(A/N:) upcoming season one spoilers!
The footsteps were soft at first, quick but quiet, as if someone was trying to sneak out of somewhere. Or, in this case, in somewhere. The cot was stiff and uncomfortable so, like every other night, sleep was elusive. The jingle of keys caused Eren to shift, his eyes already adjusted to the dim light of the cell. He turned to the silhouette through the bars, the familiar face outlined in the candlelight. His voice was husky and rough and he kept it at barely above a whisper. "Armin?" he asked once the figure had ventured into his lonely prison. "Sorry," came the gentle voice Eren was expecting. "I didn't mean to wake you. I was just worried."
Eren leaned back on his cot, more at ease now that the identity of the stranger wasn't so strange. "What about?"
The boy walked closer to him, his feet shuffling along the floor, until he was at his bedside. "How are you?" he asked, avoiding Eren's question. "It seems awfully lonely down here."
He nodded in the dark. "It can be sometimes. But it's fine. I'm fine."
He saw Armin smile before he took a seat on the edge of the cot, his face becoming suddenly serious. "I couldn't sleep."
Eren sat up, his eyes watching the shadows of Armin's face in the pale glow of the candles. He didn't respond, hoping the blond would just start talking. His mouth twitched, as if he knew what he wanted to say, but not the right way to say it. Still Eren waited, his heart beating softly in his chest. "I'm worried about you." Armin finally spoke. "This whole titan thing has people turning against you. They keep you down here like a prisoner. Like your some kind of—"
"Monster." Eren finished for him. Armin turned to face him then, eyes drowned in worry and something he couldn't quite place. Eren looked away, feeling his stomach shift uncomfortably. "Eren," Armin muttered, but he didn't look at him. "You're not a monster."
Finally green eyes met blue and Eren shattered. "What are we doing here, Armin?" he asked, but the boy said nothing. "What am I doing here? Everyone thinks I'm the one who can save the world, but I'm not. I'm just as useless as I ever was."
"Eren,"
"Mikasa, Levi, they're the ones humanity should depend on. Not me. All I do is just stand by and watch as everyone I know gets eaten alive. One by one."
A tear fell from his eyes, hot and burning as it rolled down his cheek. "If I wasn't there for them how can I be there for anyone else?"
A warm hand settled over his own and he looked back at his friend, not caring what he thought when he saw the tears welling in his eyes. But Armin didn't laugh, didn't make fun of him, didn't call him weak. He just gave him that tiny smile he had reserved just for him and squeezed his hand a bit harder. "You're not useless, Eren. Who sealed the hole in the wall when Trost needed to be saved? You did. Who protected the cadets as they escaped? You did. Capturing the female titan, fighting Reiner and Bertholdt, all of it was you. We need you, Eren."
He leaned closer, tears spilling from the oceans that restrained them. A moment passed as he appeared to be struggling for his next words, grasping desperately at them in the hopes of forming a logical sentence. "Eren," he began, his voice quivering. "What'll happen if Heichou decides you can't control your powers?"
It sounded like more of a statement than a question. "At your trial..."
Armin's voice broke and he let out a quiet sob, trying to keep himself together. "They said...if you couldn't control it..."
He couldn't speak. Eren pulled him into his arms, gripping tightly. Armin's hands came up to return the embrace, his fingers digging into the back of Eren's shirt. He was trembling. "It's okay." he whispered, stroking Armin's hair. "It's going to be okay. I'll be able to control it."
Armin pulled his face away and looked at him, anxiety flooding his eyes. "But what about those times it didn't work? What if we're on a mission and you can't do anything? You know pretty much everyone's afraid of you because they don't understand — they'll find any excuse to get rid of you. They can't take you away from me." the last sentence was mumbled, more of a muffled sob into Eren's shoulder, but he heard it all the same. "They won't. I won't let them."
Eren pulled back, staring at Armin and taking his face in his hands. "I'll learn to control it. And I won't let anything stop me."
The promise was solemn and absolute, his thumb grazing the boy's skin as he wiped away his tears. Armin sniffled, trying to calm himself and steady his breathing. Something in the atmosphere changed, like an alarm had just gone off in Eren's brain. He stopped his movements and their eyes locked, emotions flowing freely between them, like messages that were desperate to be sent but could never make it through. And for the first time, Eren thought he could make out one of those messages in Armin's gaze and found his own dropping to his lips. They quivered as Eren watched, a tongue darting out quickly to wet them. Looking back into Armin's eyes, the thoughts and feelings had come together once more, like strings, into a mess of tangled webs he couldn't understand. So he decided he was tired of trying to understand. He was tired of thinking. So he let himself lean forward and press their lips together. He stayed like that for a few moments, everything still in the dingy air of the underground prison. When Eren broke the kiss, Armin looked surprised, his face seemingly coated in a thick layer of red dust. But he didn't move, didn't speak, only stared into Eren's eyes with the same unblinking look on his face. There was no sting of rejection, but perhaps what might have been a possible invitation in his eyes. So Eren found his lips again, pressing forwards with more confidence, more certainty. His hand found the feathers of Armin's hair, weaving it between his fingers and bringing him impossibly closer. The blond gripped his shoulders, a hand wrapped around his neck, his lips moving against his own. Tongues collided as they kissed each other like they would never again see the light of day. But for all they knew, maybe that would be the case.
Hearts raced and pounded deafeningly in their chests as hands wandered, memorizing every inch of skin that burned beneath their fingers. Lungs were on fire and soon they had to break away to breathe, their soft pants mixing between them. Eren kept his grip on Armin as if he wasn't sure this was reality. They stared, a combination of surprise and passion burning in their eyes. Eren pulled him into his arms again, holding him tight and falling back onto his cot. "Stay," he breathed, Armin's face pressed into his shoulder. He didn't say anything. He simply brought his arms up to wrap around Eren's middle and returned the gentle pressure.
