The sound of the thunder reverberated throughout the building. Across the room, Eren could hear the slow, shallow breathing of Armin miraculously asleep. But the great sound echoed in his ears with such force that it entered his conscious mind; there was no room there for sleeping. So he lay awake.
A gentle tapping was audible amongst a lull in the storm; a sound as gentle as a spider running across paper, and yet with clear intent. The sort of tapping which carried a promise of growing violent in the near future if it was not answered.
He sighed, dragging back the blankets to his feet and placing one foot and another upon the floor. Giving Jean's boots a kick for good measure as he made his way to the door, he leant against it, ear against the wood, mouth against the doorframe. He whispered urgently. "Mikasa?"
There was no reply for a moment, and then a shuffling. Inwardly groaning, he placed his forehead against the door. "Mikasa, get back to your dorm."
"Can I come in?" She wasn't even trying to be quiet, for goodness sake. He attempted to lower his emotive response in volume as it escaped his mouth, not wanting Jean to catch him talking to her at this time of night.
"Wha- this is a guy's dorm, Mikasa! You can't just walk in in the middle of the ni-"
"Why not?" She didn't even sound ashamed.
"Becau-"
"Are you alright?"
He was thankful the door was between them, not wanting her to see his cheeks, now turning an impassioned crimson. "Y-of course I'm fine, Mikasa, why wouldn't I-"
"The storm's bad tonight. I thought you might be scared."
The silence that ensued would have been total, had it not been for the moaning wind outside which provided an atmospheric background. His lips moved silently as his mind cycled through thoughts, discovering and dismissing them at equal rate. Then he sighed. "You're not going to move, are you."
"No."
"Okay."
Both were quiet, for a minute, which then turned into much longer than a minute.
When Armin and Christa woke up that morning, they found the two curled up either side of the door.