catalyst ⋆˙⟡ nerd!armin arlert x reader

chapter 8

You thanked whoever was watching over you that they didn't need to crush your already diminishing ego with a fake laugh.

"God," Eren gasped, folding his arms over his chest. Connie was laughing too now. "Arlert is going to fuckin' love that. He hates when we get called sore losers."

"Not this guy again," You thought. You'd heard his name more than a few times and still had no idea who he was, just vague descriptions. "Soccer playing hero", "Diva of the field", "Breaker of noses", "An absolute nightmare". He sounded downright delightful, just like most of the guys you'd met here so far.

Surely he was in the same frat as Eren and Jean, he had to be for this reputation to precede him. All the guys on the soccer team seemed to be absolute pills, except for Reiner, who seemed as though he might be a bit more mellowed out.

Eren shared the frantic energy Jean did, but Renier didn't. He had this air of calm to him, carrying a nonchalant coolness to Eren's over-the-top electricity that evened out the room. Only to be quickly thrown off by the weird, uncontrollable chaos Connie and Sasha brought to the table, which sucked all of the air out of every space they were in.

So maybe Reiner was different, by just a little.

Eren reached into his pocket, grabbing his phone. He made a clicking phone as he glazed over the screen. "We gotta dip, Arlert's bitching in the group chat," Connie nodded, squeezing your shoulder with less urgency and more of a subtle 'I'm walking away now'.

Connie and Eren walked to the food, grabbing plastic tupperware and dishing the food into it.

Leaving just you and Reiner, in the living room, basking in the awkward silence left by the two most talkative people you knew, respectively.

You'd talked to plenty of guys, slept with a few at Marley, granted, none of them looked anything like Reiner, or any guy you'd seen here so far. They were all... Boys, compared to them.

Reiner shifted his weight. "So, you're a transfer?"

You nodded. "Yeah, from Marley."

"Ah," He said, his voice was deep. "I know a few guys there. The name Bertolt ring any bells?"

You pondered for a second. The truth was, yes, it did ring a few bells. Actually, a lot of bells. He was your first boyfriend, first everything, actually. You'd grown up together and broken up the year before college started, when he sheepishly admitted to liking one of your mutual friends, Annie.

You liked Annie, which was the worst part it was that she didn't have any sort of interest in him at all, so he'd left you for essentially no reason. That situation was part of why you didn't have many friends, he'd won all of them in the separation. 

They'd picked him, which didn't surprise you very much, you used to be a lot more awkward, and it always felt like you weren't yourself, just Bertolt's girlfriend. Which was fine, he was plenty nice, and always treated you right, but it was either his girlfriend or his geek. But at Paradis, it was neither.

"No, it doesn't. Nice name though," You played off.

Reiner shrugged. "Was worth asking, we're old friends." You racked your brain for a single time Bertolt mentioned Reiner, and were stumped. Not a single time. Now that you thought of it, Bertolt didn't mention much of anything to you, which could be why you two weren't all that close, despite dating for well over a year.

"Oh, nice." You replied, feeling at a loss for words.

Reiner glanced over to Eren, who was dishing up the second Tupperware, the one for Reiner. He looked back at you, giving you a quick up and down, which made you feel naked despite being fully clothed. "You're going to the party next week?"

"Maybe," You said, and he frowned.

"You should," He went on. "It'll be fun, and the whole team will be there."

That did intrigue you. Figuring out who Arlert finally was would be worth the trouble of going to a party. Sasha was probably going to drag you there anyway; she'd already been talking about it all week, and if Connie was going, you guys would be there.

"We probably will," You said, motioning to Sasha, who was looking at you from the kitchen with a mouthful of pasta and an eyebrow raised.

Reiner laughed dryly at her. "Well, if you do, come and find me."

You nodded, not totally sure how to reply, seeing as, as Connie had said earlier, you were still working on forming full sentences, and that had silenced you in a big way.

Was he flirting? Or was he just trying to get people to go to this party? Either way, you were falling for it, regrettably so.

Eren stacked the plastic tupperware on top of each other and looked at Reiner. "Let's bounce before Blondie bursts a blood vessel."

Reiner nodded and smiled at you. "I'd better see you there,"

You just looked at Sasha, who looked even more confused than you. 

Stopping at the door, Eren turned to Sasha and Connie, who were pillaging the bowl of pasta in front of them. "Thank you for the food, Sasha. Excellent as always."

She waved him off, mouth still full. "Don't get used to it."

He smirked and slammed the door behind him and Reiner.

Connie and Sasha turned to look at you "What the fuck was that?" Connie asked, sounding as though he had just watched the ending of LaLaLand with no spoilers or warnings.

You shook your head, baffled. "I have no idea."