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It truly was no secret that life could be cruel, tiring and relentlessly stressful. Things happened here and there, pulling one in all kinds of wanted or unwanted directions without asking permission first.
But to a certain group of four, life’s harsh antics were slowly being forgotten as they stood in a meadow right in the middle of a quiet spring afternoon. The weather was more than pleasant: the sky was a soft shade of blue, and few clouds were wandering here and there, giving them small breaks from the warm rays the sun was beaming onto them. It was silent, save for Armin, Annie, Mikasa and Eren’s happy chatter, the hushing of light breeze glading on the sunflowers and the roaring of the two or three cars that were driving on the nearby road.
“Guys, last one at the glade’s a loser!”
And so the race started. Laughter filled the air as they ran through the meadow, wind disheveling their hair and tall grass and flowers prickling their legs. Armin, being the careful person he was, shouted on top of his lungs to tell them to pay attention in order not to crush too many sunflowers on their way, to which his friends responded with a quick nod, their breath too shallow to allow them to speak.
There was no time for sorrow or worries of everyday life; that day, there were just smiles, flowers, strawhats, bright summer shirts and flowery dresses.
After a few minutes, the four friends made their way through the woods that were awaiting them at the end of the meadow. Mikasa and Annie were leading the race, running with a speed that Eren and Armin could not possibly match. To the blond boy, it was almost as if they were one with the wind, gliding between oaks and sycamores, swiftly hopping over thick roots and expertly dodging low hanging branches. He could hear Eren cursing and speeding up, which made him laugh through his own heavy panting - running had never been his forte.
Mikasa ended up reaching the glade first, followed closely by Annie and Eren. Armin arrived a while later and discovered his friends plopped down on the grass, gasping for air as they were equally out of breath.
“No fair…” Eren pouted. “Mikasa... Always wins!
- Nothing’s unfair about this... You’re just a sore loser...
- Am not!
- You are. Deal with it.
- What really isn’t fair is that we raced despite knowing that I always end up last and that I was in charge of carrying our food. So...” Armin put the basket he was carrying down and pecked Eren’s cheek. “Calm down, mister, will you?”
Eren smiled and pulled his boyfriend down for a kiss. Mikasa turned to Annie, a small pout on her lips, and asked:
“Do I also get a kiss?
- Mmh?” She smirked. “You think you deserve one?
- Yes? I literally won the race?
- By not much, but alright.”
Annie laughed softly and obliged.
“Ew, you’re sweaty.
- Yeah ‘cause you totally aren’t.” Annie playfully pushed her. “Besides, I wasn’t the one here asking for a kiss.
- I wouldn’t have asked had I known you were basically a puddle of sweat.
- What’d you expect? Me to smell like sunshines and flowers after running in the sun?
- Yep, kinda.
- Can you stop with your bickering?
- Can you mind your own damn business?”
Leaving Eren to deal with the girls, Armin turned his attention back to the glade. It was quite a small one, surrounded by trees pressed rather tightly to each other - apart from the small opening through which they had entered - creating a thick blanket of leaves above their heads that allowed for only a few spots of sunlight. It made the air a bit more chilly, but he didn’t complain: it was late spring and the temperatures were getting high, so spending time in the shade after running through the sunny meadow actually felt good. He walked to the middle of the glade, closed his eyes and lifted his head up, taking the earthy smell of the woods in. It had been at least three weeks since they had last come here, which, to him, almost felt like forever. He had missed this place and the tranquility that came with it.
What a beautiful day.
“Shall we eat?” Eren asked. “I’m hungry…
- Oh yes, we should. Winning that race made me extra hungry.
- You just can’t stop bragging about that, huh?” Annie nudged her. “Care to keep it down a little?
- Nope.
- What about you, Ar? Feeling hungry?
- Yes, let’s eat.”
He opened his eyes and walked back to his friends. Eren and Annie got to setting the two pic-nic blankets they had brought in the shade of one of the tall oak trees circling the glade. Once they were spread out on the grass, Mikasa took the various drinks and dishes out of the basket as Annie and Armin listed what each couple had brought. Among other things were homemade pizza, lemonade, sliced watermelon and not to forget Mikasa’s special nettle soup. (The latter had sparked a debate during the car ride: while Mikasa and Armin had argued that nettle soup was full of vitamins and minerals, Eren and Annie had retorted that soup, even cold, was not an ideal dish for the summer and even more so for a picnic.)
“Hey, uh, guys...” Annie huffed and looked over to her girlfriend, earning herself an eyeroll. “I hope you brought dessert, ‘cause a certain someone forgot to.
- We did! Eren baked a blueberry pie!
- Huh? There’s absolutely no way that Eren fucking Jäger baked a pie . Or at least not a good one.
- What are you insinuating? That I was born to be a bad baker? Doomed to have no talent?
