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[She reaches to just. gently shove his face.] Alright, are you flirting with me?
[The palm on his cheek is now a (still very light) fist. Get bapped, idiot.] Maybe.
Am I better at it than Eren? Be honest.
[Do th. Do they flirt? Have Eren and Aubrey ever flirted or do they just catapult themselves from 0 to 100,000 on a collision course eternally forever.]
You know, I don’t think he ever has.
That doesn't surprise me at all. I can't even imagine it, really.
Eren...He's all brunt honesty when it comes to that sort of thing. He'd sooner insult someone he likes than try to butter them up.
[Still fond. It's so painfully obvious that Armin is in love with him.]
[Oh, it’s been a good while since Aubrey heard Armin laugh like that. When was the last, at the ocean? After so much… everything, recently, it makes her heart lighter to see him this way again.]
That sounds about right. [It feels a bit strange talking about Eren while he’s not around like this—but really, when have they not?] We’re probably similar like that, being blunt and all…
And if we’re similar enough, your flirting must work on him pretty well. [A friendly understatement.]
I'm not sure if that's true. Maybe a time or two...[After Reiner, when they were young, and Eren was uncertain.
[Then again, he's still uncertain, isn't he? In ways, he always has been.]
Sounds like it's working alright on you though. [Which makes the red in his cheeks only deepen. Really not all that smooth at all...
[He takes her hand in his, turning the palm up, running a thumb lovingly over it.]
Regarding the topic at hand, Aubrey, there...are a lot of things I find beautiful about you.
[Armin is plenty smooth, far as Aubrey’s concerned. He rubs his thumb over her palm as if to leave his own mark—not at all burning or fraught, but loving all the same.
[Time for her face’s hue to rival his again.] You know, it… didn’t have to go both ways. [She’s not complaining, though. Aubrey’s other hand reaches for Armin’s, clasping it gently.]
I like this. Just spending time with you.
But I'd like to tell you anyway.
Didn’t say you couldn’t.
[Quick ‘>:P’. Dammit, Armin, let her be tsundere about it.]
I'm sure that anyone who looks at you can tell that you're beautiful on the outside. That...really goes without saying, doesn't it?
There are more important things. Your courage. Your loyalty. You have a loving heart, despite everything. I know this isn't about Eren, but the way you've managed to care for him is just...remarkable to me. There's power to that kind of care. Your soul is kind, though...[With a preemptively apologetic smile.]...I wouldn't be surprised if you weren't eager to accept that sort of thing.
[Geez. The appearance compliment is enough. She’s left at a loss for words, somewhere between deeply touched and… sad? Not quite, but… it’s difficult to pinpoint. It’s not uncomplicated.
[You don’t deserve] Sorry. Sorry. It’s just—
[Aubrey squeezes Armin’s hands, apologetic without the smile. It’s hard to look at him.] I wouldn’t… I didn’t think you felt that way.
[She forces herself to meet his eyes. Softly, almost guilty,] Thanks, Armin.
It really does feel that way, doesn't it? That we don't deserve the love we're given.
At the end of the day, though...I'm still grateful for it. Lucky, even. Imagine that...
You’re right… I like looking at it your way better. [It’s not quite a smile, but her own expression manages to relax. Sad, still, but that’s a face which fits them all too well.]
And… I do mean that thanks. [She rubs at his hand in turn. If it can be half as soothing as his own, it’ll be enough.] I’m lucky to have you.
We all are.
Maybe we all deserve that...simply for the fact that we're alive to see it...
[Gosh, but the way he does that like it’s nothing. Consider Aubrey enamored.]
There you go again, saying just the right thing. [Now there’s a smile, soft and teasing.
[She’s not half as smooth, so she pulls just one hand up to ruffle his hair, drawing closer in turn.] Someone’s a romantic.
Maybe so...
[There's a pause, an anxious twist in his lips that rapidly becomes a smile.]
I still can't help but feel a bit like I'm intruding, but...we've never really had time alone like this since we all agreed...
It's nice.
[Maybe with anyone else Aubrey might feel strange about this, but… it’s Armin. Armin. The world didn’t put them through those questions, Eren smiling in his sleep on their laps, for nothing.]
Yeah… it is nice. [For now, it’s just them. Eren is cared for. She’d die for— no, live for, both these boys.]
[Aubrey squeezes Armin’s hand again, bringing it down towards their chests, away from his lips. Tilts her head slightly. Her intentions are clear. Maybe flirting isn’t her strong suit, but she knows she’s good at one thing… Armin said so himself.
[He’s not intruding at all.]
[He's very glad for this.]
[It’s sudden. The light dies, and the pinky hooked in Aubrey’s is someone else’s. It’s familiar; she clasps at the hand, with the finger in her other now gone.]
Sunny? [What happened.] Eren? [What the hell happened?!]
[Gently, he clasps them with both of his.]
It's me. It's Armin.
[Ah. Grounding…]
Armin. [Exhaled in relief, but tension remains as she clasps his hands back.] H-hey. Sorry to scare you.
[She swallows. Focus…] Do you know where…?
[He squeezes her hands a bit, thumbs idly stroking in the dark. It's pitch black. He can't even begin to make out her shape.]
Are you hurt? [Let's check that first...]
I assume something is about to happen. We'll stay calm. We can take whatever it throws at us.
[On reflex she shakes her head at the question, but Armin’s no clearer to Aubrey. All she has are his hands in the pitch; the realization’s enough to have her squeezing back, reluctant to let up.]
I’m… [‘fine,’ says the old instinct;] not hurt. No injury.
[Not like Sunny—]
Focus. Endure. Persist… [She shuts her eyes (it changes nothing), takes a breath.] What do you last remember?
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