"I've never seen some of these flowers! Not even in books!" Armin ran over to where Mikasa sat despondent. He climbed into the wagon, eager to be near her.

Armin was holding huge bouquets of wildflowers in his arms like they were precious newborns. "Aren't they pretty?"

The corners of Mikasa's lips twitched, her chest beginning to warm, as if it was the very sun who knelt before her. She reached forward and touched one of the dew-kissed petals. "They're lovely, Armin."

The blonde flushed happily, though the glow dimmed a little when he glanced down at their broken friend. "I wish Eren was awake to see them. They'll have lost all their color by the time he wakes up."

A few feet away, Jean was standing beside his horse, his hands still shaking. He scoffed at Armin's excitement, stress and sorrow adding a cruel edge to his words: "Can you at least act like you're upset? It's making me sick, watching some daydreaming idiot -"

This rant earned him a swift kick from Hange, who was inspecting handfuls of earthworms. They wagged their finger as Jean rubbed at the bump on his head.

"You're going about it the wrong way if you're trying to impress Mikasa, deary," the person tsked loudly, shaking their head at the poor idiot's blush. "Everyone copes in their own way, kiddo."

Mikasa stabbed Jean with a sharp glare before turning back to Armin, who had deflated somewhat. "Do you want to see something my mother taught me?"

Shocked (Mikasa didn't talk about her parents much) Armin nodded dumbly.

Reaching forward, Mikasa took some of the flowers from his collection. Her fingers got to work, gently weaving the stems together, careful not to hurt the flowers themselves.

She found an inchworm inside one of the daisies, and she put it on top of Armin's head, much to his delight. He plucked it from his sunny hair and let it decorate his hand with string.

Mikasa soon finished, whispering, "Close your eyes, Armin."

He did so. There was a soft rustling, a whisper of feeling against his scalp.

"Alright."

When Armin opened his eyes, Mikasa was smiling, her eyes a little misty. Standing to ask Christa for her pocket mirror, Armin peered down at his reflection with wide eyes.

Mikasa had woven him a flower crown. It hid his bandages, concealing blood with beauty.

He fell to his knees in front of her, the crown going crooked and covering one of his eyes. He didn't even feel the pain of landing on the hard wagon wood.

"Please teach me how you made it!" He bowed like a student to their teacher. Mikasa giggled softly, a rare sight. Armin drank it in like a dying man gazing upon his lover's face.

Leaning forward, Mikasa brushed her lips against his cheekbone. His skin matched the pink sunset at her touch.

"You're crying, Armin," Mikasa whispered, taking him into her arms as she started another crown.

Jean watched as they settled in, content to be together for the ride home. "Is it my fault that they're like this right now?" he whispered, jumping up onto his horse.

"It would seem so!" Hange wasn't the type to pull punches. They took the worms with them when they left, cooing fondly at the adorable little creatures.

Heart cracking like old stone, Jean looked at the distance. "And here I thought it was Eren I had to worry about."

But deep down, he could live with being the instrument in any relationship in this loveless world.

He just hoped he wouldn't have to see their end, too.