"Annie, I don't know..."
"I'll give you twenty bucks."
"But you— Y-You don't need to."
"Do you know how much e-manga you can buy with that? Just let me borrow your Nook so I can read it too, and we'll be even."
"...Okay."
And that's how Armin ended up in the ladies' undergarments section of the department store with Annie. Whatever deity existed must have listened to him; there was a total lack of helpful sales personnel or other customers.
"You can find great stuff here for the money, but usually no one's around to help."
He glanced sideways at Annie and found her face impassive.
"See anything you like?"
His face, already warm from the dry stuffiness of the store, heated a few more degrees. "I, uh, I thought you wanted to pick," he said lowly, so his voice wouldn't crack.
Annie cracked a smile. "Yeah, I have veto power, but if you sort of like something you'll have a better chance of wearing it."
He laughed and wished he had a bottle of water for his dry mouth. "It's not like I have a choice."
"Sure you do," she said, nudging his arm with her elbow. "We can walk out of here right now and go get ice cream, or something."
"First of all," he said, raising a finger, "you dragged me all the way out here, so I'm going to go through with it. Second of all," he poked her forehead and she grinned, "I wouldn't get to get to kiss you if I did, and... I'd really l-like to." He cursed inwardly as his cheeks flamed into what had to be a thousand-watt blush. "Third of all, let's get ice cream after this anyway."
Secretly she knew that she'd have to kiss him at some point, deal be damned. He was far too cute to be denied for long. She grabbed his poking hand and shook it, still grinning. "Agreed. Now let's find what you'll wear."
Silence fell, punctuated by the shifting of racks. A color here and a style there would occasionally catch their eyes, but nothing appealed until Annie found a black lacy set.
"Look at this," she practically squealed, holding it out to Armin. He shook his head.
"Not black. I'd rather have color."
"Is lace all right?"
"Not all lace. It'd... feel weird."
He began looking with sudden earnest through the options. Annie watched him intently.
"Something like..."
He was quiet for a few minutes as he searched. After seeing one too many tempting options get passed over, she moved to interrupt him at the exact moment he froze. Fascination stole over her as she watched the blush take over his entire face, even creeping down his neck.
"This," he whispered, staring into the row of garments. He pulled out his choice and held it up to Annie without turning, head bowed.
Annie gave a soft delighted gasp. "Oh, Armin…"
The set was turquoise satin, edged with pastel pink lace. A small pink bow sat between the bra cups as well as the center of the underwear, nestled in the lace.
"Oh, sweetie, it's gorgeous," said Annie, taking it from him with reverence.
He turned to her, his hair obscuring his face. "Do I have to wear the bra?" His voice just passed a whisper.
"You don't have to..." Her voice matched his in volume.
He raised his head and met her eyes. "I'll wear it. So you'll kiss me."
Giggles threatened to overwhelm her, but she kept them in. "I only needed you to wear undies..."
"It's okay. I'll wear both." He took the set from her and strode past her, jaw working. "Might as well go all the way, right?" he said over his shoulder with a fleeting smile as she followed him.
He led her to the nearest changing room. "Guard the fucking door." With that, he hurried inside, leaving her to blink in the dust of his surprise F-bomb.
"There's no one around, you know," she said after five minutes had gone by with no words.
"I know that, just please don't leave! " His singsong tone was so unexpected that she doubled over against the door, shaking with silent laughter.
"Nothing about this is funny, Annie," he said when her airless squeaks reached his ears.
"I'm sorry, I'm really sorry," she finally gasped, wiping frantically at her eyes.
"I didn't do that on purpose, but... I'm glad you got the laughing out of the way, anyway." A deep sigh came from behind the door. "You can come in. Just, please, d-don't say anything right a-away..."
Annie cleared her throat. "I promise you my lips are sealed."
She pushed open the door, eyes downcast, then turned her back to Armin and shut it. The speed of her heartbeat had her stuck for a moment, but she took a breath and turned around.
Her jaw dropped.
Was it possible for that blush to have stayed for ten whole minutes? Armin's face was the deepest shade of crimson she'd ever seen in her life. He stood with his arms behind his back, barely able to meet her eyes. The bra straps hugged his shoulders, and the cups rested perfectly on his chest. The underwear was lower on his hips than she'd expected, but it wasn't too small. Just snug, she thought with a frisson of arousal when she saw that gentle outline in front.
"How does it feel?" Her words came out breathlessly. She saw his Adam's Apple bob once, twice.
His voice was hoarse, dropping to a whisper as his eked out the words one by one. "It feels soft. Really soft. And cool. And… just nice."
"Turn for me, will you?"
He let his arms drop to his sides and made a slow circle, staring at the floor. The back of the bra was a thin strip of more satin, the clasps pink like the bows, and the back of the underwear was just high enough to be decent; from this angle the outline was even more delicious.
Once he faced her, his arms returned to behind his back, shoulders dipping slightly.
She stepped closer. Another step. She debated skimming under the edge of the panties. Instead she placed a hand on his shoulder and he flinched like her fingers were branding irons.
