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It was nearly three in the morning when Armin opened the door to Eren’s half-conscious body draped over Mikasa’s shoulders.
“What happened?” Armin asked, though he was pretty sure he already knew the answer.
“Typical frat stuff,” Mikasa replied. “His little—Floch, I think his name was—called me to get him.”
Armin vaguely remembered Eren mentioning the frat party on his way out earlier, but Armin had been too engrossed in comparing Milton’s Paradise Lost to Dante’s Inferno for his midterm the next day to really pay attention.
“Is he… is he awake?”
Eren groaned, answering Armin’s question.
Mikasa shrugged. “He’s your problem now,” she said, unceremoniously dumping Eren into the room, not bothering to provide him any more support. “I’m going to get In-N-Out with Annie.”
Eren stumbled forward, and, for a brief moment, Armin thought he’d catch himself. Unfortunately, he didn’t, and ended up sprawled face-down on the floor.
Armin and Mikasa stared down at their heavily inebriated friend, watching the steady rise and fall of his back, both likely thinking along the same lines.
Finally, Armin sighed, kneeling down beside Eren. “Can you get me some Animal Fries? I’ll pay you back.”
Mikasa shook her head and walked to the hallway. “I’ll cover. You deal with your boyfriend.”
The wooden door clicked shut just as Eren began to stir, grumbling and lifting his head up.
“Arms,” Eren muttered, rubbing his temples.
Furrowing his eyebrows in confusion, Armin held out his arms for Eren. “Arms?”
Eren immediately latched onto Armin, nearly toppling the shorter man over. “Yes, you, Arms. Yes, Arms's arms.”
Laughing, Armin gathered his boyfriend in a clumsy embrace, dragging the drunk man over to sit on the floor near his desk. After propping him up against the back of his desk drawers, Armin went to get a bottle of water from the fridge.
“I don’t normally get drunk this fast, I swear,” Eren slurred, head rolling to one side. “I just… Reiner… kept pouring shots, y’know?”
Armin nodded, trying in vain to hand Eren the water. Eren kept refusing it; whether he thought it was a handle of vodka or a bottle of water, Armin wasn’t sure. “Uh huh. Can you please take a drink of water? It’ll make you feel a lot better when you wake up tomorrow.”
Eren took the bottle, opening it with the kind of force normally reserved for tricky jars, and sloppily chugged. Water spilled everywhere, splashing all over Eren’s sweat-soaked shirt and the carpet flooring.
“Oh no, oh no, you big baby.” Armin grabbed a handful of paper towels from his desk and tried to dry Eren off, biting his lip to keep from laughing. Eren, eyes unfocused and mouth open, looked ridiculous.
Giggling, Eren half-heartedly slapped Armin away, just barely missing Armin’s face. “That tickles!” He slumped further against the wood drawers, a staple of cheap dorm furniture.
Armin snorted softly and cleaned Eren’s face tenderly, wondering to himself how he’d ended up falling in love with such an idiot.
As Armin wiped a bit of water off of Eren’s cheek, Eren reached up to cup his hand. “Armin, I love you,” he said, face deadly serious if not for the droop of his eyelids.
Patting Eren’s head with his free hand, Armin chuckled. “I know, Eren. I love you too.”
Eren sighed happily, rubbed his cheek against Armin’s hand like a cat, and promptly face-planted on the floor.
Armin let his laughter loose and tried to pull Eren into an upright sitting position again. “You need to stop cheating on me with alcohol,” he joked, tugging on Eren’s shoulder. “I’m blaming you if I fail my midterm tomorrow.”
Eren pouted, his eyes widening in what was probably meant to be a puppy dog face. As it were, Eren looked completely ridiculous with his lips jutting out, face glowing red, and eyes half-closed.
Armin cooed and pinched Eren’s cheeks. Maybe he needed to let Eren get drunk more often; Eren almost never let himself go, since he considered himself quite the heavyweight. Cleaning up after his spilled water was a small price to pay if Armin could see Eren acting this adorable more often.
Just as Armin was finishing up his thoughts, Eren’s mouth fell, the sides of his face looking a little green. “Arms, get a trash can. Now.”
Barely managing to grab a trash can and hold it in front of Eren in time, Armin regretted ever thinking that a drunk Eren was adorable, vowing to never let Eren drink that much again.