Prompt: Eren assisting as blind!Armin tries to adjust to not being able to see.

Armin always had the prettiest blue eyes. Eren could never think of a proper thing to compare them to. Cornflowers, sapphire, the sky, the ocean; Nothing was adequate. They sparkled, even without light hitting them, and they were always moving, always taking things in. He used them to read, to learn, to memorize. And they shone brighter with each new thing he learned.

Eren couldn't imagine why someone would want to take something so beautiful from a person that had done no wrong. He couldn't understand why there were bandages wrapped around his head, tangling into blonde hair, covering the gorgeous blues. He couldn't understand why there was nothing beneath but damaged tissue and blood. He couldn't understand how Armin was so calm.

He held the boy's hand, trembled with anger, cried, swore revenge. Armin just sat, his head turned towards the window as if he could still see, if only he stared long enough. Now, whenever Eren entered the room, he had to announce himself, or Armin would be looking around frantically, trying to figure out who had entered his room, if they were a threat. He always relaxed visibly when it was Eren.

The first time Armin showed distress about his situation was when he came to the realization that he'd be unable to read books that weren't printed in braille, and he'd have to learn braille before that. Eren tried to calm him down, promising to read to him until he was able to do so by himself. He could tell that it was still bothering him though.

Armin was released from the hospital a week later, into Eren's care. And Eren made sure that no harm would come to the blonde. He was supposed to protect him, that had always been his job, since they were small. And he'd failed. Now Armin would never see again. He had to take responsibility. So he ignored the stares and hateful leers thrown their way as he led his companion down the street to his apartment by the hand.

About halfway through, Armin requested that Eren point out landmarks verbally, that he say when they were entering a crosswalk or passing a bus station. And Eren complied, knowing why the blonde had asked. He wanted to be able to get around on his own, but he should have known better. There was no way Eren was letting him go anywhere alone, not again. If only he'd gone with Armin to the convenience store. It never would have happened if he had. Those boys had a bone to pick with Eren, not Armin. They wouldn't have laid a finger on the innocent blonde if Eren had been there. He wouldn't have let them.

But he hadn't gone, and now Armin was fucking blind. Eren halted in his walk when Armin did. He had stopped to apologise to someone he'd run into. The lady looked annoyed, but she didn't say anything when she saw the glare Eren was sending her way and the bandages about the smaller boy's head. They continued walking until they came upon his apartment building, and Eren led him inside. He'd already packed up all of Armin's things and moved them to his place. He'd even done a bit of unpacking for him, hoping to ease him into the new environment. Armin's grandfather was simply incapable of caring for the boy properly, now that he couldn't see. The man was getting on in years, and would soon need to be taken care of himself. Eren didn't think twice about offering to do it himself.

They took the elevator, even though Eren typically used the stairs. He didn't want Armin falling down them, and if the boy's frequent stumbling was any proof, it was a definite possibility. Once the bell sounded, alerting them of their arrival on the correct floor, they exited, and Armin began to move with more confidence, as he had been to Eren's apartment many times before, and he had a good mental map of the place. Eren was glad to see it, but he didn't let go of the other's hand.

He unlocked the door and let Armin step inside, closing the door behind the both of them. Eren kicked his shoes off, leaving them by the door like he always did. Armin bent over to unlace his sneakers, but hit his head on the wall on the way down. Eren gasped, his hands cupping the blonde's cheeks as he demanded a status update. Armin brushed his hands away, bending down successfully this time.

"I'm fine." He assured, getting one of his shoes off. "I'm not made of glass. It's going to take me a while to get used to it, but I'll figure this out." He promised, determination in his voice, pulling off the other. "But you have to let me learn, Eren. I'm going to bump into stuff, and I'm going to fall over, and I'm going to run into people. I know you want to, but you can't cover me in bubble wrap and keep me locked up in your room. You have to let it happen." He said, standing back up to his full height.

Eren frowned. The bubble wrap hadn't occurred to him before, but it sounded like a pretty good idea, in his opinion. How could Armin expect him to just stand by and let him suffer? All of this was his fault.

"I know you're blaming yourself for this, but stop Eren. You're not the one that broke the bottle and took my eyes out." He said bluntly, and Eren snarled.

"I might as well have been!" He shouted with frustration. His face felt hot, and he was glad for the first time that Armin couldn't see him, because he was crying all over again. He was so helpless, he couldn't do anything for the other, couldn't make it right for him.

