empty spaces ~ armin x reader

chapter three // gas over the flame

a/n: i'm currently reading the manga start to finish to get a better idea of the characters and the plot. i recently finished season 4, but i kind of forgot if hange was in these scenes. don't worry she plays a big role later though!

connie x armin????? carmin??

i got a little carried away writing this chapter. the emotions were all over the place in this chapter i swear to god-

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𝓱𝓲𝓼 𝓶𝓲𝓷𝓭 𝓲𝓼 𝓲𝓷 𝓪 𝓭𝓲𝓯𝓯𝓮𝓻𝓮𝓷𝓽 𝓹𝓵𝓪𝓬𝓮

𝔀𝓲𝓵𝓵 𝓮𝓿𝓮𝓻𝔂𝓫𝓸𝓭𝔂 𝓹𝓵𝓮𝓪𝓼𝓮 𝓰𝓲𝓿𝓮 𝓱𝓲𝓶 𝓪 𝓵𝓲𝓽𝓽𝓵𝓮 𝓫𝓲𝓽 𝓸𝓯 𝓼𝓹𝓪𝓬𝓮?

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When I got to the airship Armin was talking with Connie. I turned to Mikasa.

"How do you feel?" I asked.

She looked around distractedly, like a lost child.

"Fine," she finally replied.

I chewed my lip, a nervous tick of mine that I developed during my Cadet training. I wanted to tell her to not lose hope and to remain strong, but that wouldn't have done a single thing to benefit her. She was strong and she hadn't broken down... yet.

"Eren is a titan shifter and Armin is going to use the Colossal titan to help the cause. We've got to trust each other's strength," I stated, thinking this would benefit everyone to hear.

Everyone stopped talking and looked at me. It was painfully silent.

"Wait, you're using the Colossal titan!" Jean exclaimed. Everyone shifted their attention from me to Armin.

"Wow, you're slow," Sasha chuckled. Jean scowled at her.

"Yeah," Armin said sheepishly.

The aircraft suddenly exploded.

"Woah!"

"Are you serious?"

"When did Levi smell your asshole?"

I bit my lip as I watched Armin slowly get more and more stressed. Not just stressed... frustrated. Rarely did I get to see his eyes flame and his fists clenched. He was past his boiling point.

"ENOUGH!" Armin snapped, slamming his fist against the side of the aircraft.

The bare silence inside the aircraft was enough to make me forget that I was surrounded by people. Voices were muted mid-sentence and those who were walking around stopped to stare at him. No footsteps clamored and all I could hear was the whirl of engines and the chatter coming from the next room over.

Armin realized at that moment what he had just done. His anger melted into shock at his own fury. His surprised expression directed its gaze down to his bleeding fist. Slips of blood stained his pale fingers. Everyone stood there in silence trying to figure out what had driven him to such an outburst.

Armin finally looked up and our eyes locked.

The talking resumed hesitantly as Armin bowed his head and quietly left the room. Jean, who was to my right, blinked several times and shook his head.

"What the hell was that?" Jean asked incredulously.

Outbursts weren't uncommon in the Scouts regiment, and they were especially prone in my current line of work in the government. It was just inconceivable to watch one come from Armin. All of us had known what it felt like to be as coiled as a wire. I've had more than my fair share of meltdowns after missions. Typically those were driven by near-death experiences, like the time Levi put me on the path of a seven-meter titan because I made fun of his fucking tea. Nobody knew what prompted Armin. I wouldn't rest until he stopped bottling his damn feelings and told me what the hell was hurting him so much.