A/N: This story was written for Fandom Stocking 2016, but it didn't occur to me to post it here until now (whoops!). Considering season 2 premiered a couple days ago, I figure now is as good a time as any to post this ficlet!

"Mikasa?" Armin said, sticking his head in the door. Mikasa was once again keeping a vigil beside Eren, who, after his fight with Annie in titan-form, was still recovering and appeared fast asleep.

Mikasa tore her eyes away from Eren with obvious difficulty. "Armin? Is everything okay?"

"Everything's fine. I mean, nothing's fine, but there haven't been any more catastrophes." He stepped into the room. "I was just wondering if I could talk to Eren for a bit. Um…alone."

Mikasa looked at Eren for a moment before turning back to Armin. "Of course. He's still out of it though," Mikasa said quietly. "I don't know if he'll be able to talk much."

"That's alright. I'll just sit with him for a while."

Mikasa smiled at him. It was a soft smile, one she reserved only for Armin and Eren, and got up from her chair. She was still clearly reluctant to leave Eren's side – he could see it in the way her eyes kept straying back towards him – but she moved to the door nonetheless.

"Look after him, okay?"

"I will."

She gave him another small smile before she left, the door clicking quietly closed behind her.

He's still so pale, Armin thought, as he sat down in the chair Mikasa had vacated. It had only been a few hours since Eren had first woken up after his last battle with Annie, and there were still faint traces of burns on his face.

Armin frowned, wondering – not for the first time – what kind of damage the transformation into titan form did to Eren's body. It didn't matter how determined Eren was, how strong his resolve or how extensive his regenerative abilities were, his body still clearly had limits and Armin worried about what might happen if his best friend's body finally gave out.

Eren twitched in his sleep, his eyebrows drawing together slightly, and Armin wondered if Eren was having another one of the nightmares he'd been plagued with ever since he was a small child, or if it was a more recent one. They all had nightmares, but he knew that Eren had seen more atrocities than most people their age.

Armin reached out and squeezed Eren's hand, as he'd seen Mikasa do countless times before, and smiled a little when the tense lines in his friend's face smoothed out a little and his breathing evened out once more. Armin looked down at the hand he was holding and his mind automatically conjured up the image of Eren losing that entire arm and being devoured by a titan. Armin swallowed; even after everything he had seen, that image in particular still made him taste bile in the back of his throat.

After Armin and Jean had been debriefed, it had occurred to Armin he'd never had a chance to thank Eren for saving his life that day. His friend had literally pulled him from the jaws of a titan. He couldn't imagine the kind of strength and fearlessness that must've taken and how much pain Eren must've been in given that he'd just had his leg chomped off. Armin was humbled by the courage Eren had shown then.

And ashamed of his own cowardice.

It was half an hour before Eren began to stir. He let out a groan, and when he opened his eyes they were troubled.

"Hey," Armin said.

Eren turned his head towards him and blinked. "Oh, hey, Armin," he replied, struggling to sit up. He was clearly still hurting, his muscles undoubtedly stiff and sore.

"How are you feeling?" Armin asked.

"Okay. You?"

"Better than you probably."

Eren smiled a little at that. "How did the debriefing go?"

Armin shrugged, unwilling to saddle Eren with more problems while he was still recovering. "As you would expect. You'll probably be debriefed when you're feeling a little better."

"I feel fine," Eren said with a frown, some of his usual fire returning to his eyes.

Armin refrained from rolling his own eyes. "Okay, when you can stand on your own two feet again then."

Eren scowled, and Armin felt it was time to do what he came here to do.

"Eren," he began, "I…never got a chance to thank you for saving my life."

Eren blinked in surprise, his scowl disappearing. "Huh?"

"Back when we first- back in Trost, you…pulled me out from between a titan's jaws. Literally."'

"Oh," Eren said, looking down at his hands. "You don't have to thank me for that."

"Yes, I do. If it weren't for your regenerative abilities – which neither of us even knew about at the time – you would have died. You would've…sacrificed yourself. For…me. I just− why?"

"Why did I do it?" Eren asked, head still down. He shrugged. "Because you're my friend, Armin. You and Mikasa, you're…you're all I've got left. I wasn't about to let them take you away from me too."

Armin could hear the pain and anger in his voice and was touched by the knowledge of how much he meant to Eren. But…

"I'm not worth it!"

"Eren…you know you're important to us too, don't you?"

Eren finally looked up at him, eyes wide.

"Mikasa, she wants to protect you not because she thinks you can't handle yourself but…because you and I are all she has too," Armin said. "And as for me…every time I see you get hurt, either of you, it…kind of makes me want to die."

Eren was still staring at him with wide eyes. "Armin…"

"I guess what I'm trying to say is that you're important – not just because you can transform into a titan – but because of who you are to Mikasa and me. So…try not to be such a suicidal maniac all the time, okay?"

Eren stared at him for a while longer, until finally his expression softened and his lips formed a shy smile – it was a side of him very few people ever got to see. "Okay, Armin. Thanks."

Armin returned the smile and watched as Eren leaned back against the wall, looking less troubled than he had in a while. Armin might not be physically strong or have the courage his friends had, but he too would do everything he could to protect them – even from themselves.