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“Conventional implicatures are not calculable using the Principle of Cooperation and the maxims…”, professor Smith was saying, walking circles in front of the class.
His leather shoes squealed against the wood floors, the sound somehow irritating her ears even all the way in the back of the lecture hall. Annie never did understand why the man insisted on wearing them, or that old fashioned suit of his. It wasn’t like anyone else cared much. Yet he was always dressed perfectly, as if attending a wedding every day after class. The slides rolling on the projector behind him echoed his words exactly, as if he’d given the same lecture so many times he’d learnt it by heart, to the last comma.
Yet Annie had stopped paying attention about twenty minutes ago, when her phone had first pinged with a notification. She hadn’t meant to even look at it, but then she’d seen that familiar cluster of letters flash across the screen and she couldn’t resist. Luckily she was sitting all the way in the back of the class, and her laptop hid most of her face; the chances of getting caught were minimal.
Besides, much more interesting things were happening there than whatever pragmatics stuff Smith was talking about. Like Armin’s refusal to share his plans for the night.
Annie doubted she was even supposed to know that he had plans in the first place, but he’d been so giddy ever since they’d returned from spring break that it was hard not to figure it out. Yet, when confronted about it, he’d gone all red in the face and changed the subject. Which intrigued Annie to no limits, but she couldn’t force that information out of him, whatever she’d tried. All he’d given her was a date and a time, which just so happened to be right after Smith’s class. It wasn’t much of a surprise though, what with their anniversary coming up.
Hitch shifted next to her, making her ears perk. Annie side eyed her, more to check if she was peeking in her phone as she usually was than anything. Luckily, she wasn’t for once, sprawled in her chair. Her yellow hoodie had ridden up the tiniest bit and her curls had given out by now. Hitch looked about as interested in this lecture as she was.
“If he mentions Grice one more time I’m gonna throw up,” she groaned.
Annie agreed with a slight nod. Then her phone pinged again, distracting her once more.
Armin: you’ll just have to wait and see
Me: see you can’t just say that
Me: you know i’m not a particularly patient woman
Armin: :)
Although he couldn’t see her, Annie rolled her eyes. Yet her heart skipped a beat all the same, much like it did every time he’d smile her way. Which was pathetic, considering they’d been dating for some good eight months now. They’d both been rather shy in the beginning, much to Hitch’s great amusement– who had set them up in the first place. It was sometime in September, after a particularly eventful evening that ended with the two of them carrying a drunk Hitch home on their shoulders, that they started loosening up.
Armin wasn’t supposed to still fluster her like this, yet he had no problem doing so.
It was Hitch’s voice that brought her out of her reminiscence. “You do know that you look like a damn fool, right?”
Annie snapped her eyes up, finding her deskmate already looking at her with a mocking smile and a raised eyebrow. She scowled at her, yet her face heated up all the same. Hitch must have noticed, for she muffled a laugh.
“Good Lord, you’re just smiling at your phone like a damn fool,” Hitch said, barely holding in her laugh.
“Will you stop bullying me?” Annie hissed, summoning every ounce of venom she could possibly put in a whisper.
Yet her voice must have been louder than she’d wanted, for it earned them a glance from Smith. Annie pressed her lips together, avoiding the professor’s eyes altogether and looking back at her screen, mocking interest. He couldn’t possibly know she was just staring at a blank page, right?
A second later, the professor resumed his lecture. “As I was saying, implicatures are triggered by…”
She did actually write three words down. What were implicatures and how they’d gotten there, she had no clue, but they were triggered by…
Her phone pinged again, and that’s all Annie needed to drop her notes once more.
Armin: can’t wait to see you
Armin: and your pretty smile
Annie’s face heated up once more. It was embarrassing really, how such innocent little words could still fluster her so much. She pressed her lips together, thinking up some response. Yet, when her fingers ghosted over the keyboard, she felt a presence right above her shoulder. Frowning, Annie raised her head just enough to catch a glimpse of Hitch’s amused eyes. She hurried to shut her phone, but it was too late. She’d already seen what she wanted to see.
“Does he know you’re in class?”
Annie rolled her eyes so far back she wondered if they could even go any further. A retort was starting to form on her lips, when professor Smith stopped mid sentence once more and turned toward the two of them with a stern look.
