empty spaces ~ armin x reader

chapter two // tangled in bed

a/n: i'm honestly debating making this a longer fanfic. who knew i would actually get attached to this story? tell me what you think of it so far after this chapter or the next one and i'll consider making a deeper story outline! :D

oh goodness, i love connie and sasha so much i would want to be best friends with them.

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𝔂𝓸𝓾'𝓻𝓮 𝓽𝓱𝓮 𝓸𝓷𝓵𝔂 𝓯𝓻𝓲𝓮𝓷𝓭 𝓲 𝓷𝓮𝓮𝓭

𝓼𝓱𝓪𝓻𝓲𝓷𝓰 𝓫𝓮𝓭𝓼 𝓵𝓲𝓴𝓮 𝓵𝓲𝓽𝓽𝓵𝓮 𝓴𝓲𝓭𝓼

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I was dying.

Levi was going to kill us before we'd even made it to Marley.

I threw my head back and prayed for a gust of the cliff's wind to pick me up and carry me away. It was blistering. Our uniforms were different than last time. There were less layers but these new ones were more tight fitting. I could feel the back of my black top getting sticky.

I was naïve to think my sudden disappearance had slipped past Levi's observant gaze. When I had returned from the beach, out of breath and grinning wildly, the shadow of his short figure had fallen upon me. His shadow was unnaturally large for his compressed height, but it felt like I was being enveloped in it. It was as if I was shrinking in his presence. I was never one to fear a man or let them make me feel small, but Captain Levi was an exception.

"I ordered you to load the cargo, did I not?" he said calmly. I wished he had yelled at me. It would've been less frightening.

It was a trick question. I knew that.

I wanted to warn him. When I saw the seashell boy bound towards us, I wanted to wave my arms and tell him to turn away while he had the chance.

Levi's shadow seemed to increase in size and I slowly saw Armin's cheerful look fade. I knew Levi would never yell at him, but I still feared for Armin.

The next thing I knew, he'd handed us a dustpan, a broom, and ordered the two of us to remove every grain of sand within the makeshift cabins. He wanted the very thought of the sand's existence to be erased through our arduous labor.

An hour later, I was leaning over my broom, ready to throw up the contents of my breakfast. Armin was a lot more tolerant of the heat, but I could sense his discomfort as well. Both of us felt like shit and were discouraged by the impossible task.

"Fuck!" I groaned, collapsing onto a mattress. "This job is impossible, and he only gave us two hours? He's slowly been planning this all along to make our deaths look like a natural occurrence."

Armin chuckled lightly, but I could see the effort it took. "Mm that's why I always try to keep on his good graces. Unlike you. He most definitely hates you."

I looked up briefly from my starfish position on the empty mattress, and glared at him.

"Sorry," he said, not sounding apologetic at all.

I groaned and sat up, which sent a flash of pain across my skull, and I nearly doubled over. Armin caught me even though my fists were clenched tightly enough to the mattress that I wouldn't fall to the ground. His warm hands steadied my shoulders.

"Thanks," I whispered, the room suddenly spiked with heat and my cheeks reddened even more. I hoped he regarded it as something caused by the heat, and not by the surprise of his touch or his close proximity to me.

"Anytime," he breathed, his face close to mine. Too close. My breath caught as I wondered what would've happened if I had closed the space between us.