Communication Error (Eremin)

Chapter Nineteen • Assumptions

Armin woke up casually, though the anxiety of his dream pulsed in the back of his mind.
He couldn't quite put his finger down on all that happened in the dream, but he knew for certain that Eren had held him down, and Mikasa had simply watched him be driven to tears.
If he was honest, the dream itself didn't quite disturb him as one would assume it had. It simply confused him.
What confused him even more was figuring out where he was. This wasn't his room, and he didn't recognize it very well.
After a rubbing of his eyes and using some times to wake up more, he remembered he was with Eren in his room.
He never went home.
Does Mikasa know? Does Grandpa know?!
He quickly grew anxious, certain that his grandfather had become fearful of his absense overnight. He looked at Eren's bed, wondering if Eren had texted his grandfather. But did he ever put in his number? Armin didn't think so.
Maybe Mikasa let him know. He relaxed a little. I'm sure she was told I was here eventually.
Upon paying more attention, he realized Eren was sleeping. He realized it was probably quite early in the morning, so he didn't want to wake him up to ask questions.
Come to think of it, he didn't know if anyone in the household was up at this time. He may have to wait to ask anyone anything.
He sighed, feeling a bit let down at having to wait. He didn't really have anything to do to pass the time, and he didn't want to wake Eren just to rescue him from his inevitable boredom.
He decided to try to freshen up a little, despite not at all being prepared to spend a night over at someone else's place.
He got up and crept over to his backpack, at the other end of the room. As he did so, Eren sat up in his bed while keeping a hold on his sheets.
Armin paused. He looked at Eren and, prior to pulling his backpack closer, signed a good morning, which Eren returned short after.
"You stayed the night?" he asked.
"I didn't intend to."
Eren relaxed his shoulders and slouched. "That's fine. It's my fault."
When Armin looked at him with the inability to grasp what he said, he added, "You fell asleep, and I didn't want to wake you up. Anyway . . . Don't worry about it."
"Okay," Armin mumbled to himself, turning away and unzipping his bag. He rummaged through it, then closed it up. He picked it up and left Eren's room.
He made his way to the bathroom and rubbed his eyes with cold water, forcing the warm, heavy sleep from his eyes. After that, he did what he could to freshen up, then he left and put his bag back in Eren's room.
"Is everyone else up?" he asked after catching Eren's attention.
Eren shrugged. "Dad might be. What time is it?"
"I don't know."
Eren huffed, then stretched across his bed and barely touched his phone when he pulled it within his reach. He slid it off the table and squeezed it, turning it on and looking at it for a second before setting it beside him on the bed. "Yeah, Dad will be up," he stated. "You can go downstairs and get something to eat if you want."
"I just might do that." Armin twisted his palm around the doorknob, then pulled it and left the door cracked as he left the room and headed downstairs.
When he reached the kitchen, he immediately saw Mikasa, then Grisha, who was sitting where he'd always seen him before. They were talking about something, and Mikasa was getting her phone handed back to her from Grisha.
"Good morning," he greeted.
Mikasa turned around. "Morning. I was just telling Mr. Grisha that your grandfather knows you're here, so don't worry about that."
Armin released tension that he wasn't aware of, then smiled. "Oh, thank you! I was gonna wait to ask about that, but knowing now . . . I feel better. Hah.
"I didn't mean to stay the night."
Mikasa smiled in return. "It's fine. Eren let me know what was going on.
"So, how was your time last night?" she asked, with lack of any teasing or suggestive nature.
"It was fun, actually. We watched a really awful movie."
"What movie?"
Mikasa maneuvered out of the kitchen and into the hall, with Armin absentmindedly tagging along.
"It's really stupid. Really, don't waste your time on it."
Mikasa squinted a little at Armin. "Then why did you watch it if it's stupid?"
"Because it's funny."
"Okay then." She hesitated. "Well, I'm glad you enjoyed yourself. I wish I was there to hang out too."
"Some other time, maybe. What were you doing yesterday anyways?"
"I had to help a friend with a couple things," she replied, throwing a look at Armin that took him a moment to register.
He felt a but suspicious, as though she had some trick up her sleeve.
She held her gaze for a few seconds, then blinked and looked away.