“You ladies at the back seem to have much more important matters at your hands than this class,” he said, his voice leveled.
Annie pressed her lips together, staring back at him with her usual blank expression. She could not care less about his class, which he must have figured many weeks ago, for he’d usually just let her do whatever. She was passing his class anyway, she didn’t much care how. Hitch, however, needed to keep in the man’s good graces, what with her scholarship and all.
She froze next to Annie, her eyes going a little wider.
Smith narrowed his eyes at them. “Do I need to invite you to leave this class?”
“No, sir,” Hitch hurried to say, straightening her back and glueing her eyes back to her iPad. She’d taken much more in depth notes than Annie had. She wondered what she'd have to do for Hitch to share them at the end of class.
Yet the professor didn’t seem very pleased with his answer, for he kept staring Annie down for a second more, until she shook her head and returned her attention to her poor notes.
The rest of class passed by excruciatingly slowly, and with the professor's vigilant eyes on the two of them in the back, Annie could not return her attention to her phone as she'd planned. Thus, once the man concluded his lecture and wished them well, Annie was the first one to pack her bag.
“I take you have plans, then,” Hitch said.
Annie shook her head, shrugging on her leather jacket. She hadn't been very sure about taking it this morning, thinking that it might clash with the rest of her outfit– an off shoulder maroon blouse and jeans– but now she was glad she had, for it’d gotten rather chilly over the day.
“Armin does,” she said as they started down towards the door. “He won’t tell me what they are though.”
Hitch huffed a huff of laughter. When they passed by Smith, who was gathering his things off of the desk, he shot them a look, pointed as a warning, and Annie found herself muttering an apology.
Yet Hitch rolled her eyes as she held the door open. “Don't mind him, he's an ass.”
Annie raised an eyebrow. “We were disturbing his class.”
Her friend waved her hand dismissively. “Much more important things were happening. Such as…”
But she didn’t finish the thought, for her eyes landed on something by the stairs. Or someone.
Annie followed her gaze, her eyes landing on none other than Armin, leaning against the wall by the stairs with a book in his hands. His glasses were sitting a little askew on the bridge of his nose, and he was wearing a slight frown, as he usually did when deep in his reading. The sleeves of his denim jacket were rolled up slightly. He was so engrossed in his book that he didn't pay any mind to the people passing by.
It wasn't until someone accidentally bumped into his shoulder while going up the stairs that he looked up, his frown deepening as he shot the guy a look. But then his eyes actually gazed over the crowd, eventually landing on Annie's.
She sucked in a breath as his expression softened, her heart doing a little flip. A smile slowly bloomed on his lips. Armin put his book away and straightened up, then waved shortly.
Annie's face warmed up as they walked towards him, anticipation tingling at the tips of her fingers.
Next to her, Hitch gagged silently.
“What is wrong with you?” Annie hissed, narrowing her eyes at her.
But her roommate blatantly ignored her, switching her attention to Armin instead.
“Hello, loverboy.”
Armin’s face turned beetroot red, yet he managed to smile through it. “Hi, Hitch. Annie.”
She couldn’t help but mirror his smile. “Hey.”
Which only made Armin’s smile broaden, as if the mere sound of her voice made his heart dance with joy. Annie tilted her head a little bit, taking him in as he stood in front of her. For some reason, it bothered her how askew his glasses were, so, without thinking, she reached up and straightened them. Armin's eyes, warm as honey, widened the slightest bit, but he didn't say a word. When she went to retrieve her hand, her fingertips brushed against his cheekbone. And his skin was so warm, it almost burned through her cold digits.
Hitch’s voice snapped her out of her thoughts. “Alright, guys, I think I’m gonna go.”
Annie thought she should at least pretend to want her to stay, though she guessed Hitch would have seen right through that.
“Get home safe,” she told her instead.
Her roommate nodded grudgingly, gave a half hearted wave, and made her way up the stairs.
“We should get going too,” Armin said as Hitch disappeared in the sea of people. He put his hand forward as if offering it for her to take.
Annie arched an eyebrow. “Are we in a rush?”
Yet she took his hand all the same, threading her fingers through his warm ones. They’d done this a thousand times, yet she found herself ogling at how well their hands fit together, as if they had been designed to hold each other.
“No,” Armin smiled, giving her hand a little squeeze.
