Indefinitely - Armin X Reader

Chapter 9 | And So It Begins

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On the battlefield, waiting for the titans

Once we were called to move by Shadis, we were assigned our squads. I was assigned to Squad 34, with Eren, Armin, as well as Mina, Thomas, Nac and Mylinias - the latter all people I had shared memories and trained alongside these past few years. It was no surprise to me that Mikasa had been placed with the higher ups where her abilities could be utilized the most. As much as she tried, she was unable to stay with Eren this time, although I knew she would do amazing things wherever she was placed. 

We were all standing on top of a rooftop under the blaring sun, waiting for news on what we were supposed to do next. It could have just been another day if it weren't for the eerie stillness of Trost. Normally, trainees were forbidden from standing and landing on top of rooftops in case it damaged any of the tiling, but this was a special circumstance; not that I took any pleasure from being allowed to do something previously forbidden. I would much rather be back at the training camp sitting with Sasha or Mikasa, joking with Reiner and Connie, or preferably sitting by Armin's side, tucked away in the library, enjoying one of the precious, intimate moments that we were privy to in that dark little corner. 

"Look at it this way Armin, this is a golden opportunity." Eren pointed out, turning to Armin. "If we prove ourselves right here, we can move up through the ranks and before long we could be leading our own regiment! We can bypass rookie status altogether!" Eren chuckled, sounding determined.

Trust Eren to still be thinking about how he can use this to be a high ranking soldier.

"Sounds good, I'm with you all the way." Armin agreed, sounding more confident that he was earlier, and it made me smile softly to see that he had calmed down. 

"Me too." I murmured, nerves churning. "If you guys are moving up, there's no way I'm getting stuck behind."

"Now now guys." Mina scolded. "Leave some glory for the rest of us!" I giggled as my friends made wagers on how many titans they were going to kill, however I couldn't stop the feeling of dread building in my chest.

Why do I get this awful feeling that this isn't gonna be as easy as everyone thinks...

"How about we just focus on surviving, yeah?" I teased, putting my arms around Armin and Eren. This day was making me more affectionate than I normally was, the fear of not getting to see the ones I loved again making me annoyingly clingy.

"Yeah, yeah." Eren grinned, shrugging off my arm. He'd apparently gotten over my ditching him with Mikasa and was back to being annoyingly optimistic with his awful self aware tone. Despite Eren throwing my arm off him, Armin left mine in place, and the gesture made me feel a little less scared. 

"Which means..." I teased, dragging out my words. "No doing stupid stuff, and chasing after titans, you suicidal manic."

Mylinias, Thomas and Nac laughed at the familiar nickname, and Armin smiled.

Eren sighed and moved forwards to the edge of the rooftop, looking out in an attempt not to start an argument.

Wow, he actually managed to contain it.

While the others moved to join him, I squeezed Armin as he was still under my arm. 

"Don't worry Ar, I won't let anything happen to us." I reassured firmly, giving him a grin. In return, he sighed softly, giving me a shy, grateful smile.