Work Text:
The lecture hall was silent except for the professor droning on at the front. Armin was paying apt attention. Or, well, he tried to. His head kept falling from where it was resting on his hand. It took all of his willpower to stay awake in that dark room with a monotone professor.
He stared across the room to a man with long dark hair tied into a bun. Armin stared into his eyes. The green color was mesmerizing. Eren was concentrated on the lecture. Armin envied his ability to stay awake to the man drawing on the whiteboard.
Eren's eyes turned to meet Armin's. Embarrassed that he'd been caught staring, his face flushed a deep red. Seeing this, Eren smiled kindly, letting out a silent laugh as he waved. Covering his face, Armin waved back before setting his head on the table in shame.
The next thing Armin knew, a hand was shaking him by the shoulder. "Dude, wake up. The professor ended class, like, five minutes ago," came a voice that Armin recognized as Jean.
"Aw, let him sleep," another voice sounded. Eren. "Looks like he needs it. Besides, the drool on his chin is cute, isn't it?" Armin quickly sat up and wiped his face, horrified that Eren was telling the truth. Both Eren and Jean laughed at his red face.
"Are you just here to make fun of me?" Armin asked with a glare.
Eren stopped laughing and frowned. His expression serious, he said, "Of course not. I was telling the truth. It's cute."
Armin flushed again. Jean deadpanned Eren, "Dude, why do you come over here every day just to flirt with Armin? You've got a girlfriend. A hot one, too." Armin's breath hitched at that word. Girlfriend. How could Armin ever think that he was single?
"Shut up, dude." Eren shot a glare at Jean. It hurt that he didn't deny any of it. "I still love my girlfriend." That word was what really hit Armin. His heart sank as it echoed in his mind. Love.
Armin laughed, because if he didn't, he would've cried. He came up with a lame excuse and rushed out of class.
Later, Armin sat in his hydrology class, jotting down random notes to distract himself. Jean sat next to him. "Hey, you kinda ran out of there earlier... You okay?"
Armin sighed. "Yeah, I just... feel teased."
"Sorry, dude. I didn't mean to make you feel bad."
"It's okay. Now I feel lonely more than anything else."
Jean sat there, pensive for a few moments. His head snapped up like he remembered something. "There's a party this Friday. Maybe you can find a girlfriend or something there."
Armin stared at the ground. "I don't know, Jean..."
"I know, I know, you use that time to study, but you could stick it to Jaeger."
Despite himself, Armin laughed. "Come on, I'm sure he meant well."
Jean shook his head, but he smiled anyway. "You're too forgiving, but I think that's why so many people are drawn to you." He patted Armin's shoulder. "Just give it a chance."
With a deep sigh, he acquiesced. "Fine. I'll go, but I'm not going alone." Jean nodded before the professor walked in and started class.
Friday night, Armin is standing on the front porch. He could hear music blasting throughout the house with flashing lights to match. He stood anxiously, checking his phone every few seconds. Jean said he would be here. He decided to text him again. Where are you????
A few minutes later, he finally got a series of texts back that told him: "Just go inside without me" "I'll be leaving soon" "Got caught up in something" "so sorry". Armin rolled his eyes and clicked his tongue as he locked his phone.
Stomping into the building, he poured himself a couple shots. Nothing like a little bit of liquid courage to settle his annoyance. It did nothing for his anxiety, though. He didn't know anyone at this party. He poured himself another drink to nurse and stood against the wall.
A goth girl who was doing the exact same thing as him spoke up next to him. "This isn't exactly your scene, is it?"
Armin chuckled awkwardly. "No, it isn't. No offense, but it doesn't really suit you either." He looked her up and down. She wore her hair in short pigtails. She was decked out in silver jewelry with a short black dress and torn tights.
The girl smiled, the black accentuating her lips beautifully. "None taken. I'm Mikasa."
"Armin." He stuck his hand out to shake her hand before second guessing himself. Was that the right way to introduce yourself in this situation?
Mikasa laughed at his fumbling and gently grabbed his hand to shake it. "Nice to meet you." Armin blushed. He wanted to make her laugh again, keep touching her hand with his own.
