Under the Stars Armin x Reader

Under the star lit sky, the small lake shimmered and the trees danced in the wind. Sweet music filled your ears as you listened to the random tune in your head. Humming aimlessly, you didn’t pay much attention to anything else. Just the sweet humming of your voice, which you absolutely hated. You enjoyed humming, it was a nice random thing to do when you’re bored, but you hated how you sounded. When you were younger, you wanted to be a singer. It was your dream, so then people could possibly feel happier in these dark times. Well, that didn’t happen like you wanted it to. Instead, because of your father’s demand, you’re in the military. It was this or starving until you died. Guess which one you picked?

You wanted to continue to live.

So dreams aside, the military wasn’t so bad. You had quite a few acquaintances, but other than that you didn’t have many friends. No best friends, sisters or brothers, even just a regular friend. Nope. The only time you spoke to people was when their belt was stuck, or something on their 3dmg broke, or they needed help with something that didn’t even relate to the military, which happened quite a bit.

Under the stars you felt safe. That’s how it’s always been. The one place father couldn’t get you was outside, under the stars, surrounded by trees and standing by a nice clear lake. Peace and harmony, two of your favorite words. They described your utopia perfectly. Lush and green, cool and sweet, dark and luminescent. The moon was out as well, dusting the world a light blue color. It was a nice, natural blue that was pretty to look at. You wondered if you could find a blue like that anywhere else. Shrugging at the thought, you spun one last time before sneaking back into your dorm. Even though father wasn’t hear, it was natural to sneak out at night and stare at the stars and listen to the wind. You were a night owl, usually only getting a couple hours of sleep. It wasn’t too bad. You were able to stay up three days straight if you really set your mind to it. That was dangerous for the military, but you’ve done it before.

Sliding under the covers, your dreams of tomorrow flew through your brain. That night, it was about strange birds flying over the horizon. You’re (e/c) eyes stared at them, occasionally glancing at your feet in boredom. What was the meaning of this dream? There were only two of this bird, and they seemed to be pretty small, but they flew gracefully. They were very beautiful birds.

Sadly they had flown past the walls, so you couldn’t see well. Rose was your home, the area of….well you didn’t know. You had moved to Trost for a while, but since you’ve been a soldier, you’ve moved around so much you honestly weren’t keeping track. It didn’t matter though, no matter where you went there was bound to be something happening. Slipping off your boots, you dipped your toes in the lake water, sighing and leaning back in the grass. The sky was so pretty tonight, and you felt safe.

You closed your eyes, humming slowly. Your hands moved behind your head, and you started to feel the bottom of your pants get wet. You didn’t care though, the water felt too nice. Too deep in your peaceful state, you barely heard the soft crunches of the grass. Footsteps neared your now awakening figure. Sitting up, you flattened your (h/l) hair, picking out some blades of grass. Smiling down at you, was Armin Arlert, the boy of your dreams. Just because you didn’t have any friends didn’t mean you didn’t have a crush. He never noticed you, and never truly talked to you about anything passed greetings. He never seemed to look at you either. You always thought he was disinterested in you, and that’s why he never wanted to talk. Not only that, but you usually kept your distance from everybody. If they needed help, you’d offer, but anything passed helping or saying hello didn’t exist to you.

“It’s chilly out here,” he said, sitting beside you, “Aren’t you cold?”

You shook your head no, not looking at him. Your crush was small, but you were at the stage where you couldn’t look at him without blushing a little bit. If the moon wasn’t so bright, you could probably get away with it, but nature was bright tonight, so you couldn’t.

“You come out here often,” Armin observed, crossing his legs, “Even when it’s snowing.”

You nodded, not sure where he was leading with this.

There was a long silence, and you couldn’t help taking a glance. Blue eyes were staring at you, studying you with great interest. You unconsciously fixed your hair, pulling it over your shoulder. Your cheeks were probably light pink, but you couldn’t tell. Gracing his lips was a soft smile.

“You know,” he said, “I um…I like coming out here too.”

“You’re not out often,” you mumbled.

He chuckled, “Sometimes it’s too cold for me.”

You frowned, “Aren’t you cold right now?”

“I’ll be fine. I’m not as fragile as I look.”

You giggled, hugging your knees close to you. You were happy around him, and he was slowly warming up to you. Sure you had a crush on him, but you never imagined he’d actually make you giggle and be this giddily happy. You didn’t like having a crush on him, it was too much of a bother to you, but you realized now just how sweet and caring he actually was. You respected him for his brains, his guts, and the way he never backed down. Sure he wasn’t the firmest apple on the tree, he was actually a little soft, but the core was what mattered. He had the biggest core of them all.  You looked up to him as a role model, ever since you joined the military and he introduced himself. Hearing his name, and seeing him, he didn’t seem all that different from everybody else. Once you saw him in the mess hall, laughing with everyone and being kind to everybody, that’s when you felt your heartstrings being pulled. He interested you.

“Is something wrong?” He asked, his eyebrows furrowed upwards in worry.

“Oh no I’m fine,” you whispered, turning back to the lake.

Feeling the cool breeze, he stood up slowly. “Now it’s getting a little too chilly for me. I’m going to head back inside. It was nice talking to you.”

Turning around to leave, Armin wrapped his arms around himself. “W-Wait!” you exclaimed, grabbing onto his sleeve. He gasped slightly at the sudden action, but smiled down at you once he regained his senses.

“Can….Can we talk again tomorrow?” You asked, staring at the ground.

He chuckled, “Of course we can.” His hand reached out towards you, “I’m Armin Arlert.”

You shook it, feeling a small smile curl on your lips, “I’m (f/n) (l/n).”