Another fill for an anon prompt on my tumblr sneezehq. Uploading here for backup. I'm giving the college au a try here, even though I'm pretty sure that I suck at aus. Enjoy!
How many days can a person subsist on no sleep, coffee and cheap pizza? At least before they see a noticeable difference in performance? Now those would be be good questions for an experiment, Armin thinks to himself. He's been staring at his notes for so long that the letters are starting to float off the page, but he's nowhere near being able to take a break. Everything needs to be examined thoroughly, all variables accounted for, before he can turn this manuscript in.
He's so focused on his notes that Mikasa's hand on his shoulder as she sets a glass of tea by his elbow startles him, and he nearly knocks it over as he flails. Fortunately, Mikasa's reflexes are quick enough that she manages to settle the cup back in the saucer before anything spills.
"Sorry for the scare," she tucks a strand of dark hair behind her ear. "But you looked like you could use that."
"Thank you," Armin takes a grateful sip. "I definitely needed that."
"I bet," Mikasa says, a hint of amusement in her voice. "You've been holed up in here all day."
"Wow, has it really been that long?" Armin glances over at the the clock on the wall behind him. It's almost nine o'clock already. The night sky outside the window is dark and dotted with stars. "Wow, I guess it has. I must have been really focused." He yawns, brushing his bangs out of his eyes. "How's the presentation working out?"
"Finished," Mikasa smiles, the relief in her voice almost tangible. "All we have left to do is rehearse a few times before class. Jean and Marco are just arguing over how we should save the file." She pauses and stretches her arms over her head. "How's the manuscript coming along?"
"I think it's going well," Armin replies, unable to keep the pride out of his voice. This paper will be the culmination of months of work; hence why it has to be perfect. "At this point I'm just double checking everything. I don't want there to be any errors when I turn it in to Professor Hanji."
"I'm sure it'll be fine Armin," Mikasa reassures him, smiling gently. "You've worked so hard on this."
"I hope so." Armin drains the last dregs of the tea. He hadn't realized how thirsty he was. "This isn't just about my grade, though. Professor Hanji thinks that the Titan cells could have some real impact in the world, help a lot of people."
"Those are the mutated cells that can repair themselves faster, right?"
"Yeah!" Armin nods eagerly, before resting his head thoughtfully on his hand. "If we can eventually find a way to apply it to humans in the future it could save countless lives. I'm probably going to spend all of tomorrow in the lab double checking all the relevant data."
"I'm sure it'll turn out great, Armin. You're a great researcher, you just need to have a little more faith in yourself." She looks him in the eye, stern gray meeting anxious blue. "Just don't overwork yourself again. I don't want to get another call about you falling asleep in the lab and getting locked in."
"That was one time!" Armin protests, rolling his eyes. "But fine, I'll be careful. Speaking of overworked, you seem a little too worried, given that you finished your project. What's wrong?"
Mikasa looks down at her hands. "Oh, it's nothing. I just haven't been able to find Eren anywhere. He disappeared after we finished the project this afternoon, and he hasn't been answering his texts at all."
Armin squeezes her hand reassuringly. "I'm sure that Eren is fine, he probably just decided to take a nap when he got back from working with you guys and forgot to check his phone. Tell you what, if I see him when I get back to the dorm I'll let you know."
"Thank you." Some of the tension drains from Mikasa's expression, her shoulders relaxing a fraction. "Be sure to get some rest."
"You too. You look absolutely drained," Armin scolds her before they head their separate ways back to the dorms.
His and Eren's dorm is less than a five minute walk from the library, which is why Armin had insisted on living there. He'd had a feeling that he would be spending a lot of time among the books. The cool night air feels refreshing after the still staleness that permeates the study areas. Before he knows it, Armin is swiping his card to get into the dorm and making his way up the stairs to the room he shares with Eren. He sends a text to Mikasa asking her to let him know if her roommate finds some more cheap food to share. Sasha is a coupon wizard, and the best in their friend group at tracking down inexpensive but tasty food.
"Eren, I'm back!" he calls through the door before opening it. There's no response, but Armin isn't expecting one. Eren's probably asleep, which means that he isn't rousing for anything less than an invasion of naked giants.
"Eren?" The lights are on in their room, but Eren is nowhere to be seen. "Eren?" Armin calls again, starting to worry. He hears a muffled snore from the direction of Eren's desk, and his shoulders sag in relief. Eren must have fallen asleep at his desk again. It's weird that Armin can't see him from here, but Eren has a habit of sleeping in odd positions, so it's nothing to worry about.