He gulped down his drink, trying to hide his flushed face. Offering to fill up her drink as well, he went back to the kitchen, her following close behind. They continued their conversation in the kitchen when a ping sounded from his phone. It was Jean. Hey, man, I'm so sorry, but I don't think I can make it :(
Armin looked at Mikasa and smiled, forcing himself to sober up enough to text back, Dw abt it :) I think I'll be fine. He locked his phone again and shoved it into his back pocket.
The more they talked, the more they had in common. They had a similar music taste, they both loved the beach, she even liked some of Armin's favorite films. "How come we've never met before?" He asked, unconsciously leaning in.
With a blush dusting her cheekbones, she said quietly into the diminishing space between them. "Some things take time for a reason."
In lieu of a response, Armin leaned forward and kissed her, letting his tongue run along her lips. He could barely feel it, face numb from alcohol. How much had he drank? He couldn't recall, but he didn't care so long as his lips were on Mikasa's.
He watched her open her eyes. Hand still on her cheek, he admitted, "I really like you, Mikasa."
"Armin..." She started. "I have a boyfriend." His heart sank. Why did this keep happening to him?
He apologized profusely, stumbling over his words. He was honestly surprised Mikasa could understand him when he asked who she was dating. She pointed over to an all too familiar face. Of course, it had to be Eren.
Quickly making his way over to the other man, or as quick as he could with his stumbling, he tapped Eren on the shoulder. The man turned around and smiled. He seemed genuinely happy to see him. "Hey, Armin. I didn't expect to see you here."
A million words a minute, Armin started his slurred apology. "Eren, I'm so so sorry. I didn't know you had a girlfriend. Well, no, that's a lie, you're too hot to not have a girlfriend, and obviously you said so earlier this week. But even knowing that, I kissed your girlfriend anyway. I'm so sorry, I didn't do it on purpose, I didn't know! Anyways, I'm here to make it up to you." Eren blinked, processing the word vomit. Armin continued, "I just need to even it out."
Before Eren could even breathe, Armin made one bold move of grabbing the back of Eren's head, kissing him square on the mouth. The alcohol had made him brave, clearly, as he went further and indulged himself, sticking his tongue into Eren's open mouth and sucking on his upper lip a couple times, ensuing in loud smacking sounds, before pulling away.
Eren stood there with his hair mussed and cheeks glaring red. Armin mumbled to himself, "Now we can forget all about it." After a few more seconds of stunned silence, both Eren and Mikasa bursted into laughter.
Mikasa looked to her boyfriend and declared. "You were right. He only gets cuter the more you get to know him." It was Armin's turn to blush, but it wasn't noticeable against his already red face.
The night continued on in a blur. They all continued to get closer, and Armin couldn't believe it had taken this long for them to become friends. Eren and Mikasa left lingering touches on Armin that he relished in, though he pouted when they cut him off on alcohol.
Armin woke up feeling like he had swallowed a mouthful of cotton and been hit in the head with a comically sized mallet. He opened his eyes only to immediately regret it, the light from his openned blinds burning his eyes. He turned over, pulling the covers over his head.
A ping came from his phone. He dug around for it for a few minutes, irritated at his tangled sheets, before he finally found it. He noticed it was well past noon, but he couldn't bring himself to care. There were a couple texts that he decided could wait a couple hours until he woke up again until he saw a group chat with two contacts that he didn't remember having. Eren and Mikasa, both with hearts next to their names.
Immediately, memories of last night flooded his mind. He shoved his face into his pillow in shame. His alcohol addled brain really thought that kissing them both was the right thing to do.
Resisting the urge to ghost and blot himself from existence, he opened the group chat. Last night, Eren wrote, "Did you make it home safe, baby?♥️" What?
