Note: Warnings for being vague and self-indulgent per usual. I wrote this in mind with Armin and Mikasa being about 20-21 years old. In an alternate, parallel universe, they could totally grow up to that age. Also this is probably out of character. But so is their survival, so there you go.
Please enjoy. This is mostly light-hearted, slice of life with a razor or two scattered in between paragraphs.
Both the One and the Other
Contrary to popular—which was mostly just Eren's—belief, Mikasa and Armin did not gossip like middle-aged housewives during their Tuesday coffee meetings.
The mess hall was deserted at two in the afternoon and Mikasa was basking in the rare moment of serenity. She watched Armin pour her coffee. He pushed the bowl of sugar and the creamer towards her, along with a plate of oddly shaped sugar cookies. She bit into a cookie before putting three teaspoons of sugar in her coffee. She then poured a generous amount of milk in her cup.
Across from her, she noted that Armin was absentmindedly stirring his cup and that he was taking his coffee black as usual.
"The cookies today are good," Mikasa commented.
He offered his agreement without taking his eyes away from the table. She was on her third cookie when he spoke up again, "Mikasa, have you heard any rumors about me?"
Armin was generally soft-spoken but he had said asked her the question in an almost whisper.
"I haven't," she replied in a similarly quiet voice.
Mikasa betrayed nothing in her expression but Armin noted how she leaned forward ever slightly towards him. On anyone else, it was the equivalent of someone saying "tell me more."
"It's just that Jean told me something that he heard from Connie, who heard it from Sasha… they said the new recruits are scared of me."
She assured him quickly with a, "I wouldn't believe anything that Jean tells me."
He quirked a half-smile at her before shaking his head. "I've noticed it though. They're avoiding me. Connie said that I probably intimidate them. Do I honestly look that scary?"
She studied her friend's face and took note of the dark smudges under his eyes and the furrow between his brows. It did nothing to lessen the impact of his large blue eyes, high cheekbones and the pale almost translucent skin. Armin was undeniably lovely to look at.
"I think you look pretty," Mikasa concluded.
Armin frowned at her disapprovingly. "Please don't tease me. I'm seriously worrying about this."
She was completely serious when she said that Armin was pretty. "Would you prefer being called handsome?" Now she was teasing him.
Armin sighed at her but she caught the slight upturn at the edges of his lips. He didn't mind being teased. What really galled him though was how Mikasa could say the most ridiculous things with her impeccable poker face in place. "You're horrible. And you sound just like Jean, by the way."
She didn't mind the slight barb and retorted, "We're different. Jean is probably jealous of you. I'm proud of you on the other hand. But I think it's time you cut your hair." She leaned forward and tugged at his fringe. This had the effect of making Armin frown at her some more.
He gently batted her hand away and pushed his hair back with his right hand. "I've meant to cut it but I can't find the time. I think it's even longer than yours now," he said with a grimace.
"It is," she acknowledged. Her hair was merely chin-length where Armin's ended about an inch past his shoulders. "Why don't you tie it up in the meantime?"
"I did. But Hanji-san kept tugging at it. I don't understand how she finds it—erm, I believe her term was adorable. Honestly, she pulls her hair up herself."
Because she was a good friend, Mikasa only nodded outwardly at this piece of information. She did, however, file it for future reference.
She reached for another cookie the same time Armin poured himself a second cup of coffee.
"So people really find me intimidating?"
"People find you intimidating because you're so handsome," was Mikasa's instant response.
Armin just ruefully shook his head at her. "It's just that I never thought I'd see the day when people would find me scarier than Eren. The new recruits seem to flock to him."
"Eren stopped being scary the first time he got drunk," she informed him. He grinned at her and sipped his coffee.
Officially, Armin Arlert's kill record is at three for team kills and zero for solo kills. Mikasa, however, did not care for the numbers. What she cared for was how those large blue eyes turned cold at the heat of battle and how his seemingly frail arm could uphold a sword unwaveringly whilst directing soldiers to rush to their death. Armin's hands were bathed in both human and titan blood and she privately thought that people had the right to be wary—if not outright scared—of him.
Mikasa did not tell him this. What she told him instead is this: "I didn't know you wanted to be popular, Armin. I would expect this of Jean, maybe even Connie, but not you."
Armin peered at her from beneath his lashes. He carefully put down his cup before answering her. "I don't want to be popular. How could I ever dream of competing with you?"
She arched an eyebrow at him. He smiled at her mildly, knowingly. Somehow, she had convinced most of the Scouting Legion that she was insensitive enough to the invitations and romantic declarations thrown her way but Armin was not fooled.
He dropped her gaze when he reached for a cookie. He nibbled at it for a few moments before speaking up. "I shouldn't let it bother me too much, right?" Armin phrased his words as a statement and not as a question. "Hmm, I guess it's because the Commander said something to me that's why I've thinking about it."
Mikasa reached for a cookie herself. She didn't prompt Armin to elaborate. He would speak when he was ready to speak. She had eaten two more cookies and Armin was in his third cup of coffee when he asked her seemingly out off the blue, "Do you think it's better to be loved or feared?"
She stared at the blond head bowed over the table. Armin's gaze was focused intently on the dregs in his cup.
Mikasa tilted her head at him. "Both."
Armin blinked at this and abruptly looked up. He surveyed her quietly before breaking out into an amused smile. "You're right. Both would be best."
He was still smiling at her when he told her, "I'm sorry, Mikasa. Sometimes I forget how wise you really are."
"Now, you are teasing me," she told him flatly.
Armin grinned at her and offered the remaining cookies as a sort of peace offering. He then leaned towards her and in the manner of one imparting a grave secret told her, "By the way, what do you think of Connie and Sasha together? I'm sure I'm not the only one who's noticed."
They were still talking about Connie and Sasha when Eren appeared out of nowhere to roughly tousle both of their hair. "The two of you gossiping again?"
"We don't gossip," Mikasa proclaimed, completely deadpan.
"We talk about very important stuff," Armin intoned seriously.
"Yeah right," he ruffled their heads some more before making a show out of imperiously walking off in mock outrage. Armin noticed the three new recruits who were following Eren and smiled at them kindly. "He's just jealous that we don't save him any cookies."
Mikasa watched them flinch and didn't bother hiding the upturn curve at the edges of her lips.
End Notes: People love to bully Jean a lot and I accept no other truth. And Eren just wants to gossip with them but he usually has cleaning duties at Tuesdays afternoon. And Armin intimidates people because he's too pretty.