- … Yeah, you actually worded it pretty accurately.
- Mikasa! Tell your girlfriend to stop bullying me!”
Armin suggested they start eating in order to avoid their bickering to evolve any further. He was met with the girls’ approval and Eren’s frustrated scowl. Despite this, their lunch break was as peaceful and fun as he had wished: their conversation wandered from general small talk, to Jean and Eren’s most recent fight, to your average teenage gossiping, to more specific topics. While Annie and Armin went on to discuss martial arts and fighting techniques the latter could learn to grow stronger, Mikasa decided she would teach Eren how to make a flower crown with the daisies that were growing around their oak tree.
After having packed their leftovers back into the basket, the small group decided to just lay down and talk to rest a little more.
“Hey Arms?
- Yes?
- Are there any edible flowers growing at this time of the year?
- Yes, there are.” He smiled, excited that he had the opportunity to tell his friends about something he liked. “Plenty, actually. There are violets, which you can turn into delicious syrup or candy to eat, borages, which you can use in salads, cornflowers, which are great for tea…”
A warm feeling blossomed in Armin’s chest as he went on with his explanation. It was good to spend time with his closest friends, to dedicate a few hours of their lives to pure and mindless distraction, something they had all urgently needed.
“Oh, and Mikasa?” Armin propped himself on his elbow and looked over to the ravenette. “I really, really need you to give me your nettle soup recipe. It was so, so good!
- Please, no.
- Eren. Stop being a baby over anything that is remotely green. It’s good for you.
- It isn’t for my tastebuds.
- It’s good for you and your body, though.
- Pizza is good for me and my tastebuds.
- You should listen to Armin.” Mikasa sat up. “A little bit of healthy food won’t hurt you.
- Yes, mom. I’ll eat all my veggies, promised.”
He rolled his eyes.
“We only say this because we care about you.
- Oh please, what are you, a bunch of parents who just lied to their kid about his true origins or something? It’s so cringe.
- It’s not cringe until you make it cringe.
- It is cringe, get over it, Ar.
- It isn’t.
- It is.
- You know what? How about we settle this over a round of Uno?
- Deal!”
Ten rounds of Uno and a fight for the rules regarding the stacking of +2 and +4 cards later, the sun started to slowly set, indicating that that day’s afternoon was about to meet its end. All four agreed to start making their way back to Annie’s car. Once the blankets were folded and tucked in the basket and the bits of leaves and grass shaken off their clothes, they were good to go through the woods again - though, this time, they did not race back to the car.
The meadow, while still singing songs of wind and grass, was much quieter now. The setting sun’s light gave it a completely different atmosphere. To Armin, it was as if the light was trying to bury the bug’s and flower’s secrets in the shades of purple, orange and pink that were adorning the clouds. He could not stop smiling at how beautiful the scenery was - it was even somewhat romantic with the sunflowers still standing proud.
“Hey, Armin?”
He turned around to meet Eren’s eyes.
“Yes?
- You’re beautiful. I love you.”
Shit. The blond felt his face heating up and covered his pink-dusted cheeks with his arm.
“Good to know I can still make you blush.” Eren laughed and kissed his forehead. “It’s cute.
- You’re wrong. It’s the sunset, it makes everyone look red.
- Mmh. If you say so.”
He pulled him close to give him a slow, passionate kiss. Eren took the basket from him and grabbed his hand with his free one, lacing their fingers, and led a still flustered Armin through the rest of the meadow back to where the car was parked. As they arrived, they noticed that their two other friends weren’t anywhere near them. They turned around and saw them talking while holding each other tightly further away in the meadow.
“Dang it.” Eren leaned against the car and sighed, his eyes on the two lovebirds. “I really feel like interrupting them to annoy Mikasa, but they look way too cute.
- They do. And besides, Annie would probably give you the beating of her life for cutting her off in the middle of a romantic movie-like scene.
- Mmh. It would also tempt her to ruin our romantic movie-like scenes in revenge. Wise decision.”
Armin nodded and leaned against Eren, closing his eyes, just relishing in his boyfriend’s presence.
“Eren?
- Yeah?
- I love you too.
- You do?
- Yes. Even if you act like a literal child when it comes to food.
- Says the guy who loses his shit for a bunch of edible flowers.
- You don’t have the permission to judge me.
- What do I have the permission to do, then?
- Mmh… Let me think…” Armin looked up, then back to Eren. “You have the permission to eat vegetables.
- Dang it, Ar. I thought you’d say something really cute and romantic.
- Being healthy is cute.”
Mikasa clearing her throat pulled them out of their moment.
“So… Are we good to go?
- Yes, we are!
- Let’s go, then.”
Armin sighed peacefully as they took place in the car. Nothing made him quite happy like spring afternoons with friends did.