empty spaces ~ armin x reader

chapter six // half of me

a/n: i'm sorry for this chapter. i cried multiple times while writing it.

playlist to listen to while you read: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLPuz-isz7lpRZADQrxOfgr2A3iRvOd1fm

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𝓲 𝓱𝓪𝓭 𝓪𝓵𝓵 𝓪𝓷𝓭 𝓽𝓱𝓮𝓷 𝓶𝓸𝓼𝓽 𝓸𝓯 𝔂𝓸𝓾

𝓼𝓸𝓶𝓮 𝓪𝓷𝓭 𝓷𝓸𝔀 𝓷𝓸𝓷𝓮 𝓸𝓯 𝔂𝓸𝓾

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"HURRY! I'm going to starve to death if you spend ten minutes peeling each potato," Sasha whined, slouching against a chair with her face pressed into the table.

"I'm a perfectionist!" I exclaimed, scrutinizing my work. Elbowing her so she'd get out of my workspace.

"You've only finished four potatoes in the past half hour," Eren pointed out, tossing another sloppily peeled potato into a pile of semi-peeled potatoes.

I breathed deeply and pointed my peeler at him. "I don't want to hear any backtalk from you, Eren. Do you even know how to use a potato peeler? It's not an anger management device. You aren't supposed to have a bowl of shredded potato chunks."

Eren gave me a vulgar gesture and I smirked, returning back to my painstaking assignment. The room smelled of broth that boiled sweetly under Armin's supervision. He had to keep pushing Sasha back because she kept trying to look directly into the heated pot. Armin's cheeks flushed crimson from the heat of the steam wafting up.

"You're going to burn yourself!" Armin exclaimed frantically, holding Sasha back with his elbow.

"I don't care, just let me have a spoonful! That's it! Let me taste it-"
"No! It's hot, Sasha!"

"Bitch, move."

I don't know whether it was the fact that Sasha called Armin a "bitch" or Armin's reaction to being called a "bitch" that made Eren and I burst out laughing. I punched my fist into the table and held my stomach as I folded over in hilarity. Sasha yanked the wooden spoon out of Armin's hands and shoved it in her mouth.

"HOT!" she cried, jumping up and down holding her tongue.

Jean rolled his eyes. "That's what you get, potato girl."

Mikasa kicked open the swinging door with her boot, carrying freshly chopped wood. She brushed the chipped paint that she took off the door on the carpet as she strolled in. She mutely shifted the wood so that she was carrying it in the crook of her right arm, while she grabbed a cup of water from the counter and handed it to Sasha.

"Tanks!" Sasha sighed in gratitude as she gulped down the water.

"You're welcome," Mikasa replied, faintly smiling. Her brief amusement was rare and beautiful. I saw Eren immediately look in the other direction.

Mikasa placed the wood beside Armin. He took a piece and adjusted it under the pot. He blew briefly into the fire to get the sparks swirling.

"Done!" I announced happily.

"With the bag of potatoes?" Jean asked skeptically.

I shook my head. "No, I'm done with the fifth potato."

Everyone gave me an annoyed grunt, but Historia laughed.

"I'll help," she offered, giving me a half-grin.

It took us all by surprise. We stared at her curiously. Historia had been a shell of her former bubbly personality since Ymir left with Reiner and Bertholdt. She barely ever offered to help around or leave her corner in the faded living room. Though it was never blatantly stated, they were very much in love. The depression left in Ymir's wake haunted Historia.