Making his way over to the desk, Armin yelps and stops suddenly when he finally spots Eren. The boy in question is slumped at his desk, hanging halfway out of his chair. It's impressive that he didn't fall. Oh, and his face is also covered in blood.
Panicking, Armin rushes over to his unconscious friend frantically trying to find the source of the blood. He sighs in relief when he realizes that it's just a small cut on Eren's forehead that's just happened to bleed an alarming amount. He cautiously pushes Eren into a more stable sitting position and grabs a couple tissues from the desk, pressing them gently to the wound on his forehead. Eren grumbles under his breath and jerks a little bit at the sudden pressure on his head, but otherwise doesn't stir. Once he's satisfied that the bundle of tissues are in place, Armin quickly fetches the first aid kit that Mikasa insisted that they keep on hand. Given how accident-prone he and Eren tend to be, it was a good idea.
Armin carefully wipes the partially dried blood off of Eren's face with an antiseptic wipe, frowning when he feels the uncomfortable heat radiating off his skin. "You're running a fever," he notes with a frown. It would explain why Eren didn't wake up after hitting his head.
When the wound is carefully cleaned and bandaged, Armin allows himself to breathe a sigh of relief. Setting the first aid kit on the desk, he taps Eren's cheek gently. "Hey, hey, Eren, I need you to wake up, okay?"
It takes several tries before Eren does anything besides groan, but finally his eyes slide open a crack, revealing slits brilliant green. "Armin, what?" he mutters, expression confused and unhappy. Like a grumpy toddler.
"Glad to see that you're awake-hey!" Armin pokes his cheek when Eren's eyes threaten to fall closed again. "Sorry, but you're sick. I need you to stay awake for a minute."
"Don't feel so good," Eren mumbles, sighing in discontent.
"Yeah, I bet," Armin commiserates. "Just keep this in your mouth for a minute, okay?" He gently presses the thermometer into Eren's mouth, sliding it under his tongue.
Eren giggles dazedly. "That's what . . . he said."
Armin rolls his eyes and readjusts the thermometer. "Shhh," he scolds Eren. "You'll mess up the reading." While he waits for the thermometer, he fires off a text to Mikasa, letting her know that he found Eren asleep in their dorm room, and that she doesn't need to worry. If he tells her that Eren's sick she'll insist on coming over to help instead of finally getting some rest.
A tiny chirp sounds and Armin retrieves the thermometer, frowning at the reading. "101.1. That's pretty high. C'mon, we should get you to bed." He slings one of Eren's arms over his shoulders and tugs him to his feet, suddenly grateful that the bed isn't far away. Eren groans at the shift and belches ominously. Armin yelps and snatches the wastebasket out from under the desk, getting it under Eren's chin just in time. He retches for a few minutes but nothing comes up. He must have forgotten to eat lunch again.
"We're going to have a talk about this later," Armin huffs as he guides Eren, slowly shuffling over to the bed. "I know that you don't have much of an appetite when you're stressed, but this is ridiculous! I bet you haven't been sleeping, either." Eren says something unintelligible in response. He can never let anyone have the last word, even semi-conscious.
It's with great relief that Armin finally stops and lowers Eren onto his bed, tugging his long legs up until he's sprawled somewhat comfortably on top of the covers. He pulls the blanket out from under him and pushes a pillow beneath his head. "Thanks, Armin," Eren slurs gratefully. Armin shakes his head in amusement.
He coaxes Eren awake again and into a sitting position long enough to swallow some fever reducers. In the process, Eren somehow manages to end up slumped on Armin's shoulder, snoring softly into his collarbone. When he tries to free himself and get up, a clammy hand clutches at his wrist. "Don't go," Eren insists, green eyes glazed with fever. "Had a weird dream. You and mom and everyone were gone, and there were monsters. Please stay?"
He's never been able to say no to Eren, so Armin resigns himself to spending the rest of the night serving as Eren's makeshift pillow. "You're gonna get me sick," Armin grumbles, not unkindly.
"Worth it. Love you." And with one last yawn, Eren is out again, nuzzling closer to Armin's heart.
"Yeah, yeah," Armin murmurs, tugging the covers over them and letting his head fall to rest on top of Eren's. "Love you too."
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