empty spaces ~ armin x reader

chapter seven // forget what i said

"We have years left, Armin," he finally spoke, and the despair his words carried bent their way into me. "The titan shifters have been around for centuries, yet we've achieved more in this decade than anyone has in the past one hundred years. They were limiting themselves with the fear of progression. What happened in Liberio will be history in the next one hundred years, but the difference is that our ancestors will not have to live behind fifty-meter walls. People wanted to withdraw support from the Scouts not even five years ago. Now, thanks to our sacrifices, you've seen the ocean."

Visions of the sea flash in the back of my mind. The pride of our youth sparkling before us in a ceaseless display. The thought that I could've died without confirming the legend of endless saltwater made me uneasy. That initiating moment with y/n on the beach would've been nonexistent, and I refused that possibility.

I wanted to prove to him that the effect of the change was more meaningful than that. I moved as close as I could to the cell and pressed my forehead against the bars.

"Progression doesn't need to be the outcome of violence, Eren. Living amongst your enemies is the most compelling way to rewrite prejudices. Niccolo and Sasha-"

He cut me off. "Quit the fucking bullshit. Sasha's dead. Associating with enemies is a great way to get a bullet in your chest."

My body stiffened and I clenched my fists around the rusty bars. My heart swooped as if it had been cast down a hill. The four feet between us felt much more distant than it had when I came in.

I opened my mouth to speak, but the nerves kept my throat captive. My brain was a pulsing numbness, but the rest of me was a calamitous mess.

"Then why do you associate with us if the world is your enemy?" I breathed before turning around and leaving him in solitude.

y/n pov:

A letter with the government insignia stamped on it was sitting on my doorstep.

I leaned forward to grab it without so much as a wince.

The shift between foreign committee meetings and ODM gear maneuvering had greatly strained my muscles. In the prior weeks, I could hardly bend over or move without my muscles groaning from the recent spur of action. I had been busy enough with paperwork and diplomatic altercations that I had slid through the weeks like I was holding water in my hands. The pain became a dull ebb in the back of my mind and so did my grief. I was too drowned in my work to devote time to either issue.

Another issue would be Armin. He hadn't contacted me since we'd whispered our condolences in the barren cemetery. It'd been six weeks since I'd seen the boy. The aircraft... the kiss. That didn't feel real either. The genuine touch of his lips had faded into a fantasy I believed only happened in fables.

My chest ached as I thought about it.

At that moment I seemed to remember where I was and what I was holding. I carefully tore into the letter, too scared to damage the fine parchment. This letter was much more delicate and fine than the standard issued ones.

My eyes widened as I read the opening title of the invitation.

Queen Historia Reiss's Babyshower

I stood frozen, stiff as stone.

A government gathering. Everyone would be invited. Armin. I shook the thought away, but this time it lingered. The thoughts I harbored and sealed pressed themselves into me, fluttering like gnats I couldn't shoo away. I pushed myself away from the doorway in a feeble attempt to physically grain out the thoughts. I made my way to the minute kitchen setting that hadn't been cleaned in days. Then, without thought, I whirled on my heel and marched out with the letter still stuck to my palm.