He pecked her cheek shortly, not giving her enough time to fully process it before he wordlessly took the bag from her shoulder. He swung it over his own as he led her up the stairs.
Annie hummed. “So I assume you didn’t make a reservation anywhere, then,” she thought out loud. “Since we’re not in a rush.” As excited as she might have been about the surprise, it was eating her alive that she didn’t know where they were going.
Armin laughed a little laugh, the sound caressing her ears. If she could live in a sound, it would be the sound of his laugh.
“I can’t tell you that,” he shook his head.
“Why not?”
“Because it wouldn’t be a surprise anymore.”
Annie pouted. “So I can know there’s a date, but I can’t know what the date is.”
“Precisely.”
“You know, if you really wanted it to be a surprise, you shouldn’t have told me about the date in the first place.”
“I’ll keep that in mind for next time,” he smiled.
She rolled her eyes, pressing her lips together to stop a smile of her own. The sun was lazily heading West when they made it out of the building, partly hidden by a cloud. Yet it sent golden hues over the world all the same, covering it with a kind of blanket of warmth. It would have been the perfect time to cuddle up on the couch and put on a movie, she thought.
But instead of heading towards the campus, Armin led her in the opposite direction.
“So we’re not going back to your room.”
“Nope.”
Annie hummed, albeit a little disappointed. “Are we going for coffee then?”
Armin narrowed his eyes for a second, as if highly considering it, then said, “I mean, we can if you want to. Do you?”
Annie thought about it for a second. She didn’t want to interfere with his plan, but she so desperately craved a coffee– a diabolically sweet one, maybe with some syrup. But his plan…
“I'll be fine without,” she decided.
Armin gave her a quizzical look, as if making sure she wasn't lying, but she reinforced it with a nod, so he dropped it.
They stopped at a streetlight, for once standing side by side again. He swayed their hands slightly, humming a little while doing so, which drew a little giggle out of Annie. She hadn’t realised just how much she’d missed him until his eyes met hers again, a little tired and a little wide, and yet so peaceful. They somewhat made her feel at peace, too, and she soon found herself just drowning in his eyes, searching them for whatever new shade of sunshine she might find.
His face softened. “What is it?” he asked, snapping her out of her thoughts.
Annie shook her head a little. “Is it some fancy place?”
Armin snorted, then made such a show out of rolling his eyes that she had to fight herself not to mirror the gesture. “I can’t tell you that.”
“Oh, come oooon,” Annie said, her voice coming out more exasperatedly than she would have liked.
A little laugh escaped Armin’s lips, the sound music to her ears.
“It's a surprise, Annie,” he said, his smile soft. “You know how surprises work.”
This time she did roll her eyes, but her smile grew nonetheless. Annie rose on her tippy toes, her hand soon cupping Armin’s cheek. His eyes widened the slightest bit, but, before he got the chance to even blink, she brought her lips over his own. He hummed into the kiss before returning it, sweet and soft and full of all the longing of the days they'd been apart.
From the corner of her eye, she noticed the streetlights changing colors, yet she was too absorbed by Armin to have the appropriate reaction. Only when Armin pulled her closer to himself as to avoid getting bumped into did she realise what was going on around her.
Armin tugged at her hand, leading her away from the sidewalk.
“Is it a museum date?”
They'd done that before, she knew how much he liked them.
Armin shook his head. “No.”
“Zoo?”
He shook his head, his smile growing even wider.
Annie raised an eyebrow. What could this boy have possibly planned?
“You better not take me hiking though,” she warned.
His laugh echoed between the buildings, bouncing between them, filling the promenade. A couple of curious eyes turned their way– not that she cared though; not when she had Armin this close to her.
“Why would I take you on a hike without telling you?”
Annie shrugged. “You better not.”
Armin studied her face a little, his smile growing. “Noted.”
Annie nodded, then pursed her lips together, thinking. For some reason she'd always thought that helped her think better, but now it proved futile. Where could he possibly take her? She narrowed her eyes at her shoes, thinking, took a mental note to clean them later on, especially that spot on– oh, wait.
Annie snapped her head up, only now noticing the subway station throning before them and getting bigger. Bingo!
She turned to Armin triumphantly. “Are we getting on the subway?”
