm sure I can, if I try hard enough."
Mikasa's expression relaxed. "Alright. If you say so. I'll support that decision."
"Thank you, Mikasa." His tone was soft. "This is all so exciting. Your help is so appreciated. And I certainly don't underestimate it," he stated. "You don't have to help me, yet you choose to anyway."
"Ah, well, thank you too. I'm glad I have the chance to help."