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The first time Annie noticed it, the two were studying together at Armin’s home. A big math test was coming up, one that was going to be very important for passing this year. Annie wasn’t a superstar at math; only receiving an 8 at max. But Armin… he would always get perfect or near-perfect scores. He was any math teacher’s favorite. He always had his homework done, paid attention never got a bad grade…
Annie was laying on Armin’s bed, a pillow squashed underneath her abdomen as she read through the theory. She glanced up at the blonde, who was sitting at his desk. He has been sitting there for more than an hour by now, constantly repeating the same exercises until he thought he understood them sufficiently. Annie could hear him sigh heavily, then snapping his fingers multiple times.
She watched him carefully. He had dropped his pen and instead used that hand to snap his fingers or rub his thumb and index finger against each other. His other hand was also fidgeting with his fingers, or pulling at his sleeves. Whenever he sighed, Annie could hear a small groan of pain. Was he still binding at this time?
She sighed. Annie couldn’t just sit here and watch this play out. She stood up, walked over, and wrapped her arms around Armin. That action startled him.
‘’Min, take a break,’’ Annie said, nuzzling her nose in his honey blonde locks. It smelled like vanilla.
‘’I can’t, I just- I still don’t understand this,’’ he uttered, putting one hand over Annies and with the other pointing at an exercise.
‘’That test is like 3 days away, and tomorrow we have an extra tutor lesson,’’ her lips pressed a kiss against his summer freckled cheek, and then spoke again ‘’It’s not the end of the world if you fail a test, you know?’’
‘’I know, I know. But- I just-,’’ Armin sighed again, eyebrows furrowing from the aching from his binding.
‘’Take your binder off, first of all,’’ Annie asserted before he could say anything else.
‘’What? But...Uhm, I can’t!’’
‘’Why not? Do you think I’ll mind, or something?’’
He started fidgetting with his hands again, wiping them against each other and snapping his fingers. Annie took hold of them, intertwining their fingers and rubbing her thumb over his knuckles. That action seemed to relax him, as his shaky breaths slowly calmed down.
‘’I just- I don’t like feeling exposed, like-,’’ Armin tightly squeezed Annie’s hand ‘’I don’t like it.’’
‘’It’s better for your ribs. If you bruise them, then who knows for how long you won’t be able to bind,’’ she released his hands, and instead used her fingers to brush through his bangs ‘’Please do it, Minnie.’’
He exhaled once again but agreed to take his binder off. With his back turned against Annie, she helped him take the fabric off. She could already see slight bruises forming where the binder squeezed his skin together. Right the instant it was taken off, Armin wrapped his arms around his chest, waiting for Annie to give him his sweater back. He didn’t dare to make any movement that could potentially reveal his chest.
One of his, or probably Eren’s based on the size, sweaters was thrown over his head, one so oversized it would hide his chest for sure. Annie slid her hands underneath Armin’s armpits, instructing him to hold his arms up. He tightly shut his eyes as he did so, allowing Annie to slip the sweater on him.
‘’There, all done,’’ Annie broke the silence, and wrapped her arms around his abdomen while nuzzling her face in his shoulder ‘’Feel better?’’
‘’I can sort of breathe better now, I guess…’’ he adjusted his glasses to sit better on his nose, then started fidgeting with his hands again ‘’But I… I have to start with math again. I just- I can’t fail this and Uhm... I still don’t understand it completely yet, Annie. I’m sorry.’’
‘’Min, calm down,’’ she took hold of those fidgeting hands ‘’No more math for today. No more school. No more binding. No more stress. Okay?’’
Before Armin could say anything back, Annie had already picked him up bridal style, despite their height difference. She carried him to his bed, and to her surprise, he didn’t protest at all. However, he did start fidgeting with his fingers.
Annie picked up a plush bunny and stuffed it in Armin’s hand. His head shot up and looked at his hands, obviously confused.
‘’Annie, wha-’’
‘’Armin, what do its ears feel like?’’
‘’Huh?’’ Armin trailed his finger over the bunny’s ear ‘’It’s… fluffy?’’
‘’Anything more?’’ she plopped down beside him, watching him carefully.
‘’It has a hole over here, from when I stuck my thumb through it too much when I was little,’’ his thumb is sticking through said hole, then slightly moved up ‘’Over here, most of the fluff is gone, since I sucked on that part when I was little.’’
‘’Good,’’ a small smile appeared on Annie’s face. She started wiping his bangs out of his face, and then spoke again ‘’And its face?’’
‘’The same as the ears, but it has a slightly different texture for its eyes. There is one thread sticking out from its eyes as well.’’
‘’Chest?’’
‘’...It’s also fluffy, but it does feel different in terms of weight. There’s like some weight pulling it all down. It’s nowhere near the same as its head.’’
‘’I have no idea what you mean by that, but you’re doing well,’’ Annie laid down beside him, rubbing his cheek ‘’How do you feel?’’
‘’A bit better, I guess,’’ Armin shrugged, but Annie could tell that his frown was disappearing.
She continued stroking his cheek, massaging the chubby skin. Armin took off his glasses and rolled onto his side as well. Their faces were so close, they could both feel each other’s breathing. Annie started counting each of Armin’s blonde eyelashes, fluttering shut and staying so for a few seconds at times. Eventually, she lost the count, and instead focussed on his eyes, watching her reflection in his pupil.
Armin was still playing with the plush bunny in his hands, but slowly, he started to stop. He instead started combing his fingers through Annie’s primrose blonde hair, stroking the strands and twirling them around his finger. The two stayed like this for a few minutes, until they both realized what the other was doing. A blush crept up Armin’s cheeks, and Annie’s face was also turning beet-red.
‘’I’m sorry-,’’ they both said at the same time, resulting in them giggling.
‘’Sorry,’’ Armin said after a short pause, then covered his face with his hands ‘’Argh, I’m so annoying! I’m sorry, Annie…’’
‘’I didn’t say you were annoying? If anything, I’m annoying for staring at you like some stalker,’’ Annie raffled his hair, gently nudging him to stop hiding his face ‘’Cuddle?’’
Armin hummed, laying on his back
‘’Can I lay on your chest, by the way?’’ she asked.
‘’Uh, yeah sure. Keep it close at the center and my collar bones, and avoid touching...them.’’
Gently, Annie laid her head down on Armin’s chest, inhaling his sweet vanilla smell. She could hear Armin’s heartbeat, still thumping from the stress. His fingers were still combing through her hair, making tiny braids or just brushing through the strands. It was a bit annoying, but Annie knew that this was just Armin’s way of getting rid of stress.
‘’You doing better?’’ the question was slurred over her lips, as a strong feeling of fatigue was taking her over ‘’Anything else I can do to make you feel better?’’
‘’Mmm, cuddles are enough,’’ Armin mumbled, laying his chin on Annie’s head ‘’I’m fine like this.’’