The Library (Armin Arlert x Reader)

Chapter 21

Armin had instructed me to close my eyes, occasionally looking at me to make sure I was listening to him and not sleeping.

"How much longer?" I whined, tired of keeping my eyes closed. I've been like this for 15 minutes and it's so hard to stay up. And yes, I have been counting. I mean I need something to do to keep me up.

"Maybe an hour." He replied and I looked behind at him with a glare. He quickly covered my eyes with his hand to make sure I wasn't peeking. "I'm kidding! I just finished, actually."

He set aside whatever he made and hoisted me up into his lap, placing a crown on my head.

"A flower crown?" I asked with my eyes closed, trying my best to not overreact with joy. "I bet it's so pretty! Take a picture--...oh."

"Wait-- what's wrong? Do you not like it?" Armin looked down to me with worry after I finally opened my eyes.

"No, it's not that! It's just that I can't take any pictures of it..." I sighed and he nodded slowly.

"Well, maybe we can have Mr. Smith take one? He brought a camera to take photos of us on the trip." He suggested and I smiled at him, standing up and pulling him up with me.

"Let's go then!" We began to run back to the palace.

"Your dress...It has green stains. I'm sorry, I made you roll down the hill with me." He apologized.

"Oh, no!" I quickly turned around to face him while still running. "Ymir paid for it so I don't really mind...though it was a beautiful dress..."

"You still do look beautiful, Y'know..."

I blushed like a dork.

~~~~

As we approached the back of the castle, we found our friends there, drinking tea.

"When I said to fuck already, I didn't mean it literally." Jean chuckled, drawing the attention of the group over to us.

"We didn't! I- Oh my-" Armin looked down at me and I met his gaze, holding his hand. This was clearly a facade though, as he started to smirk.

"We were just at the flower meadow below the hill! Nothing went on." I answered Jean.

"Then why do you have dirt and grass stains all over?" Ymir questioned with a smirk. "Oh, and you got that dress all dirty too.."

"Quit it, Ymir! They probably have an answer." Historia gently tugged on Ymir's ear. They all looked to us for answers.

"We rolled down a hill, that's why." I shrugged, trying to play it cool. If I were to lead on then they would just keep asking me questions. That's when I noticed....They're all dressed like royalty.

"I'm gonna go get changed, (Y/N). I'll be back!" He squeezed my hand a bit before letting go and running down to his room.

The girls seemed to have settled upon wearing dresses, and I was shocked to see Ymir wearing one.

'I mean, not every lesbian needs to be masculine. I should know better, neither of my mom's are the 'man' of the relationship. Such a stupid notion, who the fuck comes up with that shit?' I mentally scolded myself.

"Is that the outfit you're gonna be wearing today, (Y/N)?" Historia stepped closer to me, looking at the grass and dirt stains.

"Seems like it." I shrugged. Admittedly, I was hurt a bit.

"Here- come with me! I can clean it off for you real quick!" She offered and intertwined our fingers.

"Oh, you really don't have to!" I smiled down at the blonde but she rolled her eyes at me and dragged me back into the palace.

"Your face has some dirt marks and your dress looks like shit. I can get you showered and have your dress dried before we are called down to breakfast!"

I gave up and decided to let her drag me. Even though we aren't that close, I already know she has a will and strong mind, there's no way I could talk her out of this.

Plus, she's right. My I can literally smell the grass on me- I'm just glad my dress isn't too stained. Getting to know Historia doesn't sound so bad anyway.

She pulled me into the main floor's lady's restroom, and it was huge. Like bigger than necessary. There were sofas, rugs, plants, mirrors, toilet stalls, bathtubs, and showers.

"Woah!" Historia looked around the room in awe, her blue eyes twinkling in excitement. I felt the same as she did, this was astonishing. The floors were pure marble and seemed to glisten under the candle light and the natural sunlight from the window.

"I didn't know this place was gonna be this big!" Historia cheered."And we're all alone too, we have this all to ourselves, (Y/N)!"

She spun around with a smile. I smiled back, this girl is absolutely beautiful, how could I not?

The toilet flushed. 'Wait we have working plumbing? Probably to prevent us from getting sick.'

A girl with shoulder length black hair walked out of one of the stalls to wash her hands. She was beautiful, with soft features and slightly waved hair. After washing her hands she looked over to us with a soft smile.

"Ah, you must be from the other school staying here." The lady had the most soothing voice. "I'm Pieck, I come from Marley. We're also here of a trip for our world history class."

"A Marleyan..." I said aloud, tilting my head at her. 'Maybe she knows Niccolo?'

"Well, Pieck, it's lovely to meet you! Does this mean you have classmates here?" Historia asked."You're very pretty, by the way!"

"Thank you..." Pieck blushed, looking down to her hands. "And yes, we do. Though only 7 of us decided to come here, including me. I take it you're also college students?"

I nodded and so did Historia.

"Nice...do you need help?" The black haired girl tilted her head slightly, staring at me with worry. "Were you attacked? Oh and your pretty dress is all dirty..."

Historia spoke up, "Yeah, she rolled around in grass all morning!" She grabbed my hand.

"I can help you clean off!" Pieck slowly walked over to me and gestured for approval before she touched my shoulder. When I allowed it, she began to dust the dirt off of my shoulders. "It isn't that bad, you know. I'm glad."

Historia joined in and I looked to the mirror to see. It really wasn't that bad and I was greatful.

~~~~

After that, I had finally showered and Pieck had rolled my dress to make it dry faster. It's so weird how old tech is so good, yet we barely use it these days.

Historia was currently helping to dry me off with the towel. "I'll leave the rest of you to air dry!" She beamed and put my flower crown back on me. She had been wearing it on her head temporarily with my permission. She didn't want it to get wet.

"Here you go!" Pieck helped me up and held a corset in one arm and the dress in the other. "Would you like to wear the corset? I'm wearing one and it helped me stand straighter. We don't have to make it that tight, either.."

'I guess it wouldn't hurt to try it out for a sec.'

"Sure, fine by me!"

With the girls help I was able to get ready. It had only been a few hours, so it's probably 8 am by now. I mean, last I checked, it was 6.

I expected the corset to be this dramatic moment where I could barely breathe.

It was the exact opposite. It fit like a glove, and did in fact help my posture, just like Pieck said it would. It honestly looked like decoration!

"Are you two ready to head down to breakfast?" Historia cheered and held Pieck and I's hands. It was like we've all known eachother for a while, our conversations flowed smoothly.

I'm glad to have come to Shinganshina University.