"Annie," he burst out, making her jump, "do you like it?" He stared at her with such intensity that she'd say he was angry, if she didn't know better.
"You..." She laughed, eyes shining with pure wonderment. "Armin, you beautiful creature. You are perfect."
The smile that lit his face was worth a thousand kisses.
"So... So I picked a good one, then." He hugged her, abruptly, squeezing. "I'm glad," he said into her ear.
He pulled away and then just stood smiling at her. She got so lost in his eyes that she nearly forgot why they were there to begin with.
"Can I kiss you now?" she asked.
He dipped his head in agreement, fumbling a hand into hers as she leaned toward him. When their lips met, he made the smallest of sounds, and the next thing they both knew she had him pressed against the wall, kissing him hard enough to bruise, hard enough to steal his air.
They both gasped as she released him, and he held onto her with shaking arms, her name stuck in his throat while they caught their breaths.
Words found her first, spurred on by the press of him hard and warm against her thigh. "You'd better get dressed, Armin," she said, huskily.
"I should." His voice was much steadier than hers, despite the heat radiating from him. "I'll see you in a minute."
Outside the dressing room, Annie collapsed onto a chair. No matter how deeply she breathed, she couldn't find enough oxygen. She closed her eyes and thought of Armin's smile.
By the time he came out of the room, back in his jeans and hoodie, her pulse had slowed and her lungs had revived. He held out a hand to help her up, his cheek still brushed with pink. She took his hand and stood. His lips, she noted with a rush of pride, were slightly swollen.
They walked to the rack where he'd found his choice and stood staring at each other again.
"I should have taken a picture," Annie said with a giggle.
His smile wavered around the edges. Then he said, too brightly, "You can take more another time."
She blinked at him all the way to the cashier.
"It's my girlfriend's birthday," he said as he charmed his way into a discount, nudging her hand with his below the counter all the while. She snuck a glance and hid a grin.
She was pretty sure it was the first time she had acknowledged a lie with a pinky swear.
#####
"I have a question," Armin said around a mouthful of peppermint stick, tapping his spoon lightly against the bowl as he bumped his leg gently against Annie's.
She nodded, busy eating all the whipped cream off of her strawberry shake.
He dabbed the corner of his mouth with a napkin before speaking. "Two, actually. Do you still want to give me twenty dollars after all that?"
She nodded again, smirking.
"Oh. Well... Thank you?"
"I just want to read your manga." She sipped her shake daintily.
He chuckled. "Okay. The other question is... Um." He took another bite of ice cream, a flush creeping to his cheeks for the twelfth time that day. "How— Why did you think I'd go through with your, uh… Should I call it a request? An ultimatum?" He shrugged, smiling innocently when she smacked his shoulder.
"I was surprised you agreed, to be honest." She flashed a smile. "I just thought you'd look cute in lingerie." Her smile lingered as his blush intensified. "And I was right, because I have good instincts." She leaned over and licked the ice cream from the corner of his mouth, getting a meep in response. "There was that one time during Truth or Dare, too..."
"Huh?" He stammered and sputtered, barely recovered from her tongue near his lips. "What are you talking about?"
"You and Mikasa were both bombed." She took a long, noisy drink of her shake. "I don't remember what the dare was, but you chose truth and I asked you to tell me one deep dark secret you had and, well, you told me. Mikasa confirmed it unbidden, by the way. The next morning neither of you remembered."
He sat trying to form words while she spoke, his mouth worked like a stranded fish. Finally he got a few out. "Did you— did anyone really— wha...?"
"Of course I didn't tell anyone. And Eren had passed out, like, an hour ago, and Jean and Marco were too busy making out to notice anything..."
"Why did you believe me when I was drunk?" he muttered, getting another spoonful.
"I didn't, exactly. I just hoped it was really true. It sounded adorable."
His blush reached full power. Silence settled in as they finished their sweets.
"So, maybe a stupid question," he said as they walked down the sidewalk, heading nowhere in particular. "You don't think I'm a weirdo?"
She slung an arm around his shoulders. "No, I don't think you're a weirdo. I never have. Now let's go back to the dorm and buy manga, what do you say?"
There was that thousand-kiss smile again, for a blissful second.
"I know you like print, and you don't have to give that up, but digital manga's pretty cheap in comparison, not to mention you can…"
He nodded while she spoke, shooting occasional glances at the shopping bag in his left hand.
Noticing his glances, she ruffled his hair, getting a shy smile in return. "You bought that for me. So obviously I have to put it in my closet."
"And if Mikasa sees it?"
"She won't. But if she did, I'd tell her the truth."
That stopped him in his tracks. She smiled at him and kissed his cheek, and for once, he didn't blush. She took her arm off his shoulders so she could take his hand, tugging him along.
"The truth is," she said, bumping her head into his, "that I have a wonderful boyfriend who buys me pretty things, and likes manga... and lets me borrow his hoodies...?"
And that's how Armin and Annie ended up in matching hoodies on pizza-and-movie night.