“We are,” he nodded. “But that's not the date.”
Annie hummed. She wouldn't have minded that either, as long as it was with him. But she didn’t tell him that. Instead, she swayed their hands as they walked down the stairs to the station.
They took the train up-north, which gave her a couple of ideas about where they might be going.
A particularly weird turn of the tube made her lose her balance, stumbling into Armin. Luckily, he caught her before she could fall face first onto the floor, his arm coming around her middle.
“You alright?”
Annie nodded, though her face warmed up at the sudden proximity and the weight of his hand on her waist. When she looked up, it was the frown between his brows that she first noticed. Annie clicked her tongue, for she couldn’t have that, and reached her hand up to smoothen it out. Armin’s eyes only grew wider, his lips parting slightly. The tiniest of blushes creeped into his complexion then, which put a little proud smile on Annie’s lips. The way he was still getting flustered at such little gestures sure did feed her ego.
“You’re blushing,” she teased.
Armin made a show of rolling his eyes, though he couldn’t hide the smile forming on his lips.
Her lips pulled up the slightest bit. Annie gently dragged her fingertips down his face, until she could cup his cheek, then rose on her tippy toes just enough to peck his cheek. He hummed at the gesture, almost melting into her touch.
“Are we watching a movie?” she asked when she pulled away.
Armin snorted, then shook his head briefly. “You really want to know, huh?”
Annie shrugged as nonchalantly as she could master. “I’m sure it’ll be great,” she said. “I’m just curious.”
Armin brought a hand to the back of his head, scratching his nape as he looked away. “It’s not a lot, really.” His voice sounded somewhat sheepish.
Annie arched an eyebrow. She tilted her head just enough to catch his eye. “You know I don’t care about that, right?”
Armin nodded. “I know, it’s just…”
Yet he was still avoiding her eyes like the plague. Annie clicked her tongue. It was sometimes cute how worked up Armin would get over this stuff, though she wished he wouldn’t worry so much. Didn’t he know how much he meant already? Didn’t he know that his mere presence was enough?
“I wouldn’t get my hopes up if I were you.”
Annie squeezed his hand. “I don’t really care where we’re going.”
Armin looked at her at last, but she looked away before he could catch her eyes. She stared at her shoes instead, shifted her weight from one leg to the other.
“As long as we're together,” she mumbled, her face getting warmer.
Armin was quiet for a second, but then he giggled. Annie narrowed her eyes as she looked back at him, pressing her lips together. She caught a glimpse of herself in the window, only now noticing just how flushed her face had gotten. Not that Armin was doing any better.
“What?”
“Nothing,” he shrugged. “You’re just adorable.”
Annie made a deliberate effort to roll her eyes. “You’re not any better, you know,” she said, poking his shoulder.
Which only broadened his goofy smile. But before he could say anything, the train pulled up at a stop. Armin snapped his head up, looking outside the door as if just coming out of a trance.
Annie frowned. “What?”
“This is our stop.”
Annie snorted then. Had he really been that distracted by her as to not even notice where they were?
But before she could berate him, Armin tugged at her hand and dragged her off the train. A breath of laughter escaped her lips as they ran through the closing doors. Thankfully they made it out before they fully closed. Once on the platform, Annie burst into a fit of laughter.
“We almost missed it,” she said between laughs.
Armin let out a laugh of his own, letting go of her hand at last.
“I know!”
“Imagine if you put in all this effort and then we just missed our stop!”
Armin laughed even harder, shifting his weight from one foot to the other.
It took them a second to calm down their laughter. Once they did, Annie took a second to actually look around herself, at the light green walls and the murals in shapes of flowers painted every here and then. She frowned, searching for the stairs and, sure enough, there they were, throning at the end of the platform.
“What are we doing at Rose’s?” she asked.
When she turned back to Armin, he was already looking at her with glimmering eyes. A little smile pulled at his lips, but he said nothing.
“Are we going to the park?”
His smile broadened. “Maybe.”
Her face warmed. That’s where they’d had their very first date eight months ago, and also where he’d asked her to be his girlfriend.
“But you’ll have to close your eyes now,” Armin smiled.
Annie arched an eyebrow. “How am I supposed to walk like that?”
Armin snorted, taking her hand in his once more. “I’ll help you.”
“Oh, will you?”
