empty spaces ~ armin x reader

chapter one // not alone

The wooden tables were packed with yawning soldiers, rubbing the sleep out of their eyes. Levi stood at the front of the tables, his hands holding a mug of bitter tea. I'd once had a debate with him on which was better, coffee or tea. It was one of the memorable discussions we'd had that wasn't mission-related. I've argued with many men during my lifetime, but that was the most aggressive and loudest argument I'd ever had. Afterward, he purposely set me in the path of a seven-meter titan and I'd nearly died. We haven't brought up the topic since.

I grabbed a mug of coffee and settled into the empty seat beside Mikasa. She was fiddling with the red scarf around her neck, too distracted to speak to anyone. I silently ate my toast and listened to the chatter around me. My eyes drifted to the raised platform we'd created to hold the blimp supposedly taking us to Marley.

Eren, after invading Marley on his own, had finally included us in his plans. Any other group of people would've dismissed his bullshit. However, after more disagreements then I could've counted, Levi decided to recruit us and help him out. I was pretty sure that Levi was only invading Marley to find Eren and strangle him.

A clatter sounded across from me as Armin placed his food tray and sat down parallel to me.

"Good morning, y/n. How'd you sleep?" he said almost mockingly, a slight smile illuminating his features.

I glared at him and kicked his leg under the table with the toe of my boot. "I slept how anyone would fucking sleep next to a flailing titan."

Armin laughed, a bright sound that could fill an empty room. Something I rarely heard during meetings with foreign ambassadors and endless diplomacy dinners.

"I don't know which is worse, Jean's horse snoring or Mikasa's brutal kicks?" Armin queried, which brought a laugh out of me.

"DAMN YOU, ARLERT! QUIT SAYING I SNORE LIKE A HORSE!" Jean exploded from the opposite end of the room.
Armin and I made eye contact for a brief moment before erupting into giggles and nearly toppling onto the floor. Next to me I even heard Mikasa laugh a little bit. The entire room turned to see us laughing so hard we could barely move. Armin waved them off as if to say there was nothing to see here.

"I think he's finally catching onto the horse jokes," I finally wheezed out after we gained some composure.

"I'll start thinking up something new," Armin grinned, adjusting himself back in his seat.

I sipped some more of my coffee, feeling less sluggish then because I'd finally fully woken up.

"You seem chipper this morning, Armin," I noted, setting my mug down.

Armin shrugged and looked into the distance at the blimp.

Here were the simple facts: Mikasa followed Eren, and Armin followed wherever Mikasa and Eren went. I'd never had a compass pointing me where to go, but Eren was Mikasa and Armin's compass. They were constantly placing their faith in him, and I hoped that this time he wouldn't let them down again. Eren's mission was suicide, but we'd always thought we'd die among each other.

A boisterous conversation behind me grew nearer as Connie and Sasha took their place. Connie slid in next to me as Sasha took the spot next to Armin, her tray piled high with food I didn't even know they were serving this morning.

"-and then the customer Niccolo was serving was laughing so hard that he pushed back the table, toppling all the food onto his wife! Then she-" Sasha paused her story as her stomach growled. She started digging into her pile of food as Connie turned to me.

"So, y/n, how does it feel to go through all our basic Cadet training again? Couldn't be me forgetting how to manage a basic maneuver," he teased me.

"Fuck off, you still use your fingers to tell you left and right," I retorted, Sasha pointed at Connie and snorted.