Another text from Mikasa came directly after that. "Text us when you wake up, babe. Sending kisses to make your inevitable hangover go away <333" Strangely enough, just reading that did alleviate some of the pain in Armin's head, though he was unsure if it was a tease or not. Before responding, Armin paused and contemplated what was going on in this situation. Perhaps they meant to just send it to each other instead and accidentally sent it to their group chat. He ruled that out when he reread Mikasa's use of "us". He took a shot in the dark and responded anyway. "Yeah, I got home safe, though I don't really remember how (ᵕ—ᗜ—)"
Deciding that he'd already be embarrassed if he had guessed wrong, he sent another as a direct response to Mikasa. "Thanks for the kisses, much love. They went straight to my head and helped my hangover a bit :) I'm probably gonna go to bed again though, the sight of any light is killing me 😔"
The response from Mikasa was speedy. "My poor baby :((( do you want us to come over and take care of you?" Armin was flabbergasted, but not displeased, not expecting to be correct in his assumption that they were talking to him and not making fun of his proposterous actions the night before. He didn't really know how to reply, so he sat there for a few moments pondering what he wanted and what would be appropriate to say. In the end, he just decided to be honest. "Yeah, kinda..."
Immediately, his phone pinged. "Okay :)) send your address and me and Eren will be there soon" He followed her command and laid back in bed.
He must have fallen asleep as soon as his head hit the pillow, as it wasn't long before he heard a knock on his front door. Dragging his feet through the apartment, he reached the door to open it. Both Mikasa and Eren had bags in hand. Mikasa clicked her tongue, letting out an "aww" before grabbing his face and kissing his lips gently with a few repetitive pecks. Eren swooped in after she was done to plant a longer, slightly firmer kiss on his lips, hand on Armin's lower back.
Though he kissed back on instinct, and, let's face it, the absolute desire to do so, Armin was a bit confused, but led them inside anyway. Maybe the kiss he gave them before became the bit of their friendship? Eren did seem to find it funny before.
Mikasa walked him to bed and laid him down. After going through every single cabinet door in Armin's kitchenette, Eren came in with a glass of water and some aspirin that he and Mikasa had bought for him. He also pulled some snacks out of his bag to help replenish the electrolytes and carbohydrates in Armin's system.
Armin did everything he was told, though he refused to admit that he liked being pampered by them, and once they were pleased with the amount he had eaten, they laid down with him and cuddled him on both sides. They were extremely touchy people, Armin supposed, having ample evidence from this moment as well as the party.
Tucking his face into Mikasa's neck, he mumbled, "I feel like I'm such a burden to you guys."
Mikasa hugged him closer, kissing the crown of his head while Eren reassured him with a kiss to the nape of his neck. With another kiss, she told him, "My boyfriend could never be a burden to me."
Armin pulled his head back, fixing her with a confused stare. Why would she mention Eren in a conversation like this? Mikasa giggled at the way Armin nose scrunched. Her smile dropped after a few seconds of silence. "Do you remember last night?" She asked.
"Kinda..." He admitted, "I know I kissed you... And I didn't want Eren to be mad at me, so I just kissed him too." He laughed nervously. "I don't know why. I guess that's the best plan my drunk brain could come up with."
Eren smiled into the back of his neck, squeezing his torso in a tight hug. "Good plan."
Mikasa, however, looked concerned. "Is that all you remember?"
In a bad mood due to just waking up and his hangover, Armin gave her a brief look that said Do I have to spell it out for you?, but he tried to settle his expression into something kind and responded, "Pretty much, yeah."
Her face dropped further. It made Armin's heart clench painfully. "So you don't remember us asking you to date both of us?" She looked close to tears.
Before Armin could respond, Eren hurriedly sat up. Immediately, he missed the warmth on his back. Eren stared at Armin with worry filled eyes. It didn't take long for Armin to decide that he didn't like seeing them this way. However, it felt wrong to lie to them. "I don't." He hurriedly added on," But I'm not upset! Just... Surprised is all."
Relief splashed across their faces. Mikasa let out an audible sigh of relief. Eren started with a shy smile gracing his face, "So... Now that you're sober, allow me to ask again." He cleared his throat. "Would you like to be our boyfriend?"
Armin smiled, looking at the both of their hopeful faces. "There's nothing I would love more." With huge grins, they smothered his face in kisses. After Armin practically demanded that Eren close the curtains, they all fell asleep in a cuddle puddle.
The next Monday at school, Jean approached him and asked, "So, how'd it go? You finally get a girlfriend or a boyfriend?"
Armin nodded with a devious smirk, eyes glinting. "Both, actually."