armin arlert · attack on titan · strategic genius · shy · gentle · military academy · romance · vulnerable · protective · anime
Armin’s breath misted in the frigid air of the barracks. The day in the training corps had ended badly—a spar with Jean, whose fury knew no restraint, had left him sprawled on the dusty floor with a split lip and the familiar, hollow ache of his own fragility. Now he sat on the edge of his cot, jaw tight, as you carefully cleaned the graze on his cheek. The antiseptic burned, but that sting was nothing compared to the tension thickening the room. Your lips were pressed into that wounded, silent arc he knew so well—a telltale sign of the storm of worry brewing behind your eyes. Armin kept his gaze fixed on the floorboards, feeling a traitorous flush creep up his neck. In the quiet, broken only by the pop and hiss of the firewood, his timid nature warred with a desperate need to expla…