Armin drew closer, his hands coming up and finding Eren's face. He used his hands to aid him as he leaned forward and kissed away the tears, his lips falling against the Brunette's briefly. That only made Eren's stomach sink more. Armin loved him, trusted him, and he'd let this happen, and he could never take it back, could never return Armin's precious sight to him. His breath shuddered as he drew it, but he refused to let anything akin to a sob come out. Armin was the one that was hurt, that should be crying, not him. Armin was the one who needed comforting.

"Sorry." He whispered, wiping his eyes and nose on his sleeve. "Let's go get the rest of your stuff unpacked." He suggested. He wanted to lead Armin to the bedroom, but Armin had told him that he wanted to learn for himself, so he let his hand fall before it brushed against the other, and began walking. But he still looked over his shoulder with every step to make sure that the blonde was managing. They made it to the room without any significant mishaps, though Armin did hit his foot on the frame of the door.

Once inside of the room, Eren did take the hand he'd neglected earlier, bringing the smaller to the closet and pressing his fingers against one of his sweaters. Armin recognized it as one of his favorites, and smiled.

"I've put all of your clothes away. The left side of the closet is yours." Not that it mattered, because half of Armin's clothing had belonged to Eren once upon a time. The blonde loved to steal things he thought his boyfriend wouldn't notice. But Eren always noticed, he just chose not to mention it, because he thought it was pretty cute, if he was being honest. The clothes suited Armin better anyway.

He took him to the dresser next, guiding his hand to the top drawer.

"The same thing for the dresser, all of your stuff is on the left. Top drawer is underwear. I love the lacy blue panties, by the way." He said, feeling Armin's body tense at the mention of it, his face going scarlet. Eren grinned, moving their hands down a drawer. "I'm not going to make you explain that one, so long as you wear them for me sometime. Second drawer is socks. All of yours are matched up already, so just pull a pair out when you need them." He continued, moving their hands one last time. "Pants in the third drawer." He finished. Armin nodded, his hand dropping to the side.
"All of your shoes are by the door. If you need help finding a pair, tell me. I've also got all of your books shelved. I did them in alphabetical order, like you had them." He led the blonde out to the shelves he'd set up in the living room, watching as he ran his fingers over the spines fondly, his smile sad.

"I might as well get rid of them; It's not like I can read them anymore." Armin pointed out, withdrawing his hand. Eren frowned.

"The doctor said there was a small chance that you could see in a few years! I mean, sure, you'd have to wear super-thick glasses, but I think the nerdy look would suit you anyway. So don't give up, okay? Do anything, but don't give up." Eren growled. Armin turned his head, and Eren imagined the eyes behind the bandages looking at him. He was smiling, and pressed another kiss to his lips.

"Thank you Eren. Sorry." He apologized, reaching out in search of the other's hand. Eren grabbed it and laced their fingers, kissing the smaller harder as he drew him close, wrapping an arm around his waist. Armin made a little noise of surprise, but it quickly melted into happiness as he returned the embrace.

It was soft, and slow, and Eren was suddenly so happy that Armin was there, that he was only blind. In all honesty, it could have been worse, it could have been much worse. The boys could have stabbed him in the heart or the stomach, or he could have died from shock, or even cold. But he'd survived, and he was there, thank god.

Armin yelped as it got a little too heated for him, and Eren backed off, apologizing for taking it too far.

"Sorry, I just..." He began, but Armin cut him off.

"It's okay, I get it. I was scared too. I'm still scared." He admitted, his face turning down. And he looked just so lost, Eren couldn't keep his arms off of him. He held him tightly, too tightly, but Armin didn't mind.

"I'm here." He said simply, and Armin nodded, knowing just how much that meant.

"I know. Thank you Eren." And it was so heavy, so full of meaning. Thank you for being here. Thank you for helping me get around. Thank you for taking me to the hospital. Thank you for letting me stay here. Thank you for not giving up on me. Thank you for loving me. Thank you for loving me still, even though I'm broken.

"I love you." The brunette announced, and the blonde smiled, this one sunny and real.

"I love you too."

And they knew it was going to be hard, and that it was going to hurt, but they also knew that they could do it, that they could work through it. Armin was alive, and Eren was determined. When you put the two together, they could accomplish anything, could handle anything, even the loss of something so beautiful, so breathtaking, so necessary as Armin's sparkling blue eyes.

A/N: It's short. But I think that's as far as I can take it without it turning into a multi-chaptered thing. I might play with the idea some more at another time.
I'm sure this isn't what you were expecting when you requested the blind!Armin. I'm aware that there's already something like that, I've seen a few pictures, and I know the basic premise of it, where Armin is blinded by the steam when he tries to cut Eren out, and Eren blames himself and helps him get around. And I could have written that, but I felt like that was cheating, so I made my own AU. Hope you still like it though!

KuroRiya
九六りや