Annie stepped closer, the tip of her shoes touching his, and took hold of his other hand as well. Then she tilted her head up at him, letting his eyes pour into hers.
“Of course I will.”
She hummed. Then, without another word, she rose on her tippy toes and pecked his lips. Armin smiled into the kiss, kissing her back just as gently.
It took a little maneuvering to figure out how to do this, but eventually they settled that the best way to go about it would be for Annie to simply hold onto his arm. She closed her eyes once they reached the exit, the wind blowing in her face softly as they stepped outside.
“There isn’t much of a walk, really,” Armin said.
Annie hummed, but didn’t say anything. As they walked deeper into the park, with the birds singing their calming symphony, Annie got an idea. The chances were minimal though, she hadn’t noticed any backpack or anything, so it must be something that didn’t need much setting up.
But she decided to ask anyway.
“Are we having a picnic?” she asked, tugging at Armin’s arm to grab his attention.
But the boy didn’t say anything right away. Annie peeled her eyes open and sneaked a look at him, finding him flushed. He swallowed what she assumed was his pride and put on a smile as he looked down at her. But his smile soon faltered when he noticed her eyes were open, replaced with a frown.
“You’re not supposed to be looking, Annie,” he scolded.
Right. Annie hurried to close her eyes and mutter an apology.
“So, are we?” she pressed.
“ … Maybe.”
Annie broke into a smile, her eyes snapping open once more.
“Wait, really?”
“Annie, your eyes!”
She rolled her eyes, but closed them nonetheless. “You’ll have to answer me.”
Armin sighed, but she could tell he was smiling. “We are having a picnic, yes.”
Her lips pulled up once again, and she had to try really hard not to open her eyes again.
Their first official date had been a picnic, though she hadn’t known it at the time. He'd invited her out for a walk, and when she'd gotten there he had an entire picnic laid out for her, with fruits and pastries and flowers. She wondered now if it would be anything like that.
She didn’t have to wait much to find out.
“We're here,” Armin announced, tapping her shoulder lightly.
When she opened her eyes again, Annie was taken aback by the beauty of it. Sitting between two old trees was a little stone table with benches surrounding it. A flowery tablecloth was laid on top of it, a basket of goodies on top. A little to the side stood a vase with a bouquet of carnations. And above the table, fairy lights hung from the branches.
Something melted in Annie's chest. “It's beautiful,” she muttered.
Armin’s face softened. “You think so?”
“Are you kidding me?” She wrapped her arms around his neck, tilting her head ever so slightly. “It's perfect, Armin.” She pecked his cheek, earning a little giggle. “Thank you.”
Armin near damn beamed. He wrapped his arms around her middle and brought her closer, tilting his head down so that his lips were right above hers, but not quite touching.
It was Annie that closed the distance, raising on her tippy toes just enough to capture his lips. It felt a lot like coming home, kissing Armin. It started much like the first time they’d done it, quite sheepish and shy, soft and sweet. But then his hand found its way to the back of her head and tilted it up a little, deepening the kiss. Annie smiled against his lips, but kissed him all the same, tangling her fingers in his hair. Her heart felt at peace then, like she was exactly where she was supposed to be.
But then she couldn’t stop smiling, and it eventually broke the kiss. A little breath of laughter escaped her lips. Armin let out a little laugh of his own, pressing his forehead against hers.
Hitch had been right, she’d become a giddy fool. She didn’t particularly mind being a fool around Armin though.
“Do you have some music?”
His eyebrows shot up. “Music?”
“Mhm. I wanna dance.”
Armin studied her face for a moment, but then he smiled. “You’re one peculiar woman, Annie,” he told her. He reached into his pocket all the same, pulling out his phone to search for some music.
“I’m lucky you love me, then,” she teased.
Armin rolled his eyes playfully just as the music started playing, some catchy song he’d found. She grabbed his hands as soon as he dropped the phone on the stone table and pulled him into dance– if simply spinning around could even be called that. Neither of them was a particularly skilled dancer, but that didn’t really matter. Their laughter filled the little opening all the same. She basked in his proximity, and the sound of his precious laugh.
And she thought then, as the evening slowly faded into night, with the side of his face illuminated by the fairy lights, that he really did look like an angel. She must have done something terribly right to have earned this man in her life.