Great Descendant || Attack on Titan x Reader

34 || Ocean Eyes

And as if bewitched, he couldn't feel the cold anymore as his whole body froze. How wondrous, a simple question, and that was all it took for him to be so — still. For all the times he spent with you, he could always control himself, acting as a friend because he knew that was the furthest thing he would ever be in your eyes.

As if that wasn't awful enough, he ended up devouring someone that had been your lover ever since in the cadet corps, someone who had known you for years, way before he did. He didn't know if you were really alright with such a cruel outcome, and he often wondered who you saw when your eyes lay upon him.

Was it Bertolt Hoover? Or was it still him, the ocean dreamer, Armin Arlert?

"Because—"

He always knew what to say. This wasn't the first time when a love confession was already on the tip of his tongue. You had asked him a similar question back then when he told you about his awareness of your power. He could have answered the same, maybe changed a few words, but at least that would be enough to satisfy your curiosity.

"Because...?"

"I like you."

But thirteen years.

The fact that his life truly had a countdown made him feel like every chance he got would only happen once. For years, he kept his mouth shut because he knew his place. He was just a mindless romanticist, someone who had his head in the clouds, imagining things. And you were there. You were one of his dreams.

However, he couldn't be greedy. The world already gave him a chance to see the ocean with his own eyes. Having you would complete everything, but that was too much to ask for. Admiring you from the sideline was enough. After all, he couldn't bear it if his feelings repulsed you. That was the main reason he didn't want to say anything.

Like now, he could see shock within your eyes, and he needed you to say something, anything. Or else he would go crazy for real. It was fine if you didn't reciprocate his feelings. That was what he felt ever since he knew you, anyway. But one thing that he wished was for you not to change, for you to stay the way you were around him.

He was preparing for any kind of response. Dozens of scenarios played in the back of his mind. If you laughed and shrugged it off, he would shut himself out and continue the swimming lesson. If you asked him to elaborate more and had a tint of disgust in your eyes, he would save himself by saying that he liked you too much as a friend.

And if by a miracle you said the same, then — actually, he was clueless. He didn't know how he would react if you did. Because now, or even from the start, he couldn't even let his mind believe that you would ever feel the same.

"Why...?"

Armin didn't know how to answer that, honestly. He never expected to ever confess his buried feelings. Even though he read so many books, even though he could always think out of the box, love was something that he didn't get a knack for. "Why from all the girls out there? Why me?"

"You are warm." He swallowed an enormous lump, remembering the words he read in one of his books, about how honesty was a virtue. "Like every time I see you, the rays of the sun are streaming through your hair." And some beautifully written prose that he thought could help him express his feelings. "You are also bright. Like you can cast all the darkness around as you turn into a source of light."

His mind was predominant with the words that he had encountered before, things that he thought could impress you. It wasn't the only reason he used those gratifying lines. What he said was truly how he saw you, and he wanted you to understand the depth of his heart, brimming with your name in every nook and cranny.