Despite the many years of their unwihtering friendship, he had never expected Armin to storm off so quickly. When they attended high school together Armin had always been bright and extremely intelligent, but quiet. He was the sort of person who only stayed in the shadows of a bookshelf, the one boy who raised his hand during class when no one else wanted to asnwer, or the one who was overly enthusiastic over the most simple topics such as oceans. Eren thoughts perhaps he had high expectations over what Armin would react when he brought Levi into his house.
After sunconsciously staring into Levi's dreamy eyes, he blinked a few times before taking an awkward step back and rubbing the nape of his neck while apologizing. He couldn't believe all the hate he could have for one person could suddenly disappear out of thin air, as if it never even existed in the first place. But now he saw Levi as someone who just wore a mask or façade to hide all his good qualities; sure he still didn't trust him a hundred percent, but he was thankful he didn't kill him or sell him off. What Eren thought was that maybe Levi was only trying to live up to his uncle's expectations of being just like him. Levi was kind.
"I... I should probably go check on Armin. I've never seen him like this," Eren stated. "He won't stay angry at me for too long."
"Yes," Levi said with a small unnecessary cough. "You probably should."
"I'll be right back," Eren reassured him as he tightened the robe Armin had let him borrow.
Levi stared after him grimly as he watched as Eren's back disappeared behind a pastel blue painted wall. The inconvenient part of Armin's house was that all the rooms were so close to one another. Hell, he probably heard their entire conversation. Levi suddenly squirmed uncomfortably.
Eren paced down the hall in his yellow bunny slippers (also given to him from Armin) and rapped softly at the door at the end. The light inside was on and he could spot Armin's shadow moving from side to side. When he received no answer, he knocked again. The shadow came to a sudden halt.
"Armin," he called out gently. "Are you alright, buddy?"
"Can I just... have a moment to myself?" Armin said, frustrated.
"I just want to talk to you for a minute. Open the door," Eren told him.
"There's nothing to talk about."
Eren rolled his eyes. He was sure that if Armin had seen him, he would scold him for rolling his eyes at him. With a sigh, he spoke again.
"There sure is. I'll leave you alone after I speak to you, I promise."
He was greeted by silence. Knowing Armin and being friends with him for almost his whole life, he knew that the silence meant that he was thinking long and hard. He could picture him now, with his fingers under his chin with one arm resting on his hip.
"You may come in," he said shakily after a minute. His voice as filled with uncertainty and even fear.
Eren twisted the door knob in his sweaty hand and pushed the door wide as he took a few steps in, his hand still resting on the edge of the chipping wood. Armin was looking out the window with a miffed expression written on his face. He was rubbing the curtains idly between his forefinger and thumb.
"I'm just mad," he said without stealing a glace at Eren.
"I can see that," Eren said sarcastically.
"Eren, I'm serious here. See, this is why I didn't want to talk to you because I know you wouldn't take me seriously, you never do," he spat out and finally turned to look at him in the eyes.
"Whoa, whoa. Easy there. Listen if it's about Levi-"
"I hate how you address him so casually. It's not normal," Armin cut off as he shook his